ORCA - Coming Soon: SILVIA RM SPEC CUP!

[BrandonW77]

It's a 2008. I know it's not the best year but I've been looking for three weeks now and it's hard to find any WRX. The few I have found were for outrageous prices, this one was around $18k with low miles so I jumped on it. I'm happy, fastest thing I've ever owned!

Carr, I had a 2006 Impreza 2.5i before. I figured my insurance would go up quite a bit but 13 bucks a month is nothing! It's nice that everything feels so familiar........just better, and way quicker! I thought my old Impreza was quick but this thing is wicked! Good thing I've had hundreds of hours of virtual training.

 

[Naptown25rs]

It's a 2008. I know it's not the best year but I've been looking for three weeks now and it's hard to find any WRX. The few I have found were for outrageous prices, this one was around $18k with low miles so I jumped on it. I'm happy, fastest thing I've ever owned!

Carr, I had a 2006 Impreza 2.5i before. I figured my insurance would go up quite a bit but 13 bucks a month is nothing! It's nice that everything feels so familiar........just better, and way quicker! I thought my old Impreza was quick but this thing is wicked! Good thing I've had hundreds of hours of virtual training.

Get a Cobb Tuning AccessPort, ~$600 I believe, the reflash will net you some really decent hp/tq gains and fuel mileage increase. Might get you really close to the 2009 model year levels.

 

[BrandonW77]

That's the first thing in my list. any good places to get them used?

 

[Naptown25rs]

That's the first thing in my list. any good places to get them used?

Other than Craigslist or EBay, I don't know... Cobb and Perrin Performance both do accessports and maps, they might resell used/traded in units.

 

[BrandonW77]

I'm happy with it as-is for now. I've never driven a turbo so it's fantastic to me! Accessport is first thing I do though, I know all about them.

Edit: NC, I'm going to be heading your way soon to watch some kart racing, we'll have to meet up so you can give her a thrashing.

 

[OwensRacing]

Congratulations Brandon. It is a very sharp looking ride.


Now with you in that. Seems appropriate we race the Impreza TC's in a series.



As for racing in real life. You got me covered. My car isn't running now. LoL maybe when I get it up and going we can hit the strip. Then this fall I want to hit Putnam park. Bought better pads, rotors, lines, an fluid in preparation for a track day.

 

[Marcus Garvey]

I'm happy with it as-is for now. I've never driven a turbo so it's fantastic to me! Accessport is first thing I do though, I know all about them.

Edit: NC, I'm going to be heading your way soon to watch some kart racing, we'll have to meet up so you can give her a thrashing.

Congratulations on the new purchase!

If the car has RE92s; give them to someone you don't like. Now! The Deathtenza wears poorly, wallows, and the breakaway is very erratic earning them that name. You can often find RE070s from an STi for a song from those who upgrade.

On the other hand, the chassis is very safe. I walked away from a wreck in a 2005 that occurred at around 105mph. Tyre failed, the rear walked into a tree in the left rear door blowing the rear window out and sending the LR wheel/strut assembly a few hundred feet up into the woods. The LR caliper was never found, along with the LR axle, but all of doors were openable except the LR, and the driver's window which was partway down was never broken. Side airbags are wonderful. The only injuries I received was a cut in the webbing between my fingers from the rear window glass getting everywhere and scratched my hand as I grabbed for the shifter, and a hematoma in my left hip from the seat bolster. The B pillars are laminated stamped steel surrounding a small 'rollbar' of sorts.

If I am recalling correctly 2008 has a catless uppipe which is wonderful as the older models had a tendancy for the cat to break up and destroy the turbine. If you plan for increased boost, I would monitor exhaust temperatures. Specifically, monitor cylinder #4, as it is the last on both the coolant cycle and fuel line giving it a tendancy to run lean and get hotter than the rest. If an EJ motor goes, it's *almost* always number four.

The only downside is that the cars are a bit soft, making them rather pushy at the limit. You can mediate some of this cheaply with crash bolts up front to gain some camber, and a set of sway bars. Also, the drivetrain is mounted in soft rubber, and I remember a hurried 1-2 shift would often feel like the rear differential wanted to come up through the backseat. Hopefully they haven't changed the oil filter location, as it was nice to be able to change oil without jacking the car up at all. Subaru even put trap doors in the splash shield so I didn't have to pull the plastic apart each time.

