.... the newest addition to my stable... my new D stock hawtness... the green terror's newest "friend," this is the one I call the "silver phoenix." I will not show you the trunk with the subs. I'm too embarassed by that. :rofl: Karen
I'd switch tails with an 05-06 but thats just me... one of the first things I did with mine... Nice ride though!
I am surprised that you didn't get a real DS car, like a ITR Just kidding, Best of luck with it this season,
No TypeR.... I don't have a garage or a 24-hr security detail to keep it in my possession. I still can't believe Bartek's just got stolen. And yes, the '06 tails have got to go. I'd prefer to lose the wing too, but it looks like everyone wants to go '04-05 tails and wingless, and very few people want the WRX wing, so I'll probably just stick with it as is, at least for now. :wtc: The paint job... eesh, that was almost the deal breaker right there, and the salesman knew it. I actually had to go back to look at it again to see if I'd blown the whole thing out of proportion in my memory. They fortunately are most noticeable when you're close up and looking at it from the front. They are also painted on, so unless I have a little incident with a deer, it's gonna have to stay that way. So, now the planned "mods" : Konis (need donor struts for the inserts) Whiteline 27/29 front bar catback exhaust (not sure what good options are... any help?) ARP studs Hawk brake pads (or something) I'm picking up a set of OEM WRX rims this afternoon ($250!), and I'm trying to round up a second set of 17x7s with the proper offset. If I can find something lighter than the OE rims, I'll probably use the stockers for rain tires. I will hopefully have it ready to go by the Doublecross. Isn't sad that I don't want to drive a Z06?
Yeah, I don't think I could ever own an ITR, as my garage is always full of other stuff, and I couldn't ever park it unsecured. Did Justin sell his car yet?
Yeah, which is why I have to buy all the stuff for my own. I wish I'd just bought his. He was impatient to sell, though, and ended up getting less for the car than I would have paid. Oh well.
Man, that is too bad. I am sure you can build up a well setup car with the BlueFlame. Best of luck this season! I thought the flames would be pretty ugly when I first heard about it, but since they are pretty subtle, I think they are pretty awesomely unique.
Well, picked up the Whiteline bar and endlinks tonight, along with Justin's old ARP studs (that saved me about $150!). Tomorrow, I'll be calling Koni to order the inserts and BHP Brakes to get some brake pads. This weekend, I'll be snagging an ERZ catback and some blown struts that I can use for the Koni inserts. I will also hopefully be pulling out the subs and amp (since I have to do that for the RS too before the new owner comes to pick it up). I might have this thing ready for the next Atlanta points event! Hmmmmm.
Well, here's the latest : Got the front Koni inserts, stock radio (from teh Stompy! ), and BHP front brakes yesterday. Put the Konis aside with the blown struts for later work. Justin and I installed the ERZ exhaust that I picked up, and the car sounds so much better. It's not too loud, but it's definitely not quiet any more either. It's great. Then we pulled the wheels for the brakes. The stock pads were about half gone, and we put his old Hawk HP+ pads in the rear and the BHP fronts on. After pulling out the subs, amp and aftermarket headunit and putting in Joel's old radio, we took the car for a spin to bed in the brakes. Definitely sounds better, and most definitely stops better. The car already had better brakes than the Camaro, and the BHPs have almost the same grabbiness as the Ferrodos that Justin ran on his WRX last year. I hope that they aren't going to be dusty. I'll have to keep a look out for that. I forgot to bring the front sway bar with me tonight, so we'll save that for next week, along with the longer wheel studs and maybe start to look at cutting up those blown struts for the inserts that I have. We took some pics, so I'll post them later. :lol: Karen
Sounds cool! Need to post some good pictures of those flames! Personally, I would have named it: or you could put a skull on the hood like this car: http://www.pamelashanteau.com/pics/Vibe GT-blue-flames-and-sk.jpg
Justin removing the old exhaust. Damn that thing was heavy. Old exhaust next to the "new" exhaust, a used ERZ catback. Okay, so it looks a little ricey.... "Justin, change my brake pads." There was some junk in my trunk. And now there isn't. Me screwing around with the camera when we were all done. Karen
I do some of my own stunts. "Can you put the camera down and please put the bracket on? Like, now?" I work the driver side.... ...while Justin works the passenger side. In the end, we got the 27mm adjustable bar in.... it only took me just over a freakin' hour. What the heck.... I had no idea so much crap had to come off the car just to get to the swaybar. I can do the Camaro in 20 minutes... in a gravel parking lot! Ask Mere -- she saw me and Jerry Grigg do it at Gwinnett Co. Fairgrounds. Anyway, as I was taking off all the plastic undertray and jacking point crap, Justin was trying to put together the adjustable endlinks (Whiteline rod end/spherical/Heim joints). There is a locking nut that goes between the two ends that just didn't want to thread on. We tried both locking nuts that came with the kit, and neither wanted to work. So, right now, the bar is on with just the stock endlinks. The lesson here is, "assemble your adjustable endlinks early, so you can exchange them if necessary." JJ at IAG was cool about it; I PMed him that there was a problem, and he took care of it this afternoon. It shouldn't take very long to swap the endlinks out. Next up... endlinks, ARP studs.... and... maybe.... front Konis.
