Project RS

[Maengelito]

i greased up my STi struts like Shea mentioned (thanks Shea) and hopefully i can chuck them on this saturday without any problems.

i did that to my STi last week. it sounds much better without the strut clunking over every uneven spot in the road.

[ScottyB]

i did that to my STi last week. it sounds much better without the strut clunking over every uneven spot in the road.

cool....i figure every oil change i'll just rub some chassis grease on there for good measure.

did my first successful suspension job today :lol: . the fronts were easy, the rears were a bitch. i would have had no chance at all if it wasn't for a decently stocked socket/breaker bar/closed end rachet-wrench set and some good old liquid wrench. i would have ended up shooting myself if it was realllllyyy old suspension and all rusted and frozen up.

i'm most surprised by how direct everything feels. roads i travel every day now feel completely alien. i'm able to pick up small nuances through the wheel (and even hear new tire noises) and i really enjoy that. i guess it is probably 30 to 40% stiffer than the stock suspension. the first hard turn i took i was all smiles, but then after riding to the airport and getting a feel for things on the highway i realized that this ain't no highway cruiser anymore. i think part of the problem is that my back is killing me from being under the car for most of the day and the other part is that i've been spoiled by driving family sedans all my life. i have no idea what a really stiff street car feels like to base my feelings off of. i'd say based on first impressions that this was still a good choice for $250.

i'm totally stoked for my first autocross, i think i'll really be able to enjoy this suspension where it will shine the most.

ride height hardly changed as you can see. the springs are still settling but i bet it's hardly a half inch difference, which i'm OK with since i like to stay under the radar. stock on top, STi on the bottom.

[WRXtranceformed]

Nice Scott, very subtle and I'm sure you'll really enjoy the stiffness once you get used to it. What rubbers are you running now? Those look like the stockers, yikes!!

[ScottyB]

Those look like the stockers, yikes!!

yessir....man i hate them. saving up for some RE-01R's :twisted:

[WRXtranceformed]

That will hands down make the biggest difference in your handling.

[ScottyB]

met up with a guy who has an '04 RS....swapped out my stock cat back for his STi cat back today. his was modified to fit but the fitment isn't perfect....i'll have to swing by an exhaust shop to have them work on a little leak at the cat-midpipe flange.

i'm thinking of popping a resonator on there too to quiet it down a bit, it's pretty loud, i'm assuming on an STi the turbo is going to muffle a decent amount of noise, but on my car it is pretty boomy. loud or not, i have to admit i really like the sound.

i'm sore as crap from being under the car all weekend so i'm done for a while :lol:

[Feersty]

Nice to see you doing some stuff man. Yeah hopefully you will get some settling on those STi springs.

[ScottyB]

so i found out my "little" leak was ginormous. i stopped by the local dealer going home from work and picked up a WRX "donut" gasket that is the proper diameter of the STi midpipe. i got under the car tonight and popped it on...

what used to be a spitting, boomy, chainsaw sound is now totally smoothed out to a strong bass at idle --> 2500 rpm and then rises to a mild snarl until redline. i get some nice burbling between shifts and letting off at any rpm. it's really pleasant and sounds almost stock at idle and cruising.

as a bonus, its alot livelier up high , so i feel like some power was gained. i'm anxious to get a header on there to really bring out the boxer sound and gain those last few ponies. all in all a success, i think.

had a chance to throw the car around a bit more and cornering is fantastic compared to before. obviously i can't do much with the stock tires but it's more than capable of limits i won't often use on the street, and probably only begin to make use of in autocrosses.

so, two upgrades that actually work! rejoice!

[ScottyB]

installed a WRX air duct and also replaced the resonator with ducting that goes straight from the duct to the airbox. i honestly wouldn't be surprised if it made more than just a little power, because the stock setup is just awful....looks like it belongs on a jeep. nice sound too.

going in for a performance alignment on thursday, suby challenge and getting my ass handed to me on saturday! w00T!

[Dave]

go scotty go!

[WRXtranceformed]

Nice! ha ha yeah, I remember removing the snorkel on my old WRX. I replaced it with a really nice elbow piece that I picked up.. I can't remember where I got it from. It definitely made the intake sound better and the turbo spool louder.

[ScottyB]

almost ready for the suby challenge.

stopped by Gran Turismo East after work and they set me up with a nice autocross alignment with me in the car. it was a good thing too, my alignment up until then was a complete mess, i had toe out on one rear wheel, toe in on the other, camber all over the place.....

fronts -1.2 (maxed out the stock camber bolts)
rears -1.4 (stock camber)
toe 0 on the front, .02 in the rear

i'm going to change the oil tommorow, clean the car out and air up the tires and i think that's it. there's a rally-pig sticker on the rear window now too :lol:

[Sijray21]

good stuff Dizzler! i'm excited for when you get those tires and auto-x that beast.

[ScottyB]

the challenge was great fun, awesome course that had some nice technical combos, plus food/refreshments and a goody bag! it was on the "green" lot of turner field so plenty of space and good asphalt. we had about 10 N/A cars show up, and the rest were half and half WRX's and STi's.

i'm pretty happy with my placement all things considered. i came in 37/99 in raw and 26/99 in pax, and placed 3rd out of 4 in STS behind two very prepped/sponsored GC RS's from the carolinas. i think i was the fastest car on stock tires, although i'm not sure...but they were actually a terrific learning tool. it was really educational to learn the traction circle and heat management on a tire like that since they would grease up and upset the ABS so easily only a few hundred yards in. my alignment was helpful and kept them from rolling over too much. my worst run was a 58 second and my best was a 52.3! quite an improvement over 4 runs. my crowning moment of the day was during my third run, getting into a huge tank-slapper coming out of the slalom that's right in front of the pits/main viewing area. i slapped 3 times and finally skidded to a halt, sideways, in front of the crowd. doh! the car didn't give me any problems at all, all day.

some highlights were getting a ride-along in an r-comp'd D-stock WRX that was actually the defending national champ (need to verify but others were saying it's true), he was silly fast despite such a stock car. Subaru of America brought out an r-comp'd '08 hatch demo with some SPT parts, driven by a pro and it decimated almost everyone. there was also an 800 horse, heavily sponsored and caged STi running race gas+meth, 315 width r-comps and was smoking all 4 of them coming out of slow turns...i was course working during his runs and my only instinct was to run away when it came near me, it was just scary.

pics later

[Chris]

awesome man! glad you finally had a chance to get back out and autox, I think its been a while for you!

[ScottyB]

awesome man! glad you finally had a chance to get back out and autox, I think its been a while for you!

yeah it's been a good while. last time i autocrossed competitively (no fun runs) was in Jay's old Si at richmond back in '05 before graduation. i really missed it....or any motorsports activity for that matter.

[Nis01]

awesome man! glad you finally had a chance to get back out and autox, I think its been a while for you!

yeah it's been a good while. last time i autocrossed competitively (no fun runs) was in Jay's old Si at richmond back in '05 before graduation. i really missed it....or any motorsports activity for that matter.

Sounds like a blast. Hope to see some pictures or at least throw some links up about the event. Sounds like you ran pretty well out there. Nice going. Well prepped Subies are blast to watch kill some cones and sometimes pretty fast.

[ScottyB]

weeeeee









crazy caged/r-comp'd/meth STi


this chick was smoking everyone


'08 demo car that was really hard to catch


find the MM hoodie 8)




all event photos here:
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[Sijray21]

nice work man! ur making me realize that i need to do some auto-x's in the teg this coming year

[Mike]

this chick was smoking everyone

how was her driving? :lol: