Mod My Subie

Our First Rally Cross Event

Nathan — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 22:30:34 +0000

The car turned one year old last week and the ticker now reads 38k
miles. That being the case, I decided it was time that we take it out
for some type of competitive event. Enter the Finger Lakes Region of
the SCCA:

We went out for our first SCCA Rally Cross event in the STI. I met a
great bunch of guys and had a blast throwing the thing around in the
mud. I learned a lot about driving this thing in low-traction
environments, the biggest lesson was that I have a LOT more to learn.
The car performed very well and overall I’m happy with our first time
out.

Here are a few shots from the day.

A Little ECU Tuning Goes A Long Way

Nathan — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 03:40:23 +0000

We made another trip up to Street Tuned Motorsports before hitting the track at NYIRP last night. The results were good. We put the STI on the dyno and installed a Hallman Pro Manual Boost Controller. With the Megan Racing 3″ Catless Downpipe and K&N Drop-In filter we were able to get ~265 WHP and ~325 WTQ out of the new motor. Air/Fuel ratios are running right about 11.8:1 under full boost and we are seeing no knock on 93 octane fuel.

The result was a 12.81 second run at 107.1 MPH. Not bad for a stock-turbo, full-body car on pump gas.

Street Car Shootout – 2009

Nathan — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 05:06:34 +0000

We went out to the Street Tuned Motorsports / Rochester Racing –
Street Car Shootout on Sunday and ran through the traps. The car ran
strong and we were able to get one solid run off at 13.2. Not bad
considering she is running pig-rich, (10:1 under full boost). We’ll
do a little tuning this week and hopefully get back down to the track
at 11.5:1 or so.

Car number 32

Dyno Drag Racing At STMtuned.com

Nathan — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 04:16:27 +0000

We put the STI back on the dyno up at Street Tuned Motorsports. The new short-block that Subaru Of America put in about 15k miles ago is doing much better than the original block. We managed to put down around 250HP/290TQ and pull off a drag run in 13.3 or so seconds at 102ish MPH. Fairly respectable numbers.

First Run At The Drag Strip

Nathan — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 18:58:22 +0000

While traveling with the Street Tuned Motorsports, (STM), Crew this weekend down to Norwalk Ohio for the DSM Shootout, I decided to make a couple of runs down the track to see how she would do. It should be mentioned that for this run, I did have the subwoofer in the back and a 6′4″ buddy of mine who comes in around 300 pounds riding shotgun. Overall, I think the little Subaru performed very respectably. Now It’s time to start doing some performance upgrades

We were car number 1122 in the right column.

STI Pink Springs and Window Tint

Nathan — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 01:29:45 +0000

We installed the Subaru Technica International Pink Springs on our 2008 STI this week and couldn’t be happier with the ride. The suspension feels amazingly firm and stable without beating you up. It is really like driving a whole new car and these springs were what has always felt “missing” from this vehicle. Turn-in is much more crisp and accurate. The sponginess that this car has had from day one is simply no more. The one thing that I have always felt the EVO X had over the GR was that locked-in feeling, and the Pinks have definitely evened up the playing field. It makes me wonder why Subaru decided to go with the softer spring from the factory.

While we were at it, we went ahead and tinted the windows to 35% VLT all around.

Baseline Dyno Results

Nathan — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 17:13:00 +0000

So here we have the baseline results from our first dyno pull. We took the car up to Street Tuned Motorsports in Rochester for the test. The Mustang Dyno gave a 203HP/246TQ reading. Netting a 30%+ HP loss in the drivetrain from Subaru’s specified 305 BHP? I should note that this was done prior to Subaru Of America’s determination that there was something wrong with this engine, (rod bearing), and replacing the short-block as a warranty issue.

Subaru Roof Racks

Nathan — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 22:38:56 +0000

We picked up a set of the factory Subaru roof racks for the STI and a couple of
Yakima Bike Racks. These make the car so much more useful. After all, this IS a Subie…

Summer Rubber

Nathan — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 22:38:55 +0000

Time to put away the winter rubber and opt for little bit different look. I’m not a big fan of the factory Subaru STI 18″ wheels and I am definitely not the type to opt for the slightly-less-awful BBS option set from Subie for a price higher than a nice set of after-market forged aluminum wheels. Luckily, we had this “old” set of Volks here pulled from our EVO8 project, (as it’s getting a wider setup). The setup is an 18×8.5 Volk CE28N in gunmetal wrapped in a set of Toyo T1R’s. Initial impressions on this car is that it loves the added width to the stance as the back-spacing/offsset set these tires out about another inch wider than stock. The car is terribly stable and looks much more aggressive. We also decided to paint the tails using Testor’s Transparent Candy Apple Red model paint.

Subaru Sport Grille Installed

Nathan — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 20:57:39 +0000

Warning: Completely Cosmetic Upgrade

The factory Subaru STI grille leaves something to be desired, IMO. Therefore, we decided to install the optional “Sport Grille” from Subaru. We found that by using the installation images below, (provided by Subaru Of America), the installation was a snap and did not actually require removal of the entire bumper cover. Instead, the lower four screws can be accessed with a stubby screwdriver by reaching down between the radiator support and factory grille. Before and after pictures attached. I, personally, think it makes for a much cleaner look with less of the “cheap plastic crap” feel of the original.