Wow, teh Karen actually OWNS a Subaru. The world is complete Come see us at TopSpeed next time your in town. With all the talk about ITR's, I'd own a white one and pull all the ITR badging... Siegel
Silly, Scott, I've owned a Subaru for over a year now. I just sold the other one! It was a 2000 2.5RS in sedona red pearl. edit : I will be in Atlanta for the Doublecross... I do believe that's May 17-18th, at Atlanta Motor Speedway. You gonna stop by?
That's right... I remember. That means I haven't seen you in at least that long... I might try. That's between One Lap and the Lemons race, so we might be busy, but I'll try. Siegel
I haven't decided yet. It will partly depend on what the co-driver wants to do. Since I've already done a Tour, I don't need to stay. It will also depend on if I get a substitute for 5/19... if I can't find coverage, I might fly home, then come back for the Tour.
Prepping this WRX is more expensive than the Camaro. Oh... wait. I had a boyfriend who bought most of the shit for the Camaro. Nevermind.... Actually, I'm hating prepping the WRX because Justin's making me do all the work. :lol: He tells me what I need to do, lets me struggle with it, and lends a hand at times if I can't get a bolt loose. Last night, I did the swaybar endlinks and changed the oil.... both of which are a serious PITA compared to the Camaro. So far, I can't think of anything that has been easier to do on this car than on the Camaro. There will certainly be no swaybar swappage in the paddock between heats with the WRX. Mere, I don't think I'm going to do the Tour. I need to be at work on Monday morning after the Doublecross because it's HSA week (high school assessments), so I'm probably going to fly home and Gabe (my new codriver) is going to drive the car back for me. I'm not enough of a Tour fan to even try to justify staying.
Endlinks in. The really nice thing that occurred was a week ago Friday... the rear Koni inserts came in early! So, last Sunday, I got "bored," and decided to assemble my shocks. Um, word to the wise. Use a sawzall, not a hack saw. Really. Anyway, my friend Pete installed the shocks on Wednesday, but didn't have time to really align the car. On Friday, he calls me as I'm leaving work, and tells me he doesn't have anything else to do, so, did I want to bring the car up to finish the alignment? I could put off doing laundry, so I said, "Sure" and drove up there. Good thing I did. Turns out there is the slightest bend in the left side (driver side) lateral link. The car's got some really screwy camber and toe out on that side. Pete did the best he could with the alignment so I can get some testing done tomorrow at the DC region autocross, but there will be a new lateral link waiting for me at the Saturn dealer on Monday, so I can get that fixed and re-aligned by next weekend for the real test-and-tune. Oh, and I wanted to set the shocks this afternoon. Yeah, what the hell is with the rear shock "caps"? This picture needs to show the disassembled rear seat too. And the title would be "FAIL". Seriously, this is what I'm used to : Fold down the rear seat, open up the pre-slotted carpeting, remove the foam insert, and adjust. Yes, folks, GM did something right. Anyway, I'll see how bad this rear-toe thing goes tomorrow. This'll be my first autocross since the Dixie Tour, and only my second event since last fall's Subaru Challenge at Turner Field. Joy! Karen
And I'm waiting for the final, audited results, but it looks like I finished my first event with a win!
