just purchased DSM! what mods come first?

[Ademy08]

I just purchased my DSM a little over a week ago and i was wondering what my first mods should be. It's a 96 tsi AWD, i was looking at an Injen IS series intake (http://www.extremepsi.com/store/customer/product.php?productid=17129&cat=478&page=1)

Does that sound like a good deal? or what do you suggest? im open for any suggestions.
I'm planning on getting a GReddy-RS BOV, should i recirculate or not?
another thing i was thinking about was a boost controller.
any help would be appreciated!!


P.S.-I'm still in high school and don't want to go too crazy with anything just want the basics, due to me killing myself with too much power and most of all not alot of cash...

 

[FORMONTOYA]

Your first mod should be maintenance. And I mean a complete maintenance regiment. Otherwise I don't want to even read/hear about you complaining that DSMs are a POS.

http://dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?p=151006887#post151006887

Cars aren't a POS.......people make them a POS.

 

[fourreGsixty3]

All maintenance should be done first>>> http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=239375
Here is a mod route you can go>>> http://www.dsmtuners.com/sub.php?page=2gtupgrades , Go stage 1 first, then Stage 2.
As far as the BOV you should recirc. it, but I will let this explain>>> http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=239375
EDIT: You beat me too it Jim

Dustin

 

[ROOKIE1]

http://dsmtuners.com/sub.php?page=2gtupgrades . If I were you I would read alot before upgrading anything . Check out vfaq.com . Read and search and do that some more . Oh yeah and welcome . Also fill out vehicle profile , and keep it updated .

 

[flyinghighlm]

Please read this as well so a mod or someone does not slap you around again, these will help alot.

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=148744

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=236030

 

[blackbyrd]

^^ Like he said, Maintance.
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=239375
What condition/mileage is your car in?
I would also suggest a boost leak test, and fix any corresponding leaks.
http://www.vfaq.com/mods/ICtester.html
Then I would take a look at free mods
http://www.dsmtuners.com/sub.php?page=2gtstage0power
Also take a look at the whole suggested upgrade path, to give you somewhat of an idea.
http://www.dsmtuners.com/sub.php?page=2gtupgrades
http://www.dsmtuners.com/sub.php?page=2gsuspension

As for your link, that seems very overpriced. And you have to have the BOV before you put that on there, as there is no flange for the stock
And no you don't want to recirculate your BOV in short. Check out
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=113858
Check out dejontools for an intake pipe, or ebay if you really want to.
http://dsm.dejonpowerhouse.com/
Also read up the faqs of this site http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=44
And check out http://www.vfaq.com

Good luck, welcome to DSMs!

EDIT: Wow, I got beat to nothing posting this, by like 3 people. Haha, I shouldn't eat and type, at least not without refreshing.

 

[ROOKIE1]

http://dsmtuners.com/forums/faq.php?faq=faq_rules . Read these .

 

[Ademy08]

It has 160,000 miles, yeah i know its alot but it still runs great, other than the pretty high mileage there is nothing wrong. it still runs strong. The guy i bought it from said the timing belt was changed. so thats out of the way. he also did the routine maintenance. as for tires im getting new tires for the stock rims and putting them on for the winter. I want to get my hands dirty and start doing some things with it. So once again. what comes next?

so that's what's going on with my dsm.

 

[1990talon]

Do not go on purley what the seller says they will tell you anything to sell the car.

 

[Charlie90GST]

First look at the home page here and do the stage 0 mods first, these cost nothing to next to nothing. try the boost control selonoid restrictor removal, I went from 11psi to 16 with just that! Oh yeah, buy a manual boost guage and the pods to mount it.

 

[nightspeed87]

First look at the home page here and do the stage 0 mods first, these cost nothing to next to nothing. try the boost control selonoid restrictor removal, I went from 11psi to 16 with just that! Oh yeah, buy a manual boost guage and the pods to mount it.

11 to 16.... That doesnt sound right, the bsc mod shouldnt have given you that much boost. maybe you should read up also, I mean unless you have a modified fuel system ( at least upgraded pump ) 16 lbs is kind of pushing it.
But if you have a logger and dont see knock then hell gone ahead.

 

[TSImonkey]

I'm in the same exact boat as you are, I'm still in HS and have a 96 TSi AWD haha (even same car) altho mine had 95k miles when i bought it over the summer. And like the guys have been saying do all the maintance first, drive the car for a couple weeks see if everything holds up adn verify what the selller said is true. Me for example, I was on this forum for almost 3 months reading, and getting my knowledge straight before i posted anything at all.

One thing i can def. answer is the BOV question. you should def. recirculate. If you search venting to the atmosphere u'll see why its alot easier to recirculate, and seeing that you dont want to go extreme with the horsepower, venting will not make a big diff.

So Welcome to the Forums and make sure u search any questions u have about anything before u post. thats what i did for 3 months

good luck with everything

 

[ROOKIE1]

I'm in the same exact boat as you are, I'm still in HS and have a 96 TSi AWD haha (even same car) altho mine had 95k miles when i bought it over the summer. And like the guys have been saying do all the maintance first, drive the car for a couple weeks see if everything holds up adn verify what the selller said is true. Me for example, I was on this forum for almost 3 months reading, and getting my knowledge straight before i posted anything at all.

One thing i can def. answer is the BOV question. you should def. recirculate. If you search venting to the atmosphere u'll see why its alot easier to recirculate, and seeing that you dont want to go extreme with the horsepower, venting will not make a big diff.

So Welcome to the Forums and make sure u search any questions u have about anything before u post. thats what i did for 3 months

good luck with everything

Take what I say however you want . Listen to this guy . Read first ask second . And try not to be ass when asking for help . We provided links to rules and upgrade path . Guess what ? Maintenance first , regardless of old owner . Maintenance is key before you mod . Manners are key before you ask for answers to questions answered a million times before you arrived . If you are to lazy to search , read , or listen you came to the wrong forum .

 

[1gGstKid]

Take what I say however you want . Listen to this guy . Read first ask second . And try not to be ass when asking for help . We provided links to rules and upgrade path . Guess what ? Maintenance first , regardless of old owner . Maintenance is key before you mod . Manners are key before you ask for answers to questions answered a million times before you arrived . If you are to lazy to search , read , or listen you came to the wrong forum .

Beautifully put. Like everyone one has said in this post maintenance is always first. I've bought 2 cars based on what the previous owner has said. And when i drove them around for a couple of weeks I already knew something was up. But weather the guy says everything is good or not, you might as well check now before you go off and start buying parts. If you go off and buy the intake then something happens and you need cash then what? Stuff like this happened to me in high school and i was really broke back then. So do yourself a favor and go over the car with a fine to comb.

 

[Ademy08]

by me saying that he performed all of these things i didnt mean to sound cocky if it came off this way i was just stating what he claimed to have done. I dont know for sure if he did or not and I am driving it around for a while to get the feel for it and to make sure its going to be worth staying with. but from the looks of it I'll want this car for a long time. anyway... if i came off cocky, im sorry.

now ill get all of the basic stuff in the stage 0 mods done, hopefully my mechanic skills are up to par...

 

[steve]

Hopefully my mechanic skills are up to par...

If they aren't, they will be. Unless you have receipts for all work done, the safest thing to do is ignore any claims and assume nothing has been done in a while. Going through the car and checking everything will give you an idea what shape it's really in. Change all the fluids, including the coolant and brakes. See how much pad and rotor you have left.

Introduce yourself to the VFAQ and 1000 Already Answered Questions sites. http://www.vfaq.com http://members.shaw.ca/costall/1000Q/

Get yourself the factory Service Manuals so you can figure out how to maintain and mod your car.

Steve