mod help for new rex owner

just bought my rex yesterday and i already need to start "fixing" it.
ive been running all motor hondas for the last eight years and figured id get back into a turbo car again so hopefully i can get some info on whats the best equiptment to get for the car.
so here goes the questions:

1. underdrive pully, i have always used UR pulleys but vishnu seems to have a presence in the wrx arena. what do you think?

2. cai, no one on the forums seems to like them but what about a short ram? or am i better off just sticking with the stock air box(drop in filter?? k&n, greddy...)

3. exhaust, i have always run greddy evo and racing medallion on my hondas. racing medallion is too loud for what i want now but hows the evo2?

4. up pipe/ down pipe, im lost when it comes to these perrin seems like it makes a nice part, cobb tuning as well. let me here some opinions.

5. hedders, not much talk on the forum about hedders. are they worth the work or does the stock piece do a good job?

6. brakes, the brakes seem pretty mushy compared to what im used to.
is this a pad, brake line, new fluid type fix or will it take more than that?

7.computer, again i dont know to much about this area, but cobb seems to have a nice little kit. what does everyone think about it?

well i guess thats enough for now.
just so you know im looking for a good street vehicle that will be taken to the strip occasionaly and possibly track in the future( but not near future)
any help would be greatly appreciated

In terms of the first upgrades you should do to your Scoobie, everyone has their own opinion but I'd say UP, DP and reflash the ECU. Prices vary on all pipes, but I found a good deal on a HKS DP for 130.00 and there are various UP on E-Bay for cheap. ECU reflashes are done by plenty of people across this great nation at different prices, research on the internet and find out which one you can afford.

I terms of an intake, Turbo XS makes a great short ram intake. With a couple mods it made 6hp and 2tq.

The absolute cheapest mod for your money is a manual boost controller. Many people just say get the reflash of the ECU, but many people don't have that cash laying around. The manual boost controllers run anywhere from 50 bucks all the way up to 150.00. The only downside to the MBC is that in cold weather it spikes, so I don't know where you live but if it gets any colder that 30 degrees, expect alot of spiking in a MBC.

Vishnu is a great company as well is Perrin. They both make great products for the WRX, it all just comes back to how much do you want to spend on the upgrades. Vishnu offers stage kits, stage one kit from Vishnu offers some good parts and good power but for a price. I think Vishnu is asking 900.00 for the stage one kit. So it all comes down to how much you want to spend on your vehicle.

thanks for the info driver.
price isnt really a problem( within reason, i do have a wife :nono:)
i just dont want to go cheap and then have to do it over again.

i cant wait to hear more opinions about the other items

thanks again

I would go with a "performance kit" from any of the manufactures listed. Personally, I would go with vishnu, but there are other good ones. If you purchase it as a kit you know all the parts are working together and making the most possible hp for the money, not to mention proven reliablity of the setup.

Vishnu stage 0 (uppipe, pulley, ecu reflash) seems like a good starting point, then you can add other things like exhaust, headers, new turbine, etc. later on if you wish.

I do agree with you that CAI, and intake mods in general isn't much talked about on this forum except in a negative way. It appears that it is the LAST mod you want to do, because it really doesn't make much of a difference unless everything else has been modded. CAI especially seems to be a waste of money in a turbo application. I'm yet to see any solid data on how CAI can improve performance with a turbine...it's probably b/c there is no such data.