matespace
27-11-2012, 07:06 PM
http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx270/go2spacebucket/YOKOHAMA/yokohama1-3.jpg
Having owned my first “Classic” WRX back in 1998 I have always had a soft spot for Subaru turbo’s. At the time I was recently married back in 2001 and the first thing to go was the “embarrassing” car. The things you do for love…. Anyway, fast forward 10 years and I have two lovely children and the same loving wife. In between that time I’ve had a string of great Euro cars however I always felt something was missing until the day I saw the press release for a new model WRX.
I’d sort of lost touch with the brand and didn’t even realise each model had a nickname. The common name for my car was Fat Betty apparently named after Ugly Betty now that my model was fat (heavier & wider) That didn’t sit well with me as I thought the car looked much better than Subaru’s previous attempts. I posted a few pictures online then after a few comments the new name of “Hammerhead” was born. Not the prettiest shark in the sea but better than Fat Betty :)
http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx270/go2spacebucket/YOKOHAMA/yokohama2-3.png
The wide body sedan sparked the boy racer in me and I immediately began dropping hints and changing the desktop wallpaper for fresh shots of the new model. By the time the car was released in Australia I had worn my wife down.
The next logical step was to drag my wife along for a test drive hoping she would fall in love once seeing one in the flesh. That wasn’t to be as the first comment out of her mouth was that it’s got the same hideous wing your old car had, why don’t you just get the WRX instead. My hopes of a new STI had gone out the window. I returned home that night to compare the two and low and behold the WRX had come a long way and was similar in power and a fraction lighter compared to the STi.
My new mission was to build a WRX into the equivalent of the STI sans the big wing. Sure I’m missing the better gearbox and tricky diffs but it wasn’t worth arguing about and it doesn’t appear to be slowing me down on the track.
http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx270/go2spacebucket/YOKOHAMA/yokohama3-1.jpg
In between ordering the car and it arriving I joined the NSW WRX Club http://wrx.org.au and began researching what parts I needed. During this time I knew I wanted to track the car. I’ve had a string of fast cars but never found the time to actually drive any of them on a race track. Looking back I’ve only ever driven a go kart track twice in my life so not sure why I was so fixated on setting my car up for track work. If you asked my wife she would just put it down to an early mid-life crisis.
My car arrived and I was so excited I drove to Brisbane for work rather than flying. I returned home to Sydney with 4,000 k’s on the clock and started the mods after the first month.
Being an absolute beginner but wanting to be a “race car driver” I enlisted the help of 5th Gear Motoring for a one of one drive training session. It was a full day session around Wakefield Park that started out in the 5th Gear R32 GTR. I figured it would be best to have my first attempt in somebody else’s car :) http://www.fifthgear.com.au/
http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx270/go2spacebucket/YOKOHAMA/yokohama4.jpg
Whilst I certainly didn’t break any lap records I was well and truly addicted. Looking back at my lap data I only got a best of a 1:18 but that was enough to leave me wanting more. I found myself attending random speed off the streets days then a MRT track day where I met someone with a similar car. It wasn’t long before we both attended half a dozen track days together and our times started to drop.
At the start of the year I had set some personal goals. It’s only a hobby but I set myself a target of 1:12. That ended up being a lot easier to get than I realised so I then adjusted that to 1:10. All of a sudden it was a lot harder to knock off half a second and I actually had to work more on my driving ability. It was late July by this stage and I booked into a Track school day with John Boston http://www.trackschool.com.au. One of the best things I ever did was getting “Boz” to take me for a lap in my own car. We cruised around with a 1:09.9 lap then he jumped out and I set off to do the same. That day I broke the 1:10 mark and have never looked back. All of a sudden I had what it takes to produce a 1:09.x lap around Wakefield Park.
http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx270/go2spacebucket/YOKOHAMA/yokohama5.jpg
My trusty Yokohama AD08’s have been fantastic to learn on and they seem to have a never ending tread while others around me have been in search for replacement tyres. I’m limited to street tyres for club events but have recently discovered Circuit Club and the world of Advan A050 semi slicks after visiting Time Attack. I’ve only had two runs on these tyres but the grip level is amazing. With these tyres I’ve run multiple high 1:08 laps around Wakefield and based on the data I’m collecting I should actually be running very low 1:08’s but I’m still getting used to them. Not bad for a street car that weighs in at over 1500kg with driver.
I’ll never be as fast as a high powered Evo and I secretly want one as a track car but need to work on my wife for a suitable tow car before that can happen.
http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx270/go2spacebucket/YOKOHAMA/yokohama6.png
For now my personal best is 1:08.79 around Wakefield. I’m looking forward to 2013 and seeing how much I can improve on that.
2011 Subaru WRX Sedan
Engine:
Process West top mount intercooler
tcp auto turbo back exhaust
Process West cold air intake
Grimm Speed 3 port boost solenoid and AOS
Walbro 255 l/h fuel pump
Custom ECU tune
Suspension:
A lot of Whiteline gear :)
Front and rear sway bars
Motorsport anti lift kit
Roll centre and diff kit
Whiteline H brace and
KW Clubsport coilovers
Interior:
Subaru Premium pack. Good idea at the time now I just think of it as added weight that impacts my lap times
Factory leather, sunroof and SatNav
PROVA D-shaped Alcantara steering wheel
3” Sabelt harnesses
Custom made AGI harness bar
MOMO Atomik shift knob
STI front lip
STI Spec R Recaro seats
Wheels/Tyres/Brakes:
Powered coated Satin Black with factory 17x8 +53 rims with stock Dunlop SP01 235/45/17
Factory 17x8 rims with Advan A050’s
949 Racing Wheels for track 17x9 +48 with Yokohama Neova AD08 255/40/17 tyres
D2 8pot 330mm front rotors and 4pot rears with braided lines
What’s next:
I’m reaching the pointy end with lap times in a street car so the next logical step is a serious power upgrade. Forged pistons and a built short block would be a good start. I just need to find the right tuner/builder.
Special thanks to:
David @ http://www.eastcoastsuspensions.com.au
Nick @ http://www.nrgauto.com.au
Adam @ http://www.agi-precision.com.au
Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=wF5CPVHBSC8
Images
http://www.flickr.com/photos/my2011wrx/sets/72157632091289193/
For more information Click Here (http://clixtrac.com/goto/?42138) to visit Advan’s Website.
Having owned my first “Classic” WRX back in 1998 I have always had a soft spot for Subaru turbo’s. At the time I was recently married back in 2001 and the first thing to go was the “embarrassing” car. The things you do for love…. Anyway, fast forward 10 years and I have two lovely children and the same loving wife. In between that time I’ve had a string of great Euro cars however I always felt something was missing until the day I saw the press release for a new model WRX.
I’d sort of lost touch with the brand and didn’t even realise each model had a nickname. The common name for my car was Fat Betty apparently named after Ugly Betty now that my model was fat (heavier & wider) That didn’t sit well with me as I thought the car looked much better than Subaru’s previous attempts. I posted a few pictures online then after a few comments the new name of “Hammerhead” was born. Not the prettiest shark in the sea but better than Fat Betty :)
http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx270/go2spacebucket/YOKOHAMA/yokohama2-3.png
The wide body sedan sparked the boy racer in me and I immediately began dropping hints and changing the desktop wallpaper for fresh shots of the new model. By the time the car was released in Australia I had worn my wife down.
The next logical step was to drag my wife along for a test drive hoping she would fall in love once seeing one in the flesh. That wasn’t to be as the first comment out of her mouth was that it’s got the same hideous wing your old car had, why don’t you just get the WRX instead. My hopes of a new STI had gone out the window. I returned home that night to compare the two and low and behold the WRX had come a long way and was similar in power and a fraction lighter compared to the STi.
My new mission was to build a WRX into the equivalent of the STI sans the big wing. Sure I’m missing the better gearbox and tricky diffs but it wasn’t worth arguing about and it doesn’t appear to be slowing me down on the track.
http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx270/go2spacebucket/YOKOHAMA/yokohama3-1.jpg
In between ordering the car and it arriving I joined the NSW WRX Club http://wrx.org.au and began researching what parts I needed. During this time I knew I wanted to track the car. I’ve had a string of fast cars but never found the time to actually drive any of them on a race track. Looking back I’ve only ever driven a go kart track twice in my life so not sure why I was so fixated on setting my car up for track work. If you asked my wife she would just put it down to an early mid-life crisis.