Oh, and plan on replacing the clutch between 100-125K km. In rare cases they make it close to 200k km, but that is almost invariably in cars that spend all of their time on the motorway. They are cake to change, though.

 

[OwensRacing]

A cat before the turbo? SERIOUSLY?

 

[Marcus Garvey]

Yup. The earlier models all had them, and an uppipe was a common first modification.

 

[Naptown25rs]

A cat before the turbo? SERIOUSLY?

Subaru is notorious for having ridiculously restrictive exhaust systems... Catted Up and Down pipe and I believe two cats on the mid-pipe. Pretty sad how much more the car could be from the factory.

My 2000 naturally aspirated Impreza RS has two cats on it.

 

[BrandonW77]

Some more pics of my new Subie.

And one of my favorite parts:





And in an unrelated note, the residents of Windsor, Ontario are reporting a mysterious "hum" that can constantly be heard and is possibly making them ill. Should we tell them it's just JohnnyPenso sawing on his DFGT?

http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blog...r-debated-172106207--abc-news-topstories.html

 

[Johnnypenso]

Nice pics Brandon:tup:

Ahhhh the infamous Windsor hum...lol. I've never heard it, but it's mostly a west side of town thing and my friends over there say they hear it. I wouldn't be surprised if it all turned out to be in their heads, but fingers are pointing to the wrong side of the border to a big facility on Zug Island in the middle of the Detroit River. Rumour has it Obama has a secret underground facility pumping out windmills, solar panels and other wastes of taxpayer money...

 

[Naptown25rs]

Edit: NC, I'm going to be heading your way soon to watch some kart racing, we'll have to meet up so you can give her a thrashing.

Which races do you plan on attending? I'd definitely be up for hanging out at the kart track, schedule permitting... Been working a decent amount of OT lately, and I'm off work this week because little miss NC arrived yesterday, so I don't plan on venturing out very much for the next few weeks. However, I don't think I could pass up some spirited driving in the new Suby.

 

[Naptown25rs]

Congratulations on the new purchase!

If the car has RE92s; give them to someone you don't like. Now! The Deathtenza wears poorly, wallows, and the breakaway is very erratic earning them that name. You can often find RE070s from an STi for a song from those who upgrade.

Um... I'm not sure what you're talking about, but RE92's are pretty much the best tire EVER!

 

[BrandonW77]

Which races do you plan on attending? I'd definitely be up for hanging out at the kart track, schedule permitting... Been working a decent amount of OT lately, and I'm off work this week because little miss NC arrived yesterday, so I don't plan on venturing out very much for the next few weeks. However, I don't think I could pass up some spirited driving in the new Suby.

Um... I'm not sure what you're talking about, but RE92's are pretty much the best tire EVER!

First off, congrats papa!! I don't have a set date in mind yet, I just checked their website the other day to see if they were running yet and they are so I figured I need to get down there. Cheap and close way to enjoy some racing! I'll PM you when I'm thinking about heading that way and see what your schedule is.

I know all about the RE92's, they were off my previous Impreza within a month! Luckily, the previous owner of this WRX was kind enough to dispose of them and put some decent Dunlop sport tires on there. They're not super aggressive but way better than stock rubber and have good tread left on them too. 👍

 

[Naptown25rs]

First off, congrats papa!! I don't have a set date in mind yet, I just checked their website the other day to see if they were running yet and they are so I figured I need to get down there. Cheap and close way to enjoy some racing! I'll PM you when I'm thinking about heading that way and see what your schedule is.

Thanks, it's definitely a great feeling!

Looking ahead, there is a SKUSA event and a couple of WKA events in Aug-Sept, looks like there won't be a Stars of Karting event at New Castle this year, which is very unfortunate.

 

[dsgerbc]

Congrats, Brandon. Not sure if you got any kind of warranty with it other than the remaining powertrain one. If you did - I'd keep it stock. Or screw the warranty and go all-out on mods

'09 wrx parts will be a cheap and reliable upgrade. IIRC '09 had a different turbo and downpipe. Gut that DP, swap the turbo, get a state2 e-tune and you're good for a while.

