Driving Sports

I for one have never been much for big power. Sure, lots of grunt is good and fun, but does it make your car better? For most of us interested in some form of amateur motorsport, the answer is no.

While this idea of less power is better might be blasphemous to some, Subiesport Technical Editor, Tim Bailey is one of these, I find that having balance, predictability and just a little bit less power than you have talent is a good way to find lower lap times.

But before I get into my most current round of chassis R&D, I have to set the record straight. In a previous article my colleague, employer and rival, Ryan Douthit stated, “Who's car has yet to put down a hot lap at our testing airfield? Oh right, that would be Travis' beloved Dreadnought Impreza. Excuses have ranged from 'the clutch is going' to 'the engine can't take any more,' yes, I've heard it all. Fact is, the car simply hasn't been able to withstand an entire lap, let alone run a complete race.”

These are half-truths

Fact: The Impreza has made many laps of the test track, just as many as any other car in our fleet ever has.

Fact: The clutch has been slipping from day one so we have never been able to get a clean pass. If anything this should be an indication of just how much is left on the table with the current powerplant and turbo setup. Once I get my new clutch in, I can see just how much oomph I really have.

Fact: Ryan’s car is COMPLETELY untested and truth be told, is a ragged-out, moldy junker with a new coat of paint and bad motor. All that talk of turbo kits and whatnot should be is just that, talk.

Fact: The Impreza makes a dyno-proven 175 whp and has about a year’s worth of suspension and chassis development under its belt.

Fact: Ryan’s car has a $500 re-spray job and a bad engine with no testing time.

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s talk about suspension upgrades. Currently, the Impreza is running DMS 50mm swaybars, a full Powerflex race-bushing kit, stock WRX sway bars, TopSpeed adjustable lateral links and trailing arms and stock front A-arms. Certainly, the Impreza has an impressive suspension setup currently, but I felt that it needed to go a little further.

While stock sway bars from a WRX are a huge improvement over stock L parts, they aren’t exactly what you would call motorsport hardware. The replacements are set of Whiteline units measuring 27mm in the front and 25mm in the rear with the fronts being 2-way adjustable and the rear being 3-way adjustable.

The TopSpeed lateral links were OK pieces, they were feature spherical bearings and are length adjustable for extra toe, track and camber, however, they are a little small in diameter. The Whiteline units are much beefier. While they don’t have spherical bushings, they do feature hardened urethane bushings.

One of the best ways to improve the handling of your car is to lower its center of gravity, that is, lower the car. However, this presents problems. Lowering a car changes the overall suspension and steering geometry, which, can result in some spooky steering and handling characteristics.

To remedy this, Whiteline supplied us with ball joint extenders and modified tie rods, which maintain stock geometry even if the car is lowered.

Another piece that I installed was a WRX-style transmission subframe, which is a much stouter unit than the stock L bit. To this I added a Group N transmission mount. This is a factory STI racing piece that will at some point accompany STI engine mounts.

The last little bit of trickery, and probably the coolest little bit, are the STI front control arms. While the stock units are stamped steel, the STI pieces are one piece cast aluminum which are stronger and lighter. These can be had at any Subaru parts department and come complete with new ball joints (which I tossed) and rear mounts (which I also tossed) in favor of a Whiteline anti-lift kit. These are a tad wider than the stock units and therefore add a bit of camber, which can be dialed out with our DMS top hats if need be. But I like the steering feel with more camber.

The last bit was to get a new alignment and because this IS a budget racer, I had a budget alignment done. This might have been a mistake, except for the fact that I opted for a major national tire chain’s “lifetime alignment” which means I can get my car aligned as many times as I like, forever. So I will be taking it back and standing over the technician with a shotgun to cut down on the retard, grease monkey nonsense.

Already, the car feels better, and more solid on the road. It is clearly now a more superior car than when I started. The next step is replacing the clutch, which is indeed toast. First gear is basically useless.

With the new clutch, I will head back to the test track to fine-tune the car’s setup for track use. Despite the foibles of the drivetrain, I am leaps and bounds ahead of the competition. Keep talking, Ryan; I have to get back to making my car better.