Here is a photo of my Wagon in autocross race trim: I absolutely love the car - I first wanted a Subaru when I was 18 years old. I wanted a wagon back then too. It only took me 25 years to get one. Len
Welcome, and awesome WRX! I first wanted a WRX this year (18) too. I just hope it doesn't take 25 years. Hahah.
I'd love to hear about some of the modifications you have done for autocross. Suspension changes, wheel/tire sizes. Looks great!
Thanks for the kind comments guys. I look forward to seeing some of your rides and learning everything I can about Subarus. Superdoughboy4 - If you can avoid it, don't wait! Dr. Chris - I'm still learning Subaru, having campaigned a SM MINI Cooper S for the last five years or so, but some basic suspension tweaks are relatively constant. I was lucky to get the car with a few really good mods already done. The original owner had added Prodrive springs and Cobb front and rear swaybars, both set on the middle setting. I have heard that full stiff front is a good choice for our cars, so I will give that a try sometime. I added camber bolts, and set the front to -2.5 and the rear to -1.1, a set-up that I find comfortable as a compromise for daily driving duties and autocross. I plan on adding a rear strut bar, which seems to make sense to me in a wagon; it seems like a front strut bar in the 2.5 car is unnecessary. I have found that if you are not racing on R Compound tires, choosing the right street tire with that right grip makes the most difference. Falken Azenis used to be just about the only affordable choice, but there are currently alot of great choices from Kumho, Dunlop, Bridgestone($), Hankook, Yokohoma. As pictured, the car is on the 225 45 17 Bridgestones that the original owner had on the car, I just put them on better wheels. After they wear, I will replace them with Dunlop Direzza Star Specs in a 235 40 17. Hope this helps - I am still learning this car. Come on up and race with us in the Chattanooga Region SCCA - check out www.crscca.com. (I did try and make nice with Meredith, she sent a gracious pm and I attempted to respond twice, but received no response - I may be doing something wrong, as my user control shows no sent pms, although some were sent by me and received by another site member and don't show up as sent, or she may have received my pms, I don't know). The Atlanta Region seems to be pretty awesome, with good people and lots of drivers/cars to compete with, watch, learn from, etc. If you are interested in heading north, let me know, as I may be of help. Len
Wirelessly posted (From Your Mom's House) You really need a rear strut tower bar. It will make a noticeable difference, even during your daily commute. Whiteline make a detachable one...comes in handy.
Lil' Jew has all the nice stuff, if mine wasn't in a package deal I bought, this is what I would have gone with. Don't forget the steering rack bushings as this made a big difference as well
Lil' Jew - share your wagon wisdom with me, please! I have been contacting vendors regarding the best price that I can get on the Whiteline quick release bar for about a week now. I plan on the Group N stuff - motor mounts, tranny mount, pitch stop, bushings, strut top mounts - is this a good choice? Honestly, I loved and still love my (now my son's) MINI. Put alot of work and $ into making it as competitive as I could, not too many MINIs as modified as mine in our part of the world - but the Subaru is SO much more car right out of the box. My son is already concerned about the day when we switch from co-driving the MINI and I put the Subaru on course. Len
TurninConcepts might be your best bet, good group of guys and a wealth of knowledge and respond to tech emails in timely fashion with the answer your looking for.
Hahah. A friend/former youth pastor of mine has an '05 Cooper S. He hasn't done much other than get rid of the chrome trim, paint his side view mirrors red, and change out the belt for his supercharger. It's pretty cool, and I know he has a lot of fun driving it. It's always one of the few interesting cars in our church parking lot, next to all of the parents' Benz C-clases and Lexus ESs and RXs and all of that jazz.
Matt: Got the pm - thanks for the advice. I pm'd back, but I swear, I cannot figure out what is going on with my pming on the site - no indication that they are being sent through folders, showing 0 pms sent, but I know at least one pm got to the recipient. Len
I realize that I am by-passing one of the site's rules here a little bit, but I just wanted to get out there that I have some OEM stuff off of my 2007 Wagon that I am looking to sell/trade. I don't have the requisite 25 posts to post in the classified section, but I don't think I am what the rule attempts to limit/eliminate, as I plan on being here awhile. If anyone is interested or knows of anyone interested in the following OEM stuff, just shoot me a pm: I have OEM exhaust (turbo-back - would like to sell all three pieces to one buyer if possible, but will sell individual pieces if necessary); front and rear swaybars; springs. Would like to try and get a little Christmas money or save a little $ through trade. Len