Subiesport Magazine - February/March 2008 - (Page 25)

HATCHED PLANS yet, Vivid and agency Power took some liberties and decided that a complete custom kit would be the answer. The result is impressive. “The front is an S15 Chargespeed front bumper molded to the oEm piece. It fit perfectly,” said Dan. “The side skirts are two sets of Chargespeed units for a WRX, as the new chassis is longer on the sides.” Certainly the body kit gives the new car the aggressive look that it is sorely lacking. Surely, many of the Impreza faithful will take a cue from the mean looks of this car. looks aside, it is remarkable to note that even though this car is very new, in some ways it is the same outgoing Impreza, especially when you look under the hood. making this hot hatch go is essentially the same EJ255 found in the WRX tR of old and the legacy Gt, so plumbing in a bigger turbo and the associated goodies was not going to be too terribly difficult. Yet, with only four weeks to go from stock to show ready, nothing is ever simple. The centerpiece to any build is the engine bay, and with rotated-mount turbo kits readily available for the GD chassis and a proven power-maker on the EJ255 power plant, a Gt35R system was a natural choice. Yet, just a big turbo wasn’t enough, so Vivid enlisted the help of turbo gurus, afI turbo, to not only build a custom turbo kit and intercooler, but also an intake manifold; all in just four days! to call the turbo system “non-standard” is a bit of understatement. Starting on top of the engine, afI contracted the help of Southern California import tuners and fabricators, area 51, to build a sheet metal intake manifold. by far, the most visible part of the engine is the manifold, and where the stock WRX unit uses molded, nylon-reinforced plastic, this one gleams in stainless. It also features longer runners and a larger primary chamber, just in case that big Gt35 needs more room to cram in more air. Cooling the big intake charge is a custom-made front mount intercooler that features larger-thannormal end tanks. The exhaust manifold, up and downpipe, and even the exhaust are all custom one-off pieces. While these will most likely see production, at four weeks before SEma everything is a prototype. other off-the-shelf parts from agency Power were direct carry-overs, like the front strut bar, fuel rail, oil cap, pulley, radiator hoses and shift knob. not everything had to be built from scratch, however. While we in the united States were just starting to receive this car, tuners in Japan had a full six-month head start on their u.S. counterparts. Cusco was one of these Japanese tuners. Cusco was able to bring their electronically controlled Zero2E coilovers to the mix, which is vital in not only setting up the car for track use (which is the SUBIESPORT MAGAZINE 25

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Subiesport Magazine - February/March 2008

Subiesport Magazine - February/March 2008 Contents Travis Geny Letters Readers' Rides Subaru News Subie Sleuths Hatched Plans United in Subarus East Meets West WRC Rally Catalunya WRC Rally France WRC Rally Japan WRC Rally Ireland WRC Wales Rally GB The Future of Subaru WRC Team Orange Where to Buy Subiesport 1993 Impreza "Dreadnought" Performance Radiator Install Special Kei Ad Directory Spotted!

Subiesport Magazine - February/March 2008

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