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Sideways at Prodrive UK

Just before Christmas I was running a series from my trip to Rally GB in 2007. I've dusted the files off and have one more from that series to share. This was the visit to the Prodrive test track in Warwickshire.

I had a chance to drive a Subaru Type UK 2007 STI and a Group-N WRC car on the high-speed course (my first time in a right-hand drive), plus I had a little fun on the ice simulator. Prodrive has one of only two such simulators in the UK.

Thanks to Subaru of America for hookup us up. Enjoy the video, just after the jump.

2008 Olympus Rally Wrap-up

April 19-20 2008, Pomeroy, Wash.

We’re only three events into the 2008 Rally America series, with six events yet to run, but I’ll go out on a limb and predict that this is the year Ken Block and co-driver Alessandro Gelsomino win the Rally America national championship. After two years in the shadow of teammates Travis Pastrana and co-driver Christian Edstrom, Block and Gelsomino have won two of the first three events in dominating fashion.

“I’m definitely going to try for the championship. This year, we’ve got a plan,” remarked Block at the Olympus podium ceremony.

Whatever that plan is, it’s working very nicely. Block won 7 of the 16 Olympus stages outright and finished second on 4 more. On the 5 remaining stages, a quirk in the Rally America championship rules created a tie with up to 17 other competitors.

Turning Lemons into Lemonade Whiskey

Shortly after wrapping issue #21 of Subiesport Magazine the 2007 Legacy GT project car started to exhibit a sure sign of pending engine failure: white smoke pouring from the exhaust when started. After filling the chamber with air for the leakdown test, anyone could audibly hear hissing from the crankcase -- from as far as 5 feet away. That's a bad sign. Furthermore, it was only holding 75-lbs of pressure (the other three were at the more-appropriate 150-lbs each.)

So, what to do? Time to take Project Legacy GT to the next level, of course. Here is a sampling of the ingredients:

- Brand-New 2007 STI EJ257 Shortblock
- Cosworth Forged Pistons
- Deatschwerks 740cc Injectors
- AVO 420 Turbo
- Perrin Front-Mount Intercooler
- AVO fuel pump
- ACT Heavy Duty Organic Clutch (#SB5-HDMM) -- the stock clutch was fried
- ACT Streetlite 14.4-lbs Flywheel

This stiff concoction is being mixed by PDX Tuning in Portland, Ore. We'll of course have the process and the results in an upcoming issue of Subiesport, as Travis has been on the scene documenting it all -- with photos and video. Click the jump for a taste of the "action."

As for what caused the piston failure... have you seen me drive?

Before she went south, we were able to tune her with a Delta PnP computer, EcuTek and Cobb Accessport 2.0. The data from those sessions will be part of a future article. In the new issue of Subiesport she received a set of Coilovers from Endura-Tech, a Go Fast Bits BOV from Global Performance Parts (what can I say, I like a little 'bling) and a new nose courtesy of Mach V motorsports.

Spice up the office walls!

Get photos straight out of Subiesport Magazine for your home, office, garage or dorm! Starting with the new issue, we are offering select photos from each issue as professional prints -- from 4x6 photos, to massive 30x40-inch photographic enlargements. You can also buy mugs, coasters and more adorned with your favorite photos! Check out photos.mediaspigot.com to browse photos from the April/May issue right now! Note that watermarks (the Subiesport logo on each pic in the online browser) are removed from all purchased images.

April/May issue of Subiesport

The April/May issue of Subiesport was dropped at the post office today. We also decided to make the digital edition available today as well. Print subscribers will receive their access codes in the next 48-hours. Digital subscribers can access it immediately. Everyone else can peruse 15 pages (any 15 pages, so click wisely) of the issue by selecting "Preview" when prompted for a login.

We're really happy with this issue. Where the last issue focused on the world-wide Subaru community, this new one has a heavy focus on the cars and making them even better: From tuning the 2008 Impreza STI for more power to testing Endura-Tech coilovers on our Project Legacy GT. We even have our annual rally guide and one of our reporters tells of drinking to excess and getting naked in the Arctic circle -- hey, somebody's got to do it.

Here's the complete content roundup: Tuning the 2008 Impreza STI, Hot bugeye wagon, STI in Pink, Harman Motive's white wonder, 2008 Rally Guide, Alcan 5000, WRC coverage, 100 Acre Wood, Kumakubo and fuel system tech with Tim Bailey. Project Legacy GT gets a new grille from Mach V motorsports, a blingin' BOV from Go Fast Bits and Global Performance Parts, plus hot coilovers tested from Endura-Tech. Project Dreadnought (1993 Impreza L Wagon) gets the following: 22B Widebody kit from HTAutos, fresh clutch and flywheel, Whiteline suspension bits from Global Performance Parts.