And chances are - it was modified before - so do an engine compression check to be safe.

UPD: congrats to papa-NC.

 

[BrandonW77]

I actually got a 120k mile bumper-to-bumper warranty from the dealership. I don't plan on doing anything crazy to it; rear sway bar, new endlinks, and Accessport are the only things on my list now but I won't even mess with those for a little while. I have been looking at parts all day and reading on NASIOC to find out what I can about it. Seems like a downpipe is a big upgrade that's fairly cheap so that might go on the list as well. For now I'm just going to enjoy finally being a member of the boost club!

Oh, I did pick up a K&N drop in filter on my lunch break so now I can hear the turbo a little better.

It is nice to finally be able to say my car IS in GT5 (even if it isn't quite the right model year)!

 

[TrackBound7]

Congrats to Brandon on his little addition, and a huge congrats to NC on your new bundle of joy. There is nothing better than being a Daddy. Enjoy every minute, before you know it she will be walking and talking and you will be pulling your hair out .

 

[OwensRacing]

Congrats NC! Life just begun friend.





Brandon,

GM I know allows aftermarket cat backs and simple bolt on mods with out voiding the warranty. The GM dealer told me they obviously won't warranty my aftermarket parts. As well if any indication the parts caused the problem they could deny the warranty claim.

Check your fine print. Most likely you can do the car back and K&N with out warranty issues. The tune I would reflash back to stock before warranty work.

Not sure what makes a Scooby tick. Bit the Evo comes to life with exhaust, intake, boost controller and tune. Like my cam only stock turbo car with bolt ins ran 12.3@111mph with meth and my tune went 12.01&114mph. Turbo cars benefit from unrestricted intake and exhaust. Some take the factory air box and mod it. However this could open it up for elements. Those running a could air kit have to be avoid high water and such. The intake and exhaust usually allows for more turbo spool noise too. Which is a bonus pleasure. LoL. Just gotta decide what is worth The effort if you get into mods.

Surely there are some of "free" mods you can do.

To bad you didn't go Evo. I've got some go fast parts left over from the stock build.

Meth injection while fun to tinker with. I don't think I'll run it ever again. E85 does better. No need for extra tank and pump. More stable.

Tires are the number one handling mod. Which you know. I've got a set of 18" R1 compound tires sitting here. Cough cough. they are to small for my wheels. 255 are stretched on the 10" rims. These are like 235's iirc. Free to a person that will use them.


Oh is there a set of shifter bushing and possible a short throw shifter kit available? Those are good mods and should promote the trans life relative to hard driving.

 

[dsgerbc]

I actually got a 120k mile bumper-to-bumper warranty from the dealership.

Most likely third-party plan. I'd cancel it pronto. They are useless. Subaru should be able to sell you their 'Classic' plan, which is analogous of powertrain coverage. And since you bought from the dealership - they might be able to arrange for Subaru "Gold", which is like B2B. These are the only one that are worth it, imo. They, however, can also tell if the engine has been reflashed yesterday, if it blows from Acessport/custom map and you bring it for service

Oh, I did pick up a K&N drop in filter on my lunch break so now I can hear the turbo a little better.

Ditch it. Non-OEM filters require re-tune even on an otherwise stock Subaru map.

 

[BrandonW77]

Both the website and people on the message board said the engine won't need tuned with this filter, it can just drop in.

 

[OwensRacing]

Both the website and people on the message board said the engine won't need tuned with this filter, it can just drop in.

You shouldn't. The Air density difference from summer to winter is higher then the difference from a stock filter and K&N. So I would think.

If the Mass Air can't see the extra air and adjust for that. Then any Scooby going from summer to winter should be having issues too.

 

[dsgerbc]

You shouldn't. The Air density difference from summer to winter is higher then the difference from a stock filter and K&N. So I would think.

If the Mass Air can't see the extra air and adjust for that. Then any Scooby going from summer to winter should be having issues too.