My car arrived and I was so excited I drove to Brisbane for work rather than flying. I returned home to Sydney with 4,000 k’s on the clock and started the mods after the first month.
Being an absolute beginner but wanting to be a “race car driver” I enlisted the help of 5th Gear Motoring for a one of one drive training session. It was a full day session around Wakefield Park that started out in the 5th Gear R32 GTR. I figured it would be best to have my first attempt in somebody else’s car :) http://www.fifthgear.com.au/
http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx270/go2spacebucket/YOKOHAMA/yokohama4.jpg
Whilst I certainly didn’t break any lap records I was well and truly addicted. Looking back at my lap data I only got a best of a 1:18 but that was enough to leave me wanting more. I found myself attending random speed off the streets days then a MRT track day where I met someone with a similar car. It wasn’t long before we both attended half a dozen track days together and our times started to drop.
At the start of the year I had set some personal goals. It’s only a hobby but I set myself a target of 1:12. That ended up being a lot easier to get than I realised so I then adjusted that to 1:10. All of a sudden it was a lot harder to knock off half a second and I actually had to work more on my driving ability. It was late July by this stage and I booked into a Track school day with John Boston http://www.trackschool.com.au. One of the best things I ever did was getting “Boz” to take me for a lap in my own car. We cruised around with a 1:09.9 lap then he jumped out and I set off to do the same. That day I broke the 1:10 mark and have never looked back. All of a sudden I had what it takes to produce a 1:09.x lap around Wakefield Park.
http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx270/go2spacebucket/YOKOHAMA/yokohama5.jpg
My trusty Yokohama AD08’s have been fantastic to learn on and they seem to have a never ending tread while others around me have been in search for replacement tyres. I’m limited to street tyres for club events but have recently discovered Circuit Club and the world of Advan A050 semi slicks after visiting Time Attack. I’ve only had two runs on these tyres but the grip level is amazing. With these tyres I’ve run multiple high 1:08 laps around Wakefield and based on the data I’m collecting I should actually be running very low 1:08’s but I’m still getting used to them. Not bad for a street car that weighs in at over 1500kg with driver.
I’ll never be as fast as a high powered Evo and I secretly want one as a track car but need to work on my wife for a suitable tow car before that can happen.
http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx270/go2spacebucket/YOKOHAMA/yokohama6.png
For now my personal best is 1:08.79 around Wakefield. I’m looking forward to 2013 and seeing how much I can improve on that.
2011 Subaru WRX Sedan
Engine:
Process West top mount intercooler
tcp auto turbo back exhaust
Process West cold air intake
Grimm Speed 3 port boost solenoid and AOS
Walbro 255 l/h fuel pump
Custom ECU tune
Suspension:
A lot of Whiteline gear :)
Front and rear sway bars
Motorsport anti lift kit
Roll centre and diff kit
Whiteline H brace and
KW Clubsport coilovers
Interior:
Subaru Premium pack. Good idea at the time now I just think of it as added weight that impacts my lap times
Factory leather, sunroof and SatNav
PROVA D-shaped Alcantara steering wheel
3” Sabelt harnesses
Custom made AGI harness bar
MOMO Atomik shift knob
STI front lip
STI Spec R Recaro seats
Wheels/Tyres/Brakes:
Powered coated Satin Black with factory 17x8 +53 rims with stock Dunlop SP01 235/45/17
Factory 17x8 rims with Advan A050’s
949 Racing Wheels for track 17x9 +48 with Yokohama Neova AD08 255/40/17 tyres
D2 8pot 330mm front rotors and 4pot rears with braided lines
What’s next:
I’m reaching the pointy end with lap times in a street car so the next logical step is a serious power upgrade. Forged pistons and a built short block would be a good start. I just need to find the right tuner/builder.
Special thanks to:
David @ http://www.eastcoastsuspensions.com.au
Nick @ http://www.nrgauto.com.au
Adam @ http://www.agi-precision.com.au
Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=wF5CPVHBSC8
Images
http://www.flickr.com/photos/my2011wrx/sets/72157632091289193/
For more information Click Here (http://clixtrac.com/goto/?42138) to visit Advan’s Website.