Subiesport Magazine - February/March 2008 - (Page 69)

EAST COAST IMPREZA wreck yourself at lake-effect-racing.com.) The crash resulted in plenty of sheet metal and suspension damage, but luke was fine, thankfully. The StI was rebuilt and put back on the track, where it belonged. However, at the first track day after the crash, the StI’s engine overheated. luke brought his car to topspeed in atlanta for a performance rebuild. topspeed rebuilt the engine using the latest technology and super slick coatings to promote power and longevity. “my credit cards were screaming for relief by this point,” luke said. topspeed sponsored luke’s entry in the 2006 one lap, and with that came Doug Wilks as the CoDriver/tuner. With Doug’s knowledge of racing and Subaru power plants, he was able to custom tune the StI for each track’s configuration. They were getting a lot of notice as possible front runners early in the event. “We were sitting in fourth overall when we had problems at no Problem Raceway in louisiana,” luke recalled. a silicon intercooler hose burst, but they weren’t able to find the problem before racing. Their performance on track suffered greatly as a result of the lost boost. They ended up getting bumped down to 30th place. This poor finish cost them dearly in points and killed their chances for an overall victory, but they did make a great comeback. on the final day of the 2006 event, luke set the fastest time of the day and subsequently took first place at Road america racing under rainy conditions. This feat is not only a credit to luke’s driving skills but to Subaru’s superior all-wheel drive system. They overcame their earlier setbacks and won the midPrice Sedan category with a very strong fifth-place finish overall, well ahead of some exotic machinery. Partner in Crime Doug is no stranger to the race track, or to these pages. His road racing experience is second only to his ability to make big power out of Subaru’s horizontally opposed engines. Savvy readers may remember Dan lowman’s StI that Doug built/tuned (“ferrari Slayer” Volume 2, Issue 2, february 2006). His motorsports resume includes road racing a Dodge neon back in the day, and he is an accomplished drag racer as well. The monster you see on these pages was Doug’s brainchild. He wanted to build the lightest Subaru possible while using the best and most modern drivetrain available. The 1996 brighton was one of the lightest Imprezas ever produced. This particular model of Impreza left the factory sans power windows, door locks and with a Spartan interior, but they were still aWD. This particular brighton, like so many others, started life as a simple economy car, humbly serving its original owner with commuter duty and shuffling groceries from the market. Then Doug got a hold of it; and transformed this unassuming coupe into a fire-breathing beast. to begin, Doug stripped off every piece of interior, drivetrain and suspension, tearing the car down to a bare shell. Then, Doug purchased a wrecked StI sight-unseen off the Internet. This would be the basis for the little Impreza’s rebirth. unfortunately, the StI was a total loss; there wasn’t anything salvageable on the wreck. undaunted, he tried again and was successful in acquiring another, this time usable, donor StI. The 2006 StI donor was hit badly in the rear, but all of its mechanical components and interior bits were still in useable condition. The brighton received the StI’s engine, transmission, rear differential, front and rear suspension and dashboard. Doug even installed all of the wiring harnesses and abS brake system with a Racing brake 6-piston big break kit up front. This allowed the car to use the DCCD in auto mode and have abS braking control. “Having the abS system working should in theory drop lap times and make the car much easier to drive on wet courses,” said Doug. The highly potent EJ257 engine received an ultimate Racing Gt35R turbo kit, which stuffs 22PSI of compressed air through a custom front mounted intercooler. The engine was tuned by Doug with an ECutek reflash and put down 533 whp and 450 lb/ft of torque on the dyno rollers at topspeed. The real beauty of this package is not so much the raw power but the weight-to-power ratio. With a custom 12-point roll cage installed, the car weighs 2,510 lbs, tasking the engine to carry only 4.7 lbs per horsepower. “The car is absolutely the fastest thing I have driven in a long time. I would go as far as to say it’s scary,” said Doug. So scary, in fact, that the he named the car lucifer, or “lucy” for short. The car certainly looks demonic with its bright red paint and nasty black accents. You instantly take notice of the fender flairs, which were originally created for a nissan 240SX. They cover the steamroller sized bridgestone RE-01Rs. The 265/40R18-sized tires are mounted on black 18x9.5-inch Rota P45Rs with a -30 offset. aerodynamic enhancements include a flexible front skirt, roof diffuser, extra large rear wing, smooth underbody and the meanest rear diffuser ever to grace a brighton. The rear diffuser starts at the front of the gas tank and extends two SUBIESPORT MAGAZINE 69 http://lake-effect-racing.com

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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