MAF is calibrated to intake capacity. There are air intake temperature compensation tables, so season is a non-issue. In other respects Subaru ECU tuning is very touchy and different filter that lets through different amount of air and can potentially affect things. Finding this info is incredibly tough on nasioc. Here's a link to a tuning board.

I'm not saying it will kill the engine, but it could lead to engine pulling timing often, decreasing performance. If one were to do it - I'd recommend getting a device like Tactrix and logging one's daily driving to see what's going on.

 

[BrandonW77]

Everything I've seen says the K&N is MAF friendly.

http://bbs.scoobynet.com/showpost.php?p=9276795&postcount=23
http://www.subaru-impreza.org/forum/324968-post2.html

Back to the business at hand, online racing. I still don't know what I'm going to do for the future. I am, of course, highly interested in racing the Impreza TC, not just because of my new purchase but also because it is a very fun car to race and easy to drive hard so I think it will really lend itself to some good racing.

The two car idea, while I really like the concept of it I have yet to come up with a way to make it work very well. There are several complications to a plan like this, the biggest being figuring out who goes in which car. The best idea I've had is to do a pre-season qualifier where everybody gets a chance to set times or race in one of the cars and I will place drivers according to their speed (fastest being in the slower car and vice versa). Biggest problem here is that somebody could easily sandbag during the qualifier so they end up in the faster car. I don't really think many would do that and there are a handful that I would know shouldn't be in a fast car, but for new members we haven't raced with yet I would have no idea what their true speed should be and they could cheat the system.

We could try the honor system and let people decide which car they want to be in. I think the guys who have historically been at the front of the pack (DSG, JP, Owens, etc.) would be happy to take the challenge of the slower car in the interest of creating a more even field, but I'm sure that doesn't apply to everyone. Still, I think this would probably be the best and easiest option though. We don't need the field to be 100% even, just having a handful of the fast guys in the slower car will go a long ways towards evening things up, especially when you figure traffic into the mix. We could have an amendment that if somebody wins twice in the faster car they will step down to the slower car, as long as this wouldn't do anything to discourage people from trying to win (not likely). It does kinda feels like punishing someone for doing well (which I don't like) but as long as everyone understands it's just in the interest of keeping the racing close and exciting I don't think there will be any issues.

I think we can figure out a way to make this work but it's going to take some time, planning and testing. First we need a proof of concept to find out if the cars will balance out like we want them to, we can start figuring out details after that. Let's plan on getting together some time this weekend to do some testing, I'm not positive what my schedule is right now but I'll know soon and we'll set something up. I should have time tonight to try to find two really good cars that we can test, need to find an Evo that doesn't eat it's tires. Or maybe there are two Impreza's that would fit the bill better, the handling characteristics would probably be more similar which would likely be a good thing. 👍

 

[Johnnypenso]

As I mentioned before, I have no problem going in the slower car if that's the concept we're running with. The way I see it there are a couple of important things here that can make or break the series.

1. The gap between the two cars. Personally, I think the gap has to be measured in the hands of a group of consistent drivers through multiple timed laps as well as in test racing.

2. Where is the cutoff? This will be important as whoever is closest to the cutoff point and is put in the fastest car will have the biggest advantage.

3. Will we make adjustments throughout the season moving drivers down or possibly up?

4. Will the races be long enough for tire wear to be a factor? If so, some testing needs to be done to ensure they have fairly comparable tire wear especially late in the run, as tire life can make an extreme difference in later laps, espcially in cars you cannot tune. Untuned 4wd's tend to eat up the front tires and develop a push later in runs. Best be tested with someone who is good at preserving tires like DSG so we can find the potential of the car and eliminate the variables of individual driving habits.

It would be nice to have both an overall champion and a champion of each car type. That way, even if you are not contending for the lead or have no chance to win, you can still compete with your fellow drivers in the same car, should it turn out one car has the advantage over the other in the overall standings. No need to calculate separate points, just need to have each persons car type listed beside them in the standings chart.

 

[BrandonW77]

As I mentioned before, I have no problem going in the slower car if that's the concept we're running with. The way I see it there are a couple of important things here that can make or break the series.

1. The gap between the two cars. Personally, I think the gap has to be measured in the hands of a group of consistent drivers through multiple timed laps as well as in test racing.