This new issue will be available on newsstands the first week of May or via our company store (www.carzines.com), immediately. If you subscribe to the print edition between now and May 6, this issue will be your first issue on the subscription as we're now doing "second mailings" to minimize the lag time for new subscribers. New digital subscribers will receive immediate access to the issue.

Upgrading a 2007 Legacy GT Turbo

For anyone looking to upgrade the turbo in their Subaru, this is a must-see video! Sean Sexton of Rallitek Performance shares some quick tips that could save you hours in the garage. Of course, swapping a turbo isn't the simplest of jobs, so be sure you have some skills with a wrench before undertaking a project like this: doing it wrong could easily destroy your engine.

We'll have a full step-by-step in a future issue of the magazine, but here's the sneak preview featuring Sexton doing the upgrade to our 2007 Project Legacy GT with an AVO 420 turbo. The new AVO unit is bigger and badder (in a good way) than the Blouch 18G we've been running for the past year. That turbo was great, but for our tastes bigger is better. Of course, to support this larger turbo we'll also be doing a lot more under the hood, that's for certain. More to come!

Subaru + Toyota = Hot RWD Coupé

We report it as a rumor in the upcoming April/May issue of Subiesport Magazine, but it's now official: The progeny of the Toyota and Subaru relationship will hit the streets in 2010 (as a 2011 model). Manufactured at the Gunma, Japan, plant (which also produces current-gen Impreza models) it is speculated that his new hot coupe will be cheap (near $16,000), fast (motivated by Subaru's turbo-charged 1.8- or 2.0-liter boxer) and rear-wheel drive. Everything we love in a car.

UK Magazine Autocar tossed in its own concept drawing (see pic) of this new future-roo, but we think it's way to early to speculate with any accuracy.

Previous rumors are that this car will be the spiritual descendant of the classic AE86, and badged as a Toyota. Autocar reports it will be available in both Subaru and Toyota flavors. Regardless of what it's called, if it's built by Subaru, we're going to cover it in Subiesport Magazine.

Not coincidentally, Toyota will also boost its investment in Fuji Heavy Industries (Subarus parent company) from 8.7% to 16.5%. Forbes reports:

Japan's largest automaker Toyota Motor Corp. and Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. said Thursday they have agreed to expand their existing capital and business partnership, with Toyota hiking its equity interest in the maker of Subaru cars to 16.5 percent from the current 8.7 percent.

With this decision we will step deeper into the Toyota group, while maintaining our independence,' Fuji Heavy president Ikuo Mori told a press conference.

'We will stop making mini cars (with engine displacement of less than 660cc), to focus our resources on the compact car business,' he said.

2008 WRX Update, Better Handling

After driving our new 2008 project car, Nemo, around for about a week now, one thing has become glaringly clear: This car needs suspension upgrades. And not needs in the sense of, I need to because I am a driving junky, it needs it because it flat needs it.

During hard cornering on a freeway on-ramp round-about, we were able to get the car to rock back and forth, while under cornering load by getting our trunk monkey to bounce around in the rear seat. Even tracking straight down the road, the car would undulate over bumps. While this is very comfortable for highway driving, it is no good for any sort of performance situation. Why Subaru decided to tune the suspension for Miss Daisy and not Mr. Solberg is a bit of a mystery. Perhaps they thought that the hot hatch market was getting older, perhaps they thought that we really all wanted a vague and “floaty” suspension, or perhaps they just got a killer deal on springs from Buick. There is help though.

Driving the 2008 WRX and 2008 STI on course

Today we put another issue in the can, well more or less in the can. As I write this MediaSpigot Publisher, Ryan Douthit, is slaving over the “technical aspects” of formatting the files that will become the next issue of Subiesport.

While he does that, I am reflecting on my recent driving experiences, most notably a bone-stock 2008 WRX and a very-modified 2008 STI. While the two are very similar in behavior, one is more akin to Bud light, easy to drink and keep in your stomach, even after you drink a whole sixer; while the other is more like Barley Wine, much harder to stomach, especially after you have had a few.

Now I am not saying that one is more enjoyable than the other, but it shows where tuning can get out of hand. Or rather, how a performance-driving setting can bring out the less-than-stellar qualities in a car.