Well, the car is ESP now. Four weeks at IAG Performance, and it comes home with : *STi intercooler *catted downpipe *Cusco turbo heat shield *Invidia G200 cat-back exhaust *AEM cold air intake *AST 5200 coilovers with 800/650 Hypercoil springs and Eibach tenders *Vorshlag camber plates *Cobb AccessPort *ARP wheel studs *a pitch stop that I'm not sure what kind it is : http://lh6.ggpht.com/_Q6X2X_0tTXo/Shhkqis_JRI/AAAAAAAAHno/r9wdmd-8gUQ/s144/esp wrx 006.jpg *AST heavy duty clutch *AST Street Lite flywheel *18x9.5" Rota Torks With the DS-->ESP transformation coming along well, the WRX made its ProSolo debut as an ESP car this past weekend at the DC ProSolo. With only three events of testing behind it, and slightly different suspension setups each time, I wasn't amused to be starting as the very first car off Saturday morning, twenty minutes after the rain had started. Oh, and my Hoosier radial rains were sitting in the garage, thirty minutes north of the event site. Oops. The latest suspension change was disconnecting the front swaybar, which I should have done from the start, as the spring rates I'd chosen to mate to the AST 5200s were selected with no front bar in mind. In the wet, it was just a handful to keep the car under control, but the 295/30ZR18 Hoosier A6s weren't nearly as slippery as I'd anticipated. I finished the morning session in 2nd in L2, with respectable enough times compared to the open class in their drier conditions. I wouldn't run again for almost seven hours. Lightning delays followed by timing delays caused by someone running over the right side finish trips would make this Saturday the longest day ever. The "afternoon" (really, close to early evening) runs felt incredible. The car is really working well, and it's definitely looking as if the lack of diffs will be hurting the car in the long run, even with the 295s. I climbed into the top spot in L2, 1.9 ahead of Denise Kugler's GP-classed CRX. Sunday morning, the clouds formed overhead as we prepared for our last set of runs. I started off with a modest 0.1 improvement on the left, and staged too deep on the right, notching a 0.464 redlight on a blistering 29.9s run that would have been about a second improvement. As I saw the time, I'm thinking, "I can match that, no problem." Then it started raining again. It seems the difference between dry and wet conditions for me was about three seconds. While Denise made up some of the time, she remained in second, and was far enough back that when all was said and done, I was the top qualifier for the Ladies Challenge. Since the redlight run didn't factor into my dial-in, I knew I had a good amount of unintentional sand, and it came into play in the very first pairing, against the ST Civic of Meredith Najewicz. I managed to clip a cone coming through the very fast crossover on the right side course (I was near the top of second at this point, over 60mph), and even with the cone, managed to take the win with a solid left side run. Next up was another ST Civic, this one driven by fellow Blue Ridge Region member Tara Knoll. I again started on the right, and this time was a hair more careful coming back through the crossover (even though it wasn't until I watched the video of the runs later that I realized how close I was to the cone in question every run). I came with about the same advantage (just over three seconds, but the right side course was a known 1.8-2.2 seconds faster than the left), but without the cone, so I was pretty sure I had the round in hand. I ran solid on the left again to take another win, but broke out by .010. The last round pitted me against L1 winner Carrie Snyder, driving an ES MR2. We'd last battled at the ProSolo Finale in the same cars, but I'd lost that particular round before it even started by breaking out in the first round. This time, she had a legitimate head start on my ESP car, but I had caught up to her by the end of the opening straight. The car was working near perfectly except for the inability to consistently put the power down coming out of the some of the turns, but I just peddled it like an FS Camaro. When I heard I had a 3.8s advantage, I was floored. The icing was then hearing she had a cone on top of that. Turned out that she'd nearly lost it on the left side crossover, tagged a cone and actually missed the next gate. Only a cone had been called in, however, and that's all I had to work from. She knew, and she felt she should "making timing's job easier," and so when we lined up again for the final match, she took herself out with a 0.2 redlight. My first challenge win since the 2007 Doublecross ProSolo in Atlanta! The car is feeling great so far. The suspension setup seems to be pretty close to done, though I'm still torn on the rear sway bar setting. Final Results Ladies Challenge Bracket
How are you liking the ASTs? Are they easy to adjust? Streetable? I've been on the fence in getting some for about 6 months now and would like to see some reviews. Granted, the 5200's aren't what I'm looking at, but it's a data point nonetheless.
Let me preface my response with this : I have a high tolerance for stiff rides. I daily drove a 1LE Camaro (very stiff springs and stiff bushings, stock!) for about 10 years. The AST shocks are very, very easy to adjust -- no little knob adjuster to lose like my Konis -- and even the rebound (which is on the bottom on the 5200s) is easy to access with the car flat on the ground. My codriver and I have messed with the settings a bit over the last month, and we're settled sort of in the middle of the 12 settings (both compression and rebound). Now, neither of us had completely perfect conditions this past weekend at the DC ProSolo, and there's more to be done to the car, so I'm sure we'll continue tweaking the shock settings. As for streetability, I drove from Baltimore, Maryland down to Turner Field in Atlanta two weeks ago on the same settings I autocross on. I could still walk when I got to my friend's house in Canton on Saturday night. For reference, in a stock, rental Toyota Corolla, I could barely walk after an eighty minute drive from Salt Lake City to Wendover, Utah. Talk that for what it's worth. Seriously, it wasn't quite as comfortable as the Konis were for the 9-10 hour trip, but the seats in the WRX aren't as comfortable as I would like either. I do have lower back problems (and the occasional sciatica), and they didn't act up on the ride down or back for the Atlanta Region points six event, so to me that says, "streetable."
Toledo ProSolo 2009 Some in car video from the car : DC ProSolo : http://videos.streetfire.net/video/2009-DC-ProSolo-Ladies-L2_699838.htm Toledo ProSolo : http://videos.streetfire.net/video/2009-Toledo-ProSolo-WRX_699824.htm Atlanta Points 8 at Turner Field : http://videos.streetfire.net/video/Subaru-WRX-autocrossing_701003.htm I'm getting differentials (front MFactory helical and rear Cusco Type RS 1.5way) in the next week, and that should about do it before Nationals.