Dynamix Subaru Impreza STi 2006

wow - back from Northampton. Paul at Zen kindly offered me use of a ramp today so that I could do the bits while I was picking up the discs and whiteline jobbies. I got everything done

so today have done:

1. replace lower wishbone (the old one was scrap)
2. replace ball joint for Whiteline RC adjusted version (i have a spare too now)
3. replace track rod end for Whiteline version (also got a spare)
4. replace both front discs (how many bolts hold these fekkers on !!)
5. re-do geometry ... it was a looooooooooooooong way out
6. replace oil cooler core with a newer bigger core as the old on ewas split
7. check all pipework
8. replace gearbox mount with group N mount as the old one was bent by about an inch with the impact. Could not believe the damage on this, it must have taken a bit of a bash.

Got an amazing amount done, and am so thankful to Paul for this.

The trip home was awesome having to bed the brakes in according to Performance Frictions instructions... god love em

Nice to get home excited again

Sorry no pictures

Having got the car up to speed again (and a little more) since the enforced Turbo change, I headed up to Oulton Park on the friday morning under my own steam, with the car packed full of tools, tyres, jerry cans, spares and clothing for the weekend.

I arrived at Oulton Park at lunchtime and proceeded to unpack and get myself signed on and paid for the afternoon track session to get some much needed practice for this tricky track. The weather was glorious and we all hoped that this would be the case for the weekend.

The first few laps were slow in order to get a feel for the lines and braking points but gradually speed was increased to gain confidence on how the car would handle over the undulating surfaces, crests and dips there. Zen performance have worked wonders on the suspension over the course of the year and it felt superbly balanced through the faster corners aswell as the tight chicanes.

With some issues at previous events with intercooler hoses popping off I was keen to tested my new solution to this as well as test the new turbo - The HTA Green from Area 52 Autosport. I was over the moon with the turbo and the power delivery - the best it had been and with a little more time to tweek the map I am sure a healthy 500bhp would be acheived with it. Over the course of the 30 or so laps that I did on the friday, there were zero issues and I was all set for maximum attack on Saturday morning.

Saturday arrived and so did the rain ... not just a small helping but complete downpours. Not too bad for normal road tyres but on the 888 track tyres it would be entertaining.

First warm up session was on a trak covered in standing water and pouring rain but I headed out and quickly got up to speed and was enjoying the circuit. This did not last too long as unfortunately on only the third lap of the warmup the back end of the car stepped out on the exit kerb and the ice-like nature of this when wet caused me to flip back and forth until I eventually bounced into the armco on the side of the track.

The impact felt hard but I had no idea it had gone up quite that far. The car was stilling running sweetly whilst parked there so I gave it a minute to switch it off to allow the turbo to cool then went out to inspect the damage. I thought that this would be substantial judging from the force of the impact at around 50-60mph I couldnt believe that the damage to the bodywork was so minimal.

The wheels had taken most of the impact and broken a few suspension components but apart from that the front wing was the only real casualty.

I managed to limp back to the pits under my own steam to see what would be needed to be done to be able to drive home. I wasnt hopeful that this would be possible but I was going to try. APT quickly got to work to establish the broken parts and I headed out of the circuit with a good friend to purchase these from Subaru and local parts dealers, what i couldnt buy I scrounged off the fellow competitors in the pitlane. (Thanks everyone) The 'get me home' parts were fitted and the car sort of straight I parked up and went to watch along with the many spectators that were there.

The drive home was uneventful but I was pleased to be able to do it all the same.

What an event and what a track !

ooops

Been changing turbos ......

Off with the FP Green on with .... The HTA FP Green.

This has the new HTA compressor wheel. (full details here: http://store.forcedperformance.net/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=FP&Product_Code=NTSUBFPGREENHTA&Category_Code=WRX-Turbo)

The official feedback on this aero wheel is that it spools quicker than the green but flows more at the top aswell. Being a 57lb wheel compared to a 49lb wheel in the green. With the same 3 inch inlet and 8cm exhaust wheel but an anti surge housing.

So, to put it on.... what a bitch of a job !!! My forearms are raw, my knuckles are raw but I did it Without dropping oil everywhere too

Because of a recent oil feed pipe breakage we swapped to a braided hose for this to allow more flexibility in the pipework. All done up, tested and heated up and bolts re-tightened and I managed to do the in 5 hours :lol: I am knackered

Jase had told me that the HTA wheel sounds different to the original green. He was right 8-)

First feedback from winding it up fully is mmmmmmm nice

Boost-wise .... still some playing to do with the avcr duty cycles but it makes 1.5 bar at a tad over 3k and will hold 2 bar much longer than previously before tailing off. Initial logging shows around 10% increase in airflow/power/torque.

Still some work to be done but def a step up from the original fp green.

With some of the leftover ally/plastic composite sheet I decided it was time to make some end plates and canard type attachment for the splitter.

It proved quite tricky as the shape of the v limited lip on the bottom of the bumper was awkward but I got there in the end.

OSF one:

From above showing the upsweep of the canardy type thing (not sure whether this is a true canard) and the edge of the end plate:

The end plate nicely attached:

I doubt whether I will notice much if any difference but it beats watching euro 2008