Rallycross Special: Front-Wheel-Drive (yes) Impreza build

[texan_idiot25]

Long post, a lot to catch up on. Still have the CST10 and Formula, but the Formula will be sold.

Current stats about the car:

1993 Subaru Impreza L, 2wd
1.8L SOHC (Still 16 valve, though) Flat Four, N/A. ~110 hp.
Legacy GT struts and springs all around; with Forester subframe, lateral links, and rear sway bar. RS springs are planned for the rear. AWD ready now.

Next plans: Power and traction!
Either 2.5 swap, or mild turbo setup with a front limited slip. It'll help clear the power deficit that kills this model of Subaru. My archnemesis is also adding power and diff this month, so I have to keep up with the Joneses.

So, for a refresher, this is my experience at the first Texas Rally Sport event:

http://hooniverse.com/2012/02/18/onc...goes-rallying/

I ran my '96 Firebird Formula (Trans-Am with out the bodykit) for a few events, and it did OK, but not ideal.



For the fourth event, I 'rented' a '95 Impreza with 2 other drivers. It was mid-build, but had WRX front suspension, and rally tires. The course was almost identical to the 1st even, where I ran the Formula. This little Subaru was 15 seconds faster around the track! It was a wicked time, ridiculous grip and enough suspension to attack the course at speed with control.


(Driving with the aforementioned madwomen, Brianne Corn.. "Go faster! No brake!")

The results? Third place, and 2nd fastest time of the day!



However, this car still beat all three of us in that '95... Owned by the series boss.



Well, I fell upon an offer I couldn't refuse. And with a generous sale from the boss of Texas Rally Sport, I got this '93 Impreza L 2wd, with a trunk full of RS2.5 suspension, AWD parts, and spares, and a set of rally tires for 1500 bucks. :mrgreen: All on the condition that he has a seat in the car at events. Currently its suspension is a mix of stock and RS2.5 parts. WRX cat-back (Quiet), and a cut airbox (Louder than the exhaust, lulzy) are the only "power" "mods", but it seems to help according to other 1.8 Subaru drivers.

I'm happy, time to really compete in Rally Cross. And, it's nice to average more than 15 mpg on premium fuel, like the Formula.

Then came my first race with the car::

WEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

2nd place, fastest time in rally2wd. The suspension build should start next week. It'll be a hodge-podge of Outback, Forrestor suspension links and AWD parts, with 2.5RS springs.

And then, the suspension build came.

And suddenly, Legacy GT struts/rear hubs/brakes on Forester subframe/lateral links!











And the non-fancy photos

And then race number six! Not happy with my driving, or with the car's handling. It rotates into corners GREAT, but tends to wash out on corner exits. I think the screwed suspension geometry is the cause. The lifted front lost camber due to the lower control arm geometry. This can all be easily fixed with factory Subaru parts, but I haven't gotten to it. AND the horse power gauntlet has been thrown, so it may be turbo'd by the next race.







[YOUTUBE]nuVPtXIb0mA[/YOUTUBE]

After all that, the car held up very well to the abuse on the new parts. I had time to throw on a new bumper, and play with some intake modifications. The PO had cut the main airbox for performance, but at the expense of wicked hot underhood air. While the car sounded cool with the open intake roar, I wanted something more sealed from dirt and heat. Modified the stock inner fender ducting to get cool air from the bumper area with less restrictions in the process. It's also behind a lot of plastic shielding to keep junk out of it, and may even get a bit of ram-air effect from being behind the front bumper vents. I don't care for that, but the 20-30 degree cooler air makes a massive difference.











Stock inner fender ducting:




Short half of the u-bend removed (probably the only real restriction here), top sealed, and front of the box cut.





MMMM, cold air, sealed filter box.

So this is where we sit now:

[texan_idiot25]

Rallycross this saturday.

So I haven't gotten everything I wanted this month to upgrade the car, so reliability stuff was done. Mostly getting all my gas tank problems sorted out from the AWD tank/suspension swap. Getting a working sending unit, solving the fuel starving problems, and next up is getting the right filler neck in so that it can be filled with a regular gas pump.

In the meantime, some 16" Legacy tarbo wheels with Goodyear Eagle tires, taken off our parts Legacy tarbo were bolted on as street tires. No more dorky, tiny, useless 14" tires!

[texan_idiot25]

It survives a day at rallycross in College Station. 2nd place in R2.





However, on the street, that's when things get dangerous. A kid wasn't paying attention, and didn't signal when he decided to change lanes into me. Pushed the Subaru into a curb at 40 mph, and caused some ruckus.






Front-passenger fender took the hit. His bumper caught my bumper cover, and tore it off. Both passenger wheels hit the curb, wouldn't be surprised if the front-pass was bent. Front-pass control arm might be tweaked. Tore up one tire. None too happy, and this insurance company is full of lazy M-Fs. The last two times I was hit were fun experiences in comparison.

[winner]

dang dude, really hope things get sorted and get sorted correctly. i've really enjoyed watching the progress on this thing. before i saw this thread i had no idea subaru had ever made anything but AWD

[texan_idiot25]

Currently working with the kid's insurance company to try and come out ahead on this. Getting the car back with a clear title, and plenty of repair money will be interesting, but I can argue that all the modifications to the car increase the value to some extent, and should buffer the repair cost vs. stock car value enough to get them to cut a check and give me a clean car back.

Problem is, the car is still 140 miles away.

[texan_idiot25]

So, what do you do when your car is finally released form insurance purgatory, 3 days before a race? **** body work, it's still in one piece, run it!

YouTube Video

We also got some really awesome aerial footage, which you can see my bumperless ****box sliding around.