Agreed. We will need to do several rounds of testing, preferably with (mostly) the same group of drivers and we'll need to test on several different tracks. Keep records, find averages, adjust accordingly

2. Where is the cutoff? This will be important as whoever is closest to the cutoff point and is put in the fastest car will have the biggest advantage.

Also agreed, but no clear way to decide this and we'd probably just have to make concessions. Question is, if the person closest to the cutoff has an advantage, is it enough to overpower the slower cars or will it actually balance things nicely? I'd lean towards the latter.

3. Will we make adjustments throughout the season moving drivers down or possibly up?

Preferably not, at least not as a regular procedure. If somebody in the faster car proves to be dominating we should have a provision that allows us to "demote" them to the slower car, only in the interest of keeping the field even and not as a "punishment".

4. Will the races be long enough for tire wear to be a factor? If so, some testing needs to be done to ensure they have fairly comparable tire wear especially late in the run, as tire life can make an extreme difference in later laps, espcially in cars you cannot tune. Untuned 4wd's tend to eat up the front tires and develop a push later in runs. Best be tested with someone who is good at preserving tires like DSG so we can find the potential of the car and eliminate the variables of individual driving habits.

I plan on abandoning the double-header format and going for longer races that will see tire wear and pit stops. Lengthy tire run comparisons will be required.

It would be nice to have both an overall champion and a champion of each car type. That way, even if you are not contending for the lead or have no chance to win, you can still compete with your fellow drivers in the same car, should it turn out one car has the advantage over the other in the overall standings. No need to calculate separate points, just need to have each persons car type listed beside them in the standings chart.

I agree with this, it would give a little more incentive to finish the race even if you're back in 6th or 7th place. Alternatively, we could have a constructor's championship and instead of having an individual champion for each car everyone who drives a certain car would be contributing to the overall points for their constructor. This would give even more incentive to finish a race regardless of your position since every point could be crucial to your team and it would create an atmosphere of teamwork.



See how complicated this is getting already? Any one of these points isn't a big deal but when you start looking at them as a group it's quickly getting out of hand. We'd have to do 2-3 weeks of testing just to decide which cars to use and you can already see some of the issues that may arise during the course of a season. I can also see people getting a little miffed about being put in a slower car or getting demoted to a slower car during the season, in fact this could be enough to discourage people from even signing up. The core of our group want an even playing field but we know there are also plenty of people who only want to win and don't care as much about the competition, no way we can please everyone.

If I'm going to organize and operate another points series I want it to be as easy on me and as easy on you guys as possible. While this proposed format has potential for good racing it also has potential for lots of headaches, especially on my end which is what I want to avoid. I'm not dismissing the concept yet, but at this point I'm not too optimistic about it.

 

[luvtadrive]

Hello: Don't know if this is the right time or place for this but Iam interested in joining your league/club but am more into spec performance car racing rather than "tuning prohibited" racing. If you are still conducting & holding tuned car events & or meets, please friend me . I've FR'd SPECRace1 & SPOT Race1 on PSN & am waiting for your replies to those requests. Also Fr'd ORCA_Spot1 & ORCA_Cappcup but they are no longer valid PSN IDs. Thanks.

 

[BrandonW77]

Sorry mate, for the foreseeable all of our racing will be done with "tuning prohibited". I like to make sure people focus on driving and learning the track and don't spend all their time in the tuning screen where they tend to forget their racecraft. Prohibiting tuning makes for closer racing too, but at this time we do not have any organized events scheduled.

 

[Torzilla]

Most likely third-party plan. I'd cancel it pronto. They are useless. Subaru should be able to sell you their 'Classic' plan, which is analogous of powertrain coverage. And since you bought from the dealership - they might be able to arrange for Subaru "Gold", which is like B2B. These are the only one that are worth it, imo. They, however, can also tell if the engine has been reflashed yesterday, if it blows from Acessport/custom map and you bring it for service

Ditch it. Non-OEM filters require re-tune even on an otherwise stock Subaru map.

I say just ditch any warrenty, they do not inspire confidence. Besides all subarus last atleast 500 years, thats just a straight up scientific fact.