Driving the Mach V STI

I took the Mach V STI home and ran a few errands.  Hauled a big PC to work, took the kid to school.  The car is still its usual self for around-town driving.  The exhaust note might be a tiny bit louder at idle and low speeds, but it's hard to tell.

Full throttle is another story.  When the 20G-XT-equipped STI gets up above 3500 rpm, everything starts to happen really fast, and it sings a baritone Subaru full-throttle song that turns heads -- in a good way if those listening are car fans.  (I got a thumbs-up from a guy in a BMW Z3 M roadster.)  But maybe that noise is not so good if you're trying to keep a low profile on the road.  Not like the car in its current form is subtle -- what with the multi-vented hood, huge wheels, and all that.

The power is pretty fun.  At freeway speeds you can still dip into the gas in sixth gear and get a good dose of passing speed, although there is more lag than there used to be.  Dropping a gear gets the car up into insta-boost range and you'll quickly be at extra-legal speeds.

Which brings me back to the thought of losing my driver's license.  I'm going to have to get the car to the track to see what it's like to drive it really hard at this power level.

Blouch 20G-XT on the car

We bolted the new Blouch 20G-XT turbocharger to our STI, and rolled it back onto the dyno for some more pulls.  The turbo delivered as advertised.  Spool was a little slower than the Tomei ARMS turbo we had on the car before, which is understandable given how much larger the turbine outlet is on the 20G-XT.  The car made a lot more horsepower at the same boost levels -- 33 more hp and 30 lb-ft of additional torque to the wheels.  An added benefit that isn't seen on the dyno graphs is that off-boost throttle response is better -- the more wide-open turbo outlet probably is the reason.  The exhaust note is a bit louder now, too!

Most of the time when we put a 20G on a car we've also done a turbo induction hose, TGV deletes, and headers, none of which are on our car.  When we do get those mods done, we'll dyno again.  I'd expect another 10+ hp at that time.

Needs More Turbo

Although the Tomei ARMS turbocharger on our STI made decent power, and spooled very nicely compared to the stock hair dryer, we just can't leave well enough alone.  We asked our friends at Blouch Turbo if they had any suggestions for something with just a little more oomph, and we got a Blouch 20G-XT: A Mitsubishi 20G compressor housing and center section mated to a custom Blouch turbine side that will bolt on to any 2002-07 WRX, and any 2002+ WRX STI.  But wait, there's more.  The compressor wheel is not cast like traditional wheels.  Instead it's CNC milled from a block of billet aluminum.  That means it can be made lighter and more efficient than old-school compressor wheels.  The upshot is supposed to be more power and better spool.  We'll find out next week when we bolt the turbo on and roll the car back on the dyno.

The 20G turbo has always been my "go-to" turbo for 2.5-liter cars.  It spools almost like a stock turbo, but has massively more top-end.  If you have a 2.0-liter car, the 18G is probably a better choice, as the 20G takes a while to get going with only a 2.0 engine blowing on it.  Blouch also has an 18G-XT available.  Watch our web site for more details on purchasing these turbos soon.

Trickle-Down Economics, Subaru Style

Today Subaru announced that the 2011 WRX sedan will get a wide body look that borrows the front fenders of the current STI hatchback.  The car will be on display at the up-coming New York Auto Show.

What does this mean?  Well, besides the obvious benefit of a 1.5"-wider track for WRX sedan buyers (the car also gets a more aggressive front end, blacked-out grille, and wider 17 x 8" wheels), it seems to me that it would be easy and cheap to just make an STI sedan, now that the body work is taken care of.  Our customers have pined for the lack of an STI sedan since the old one retired back in 2007.  I hope they haven't been holding their collective breath since then, but I'd wager there will be a 2011 STI sedan available alongside the hatch.

We've been working with our suppliers to get larger and wider wheels available for the current WRX STI -- now we'll renew those efforts, since the wider WRX will also allow for those bigger fitments.  (We've seen STI hatch models run wheels as wide as 10".)

Tokyo Auto Salon 2010

It's been extremely snowy here at Mach V HQ, so I haven't had the STI out much in the last few weeks.  (I know, it's AWD, but it's also pretty low.)  I did get over to Tokyo for the Tokyo Auto Salon, though.  Here are some of the STIs I saw there.

The silver car above was Subaru's car for the 24 Hours of Nürburgring race.  It's got a 2.0 liter engine with 320 hp, upgraded suspension, fat wheels and slick tires, roll cage, race seats, and other goodies.

Subaru's new R205 special edition STI has special lightweight wheels, six-pot front brakes, special suspension, and 316 hp.

 

The black car had aftermarket exhaust, carbon hood, and new Yokohama Advan RS-D (deep lip!) wheels.  19x9", I think.

 

This one was from Prodrive Japan.  It's got a carbon hood, front bumper, side skirts, and rear wing from Varis.

I've got a few more STI pics that I'll upload later.

Pure Carbonium

We have a new 3M carbon fiber-look wrap material that we're selling. It's not really carbon fiber, but it looks very convincing. Unlike carbon fiber, it bends around tight corners and, with the application of a little heat, can stretch and cover convoluted surfaces. It's self-adhesive and pretty easy to apply. (There are other carbon-look materials that are fabric-based and require spray adhesive to put on. This is a lot easier.)

I took a couple of hours and applied the material to the dash of our WRX STI. For an amateur, I think I did a pretty decent job. I popped the silver dash inserts free of the dash, and wrapped them each in the carbon-look material.  I trimmed out the vent openings so the "open" and "closed" indicators show. I also removed and wrapped the steering wheel button inserts to match. Tools used: Heat gun (a hair dryer would do), Exacto knife.

Subaru makes a "carbon look" dash kit for the older WRX cars, although they don't make one for the current generation. I think this is far more convincing than any previous faux carbon I've seen.

Several customers have asked me about doing the roof of the car in this. It won't last forever (3M says 3-4 years in exterior application, and that's in a vertical mounting), but it should look pretty good. We can cut a large enough piece for that, too.

So far I've received mostly positive feedback about this particularly modification to the car, although a few have decried the fact that this is strictly cosmetic, and has no useful function. Well, that's true, but I'm in good company; I've seen similar dash treatments -- and this is factory-issue, not applied by the consumer -- on high-end Mercedes and BMW cars recently. What do you think, readers?

US Market Gets a Special Edition STI!

We're used to seeing the Japanese home-market special edition WRX STI models. There