2017 So Far

2017 has been extremely busy so far between work and school. It hasn't left me very much time to get out to the track. Around spring, I started getting the remaining items for the vehicle and getting everything bolted up.

The installation of the new brake setup started everything off. The setup includes DBA 4000 rotors, StopTech lines, and PMU pads. HC800s are used for the street, with Club Racers being intended for track duty.

I also went ahead and installed the Swift springs and Whiteline LCAs I had gotten at the end of the previous year. After getting everything on, I needed to get the car aligned. As mentioned in a previous post, Subaru really does these cars a diservice by giving it an absolute trash alignment from the factory. I'm willing to bet that if Subaru would give the car an appropriate alignment and then was tested at the track along side other vehicles, it would post lap times roughly 2 seconds faster than what it's currently doing around the tracks right now. There's variables to this of course, but it seriously does make a big difference.

OEM alignment is roughly -0.5 up front and -2.0 in the rear. After adding the camber bolts, I was able to get up to -1.5 in the front, which helped, but it still wasn't quite enough. The rear isn't adjustable from the factory either, so that couldn't be touched until the LCAs were on. With the springs and LCAs, I was able to get more adjustment on the front and rear, and ended up at -2.0 up front, and -1.5 on the rear. I specifically went to swift springs because it uses a stiffer spring rate on the rear than up front, unlike pretty much all of the other options on the market. That and the alignment settings made such a huge difference. Even on the street, the car felt extremely eager to turn in and didn't feel (as much) like a overweight, lazy boat. It definitely felt good, but I wanted to see how it did on the track. I also grabbed an exhaust so the car wasn't quiet and boring to drive anymore. A simple axleback sufficed, since I had no intention in spending $1,000 on a catback that literally does nothing for performance.

All that was left was deciding on wheels. I had debated for quite some time on what wheels to go with. I looked at offerings from RAYS, Work, Advan, Enkei, SSR, WEDS etc and had some troubles deciding. The problem was that I wanted to stick with OEM sizing, which is 18x8.5. Many people run 9.5j wheels, but I wanted to stay away from that as much as possible for a few reasons. That wasn't too big of a deal, but something I still took into consideration. The two biggest reasons though was cost and fitment.

Many people run something like 9.5j +40 with 265/35 tires. It can easily done, but the people that do it typically have to compromise their alignment and/or do fender work to get the wheels to fit without any rub. I wasn't interested in touching the OEM panels, and I didn't want to change alignment settings just to fit a set of wheels, now that I had the alignment dialed to a setting that was to my liking. Next was cost. Running a 265/35 would cost me roughly $150 more per set. Stretching the tires was also 100% out of the question. Since my initial goal was to keep the car simple and inexpensive, I opted to stick with the OEM 8.5j wheel so I could stick with the standard 245/40 tires.

In the end, I decided to go with Work MCO Racing Type CS wheels in 18x8.5 +38. The spokes clear the calipers by about 15mm and the fitment is just right for what I was looking for. After the installation, I jacked up the tires to fully compress the suspension and saw no rubbing either, so I knew I wouldn't run into any clearance issues. I went for white too, since I wanted the wheels to pop a bit, and I personally love the Blue/White combination. My wife also convinced me a bit on pulling the trigger for white wheels. Easy for her though, because she isn't stuck trying to keep them clean. 😂

I got lucky in July with scheduling. My wife finished with Nursing school and my term was scheduled to end the week after her graduation ceremony. I only had a week off in between terms though. Luckily, there was an event scheduled right during that timeframe at Laguna Seca. This track doesn't really need any introduction, as it's probably the most famous road course here in the U.S. thanks to the infamous "Corkscrew" turn 8A/8B corners. I knew that I wanted to do an event there before the end of the year, but figured it wouldn't happen until later in the year. Guess luck was on our side.

I registered for the event, booked the hotel, and we left the morning before the event. The morning of was super foggy, but it cleared out really quick right before the first session. Went out and did a few sessions and called it a day in the early afternoon. The car rotated real easily on corner entry and was much more neutral in the corners. The car finally handled how I wanted it to. The downside was that the tires just couldn't hang. That being said, the car couldn't hang on enough to carry a lot of momentum through the corners and the front would wash out a bit easier than I would have liked. Because of that, I can't really get on the throttle early and take advantage of the AWD traction to get a good run onto the straight aways. Applying throttle would just worsen the understeer, so I had to stay patient. Also, braking power is compromised because the braking force would easily exceed the grip threshold of the tires. It was at the point where I'd get a little over 50% through the pedal travel and ABS would engage. So I had to brake much sooner than I should have to keep the car on track. I guess it's not much of a surprise though when you think about it. They're the OEM Dunlop tires and had already seen 23k miles. How these tires even still had any decent tread left was beyond me, but I didn't question it. As I write this, they still have some decent tread left. I'd say an easy 5k miles before they start showing some wires, but the grip just isn't there anymore. Needless to say, I'll be getting replacements before I go back out to the track.

Overall, I'm happy with where the car is right now. Aside from the tires, I'm pretty much "done" with the car for the time being. I still have no intention of adding power. There are a couple other things that I would like to do, like a CF driveshaft, upgraded radiator, and an external oil cooler. But none of those are really necessary. If I'm day dreaming and want to get stupid, I'd be all for getting the VARIS CF lip kit/diffuser/hood, but I don't know if I can justify spending $8,000 on some cosmetic bits.

The car will likely stay like this for a long time. The only way I think I'd be willing to put more money into it is if I decided to keep the car for the long haul, meaning ~10 years. If so, I may invest in some new parts and perhaps a built block just as insurance should the stock EJ spontaneously combust (insert broken EJ memes and jokes here). I know myself all too well though. I wouldn't be surprised if I ended up in something else.

I love this car. It feels like a complete car, and much better than the prior Subaru chassis. It's extremely practical, plenty quick on the street, and capable of having fun on track with just a couple very minor reliabilty/durability modifications. It's the best all around car I've owned by far. At the end of the day though, it's still a giant, 3300lb, nose heavy, AWD vehicle... and the fact is, that type of layout just isn't my preference. I still prefer the classic balanced, lightweight, FR layout. That being said, I forsee another FR vehicle in my future. It's just a matter of what to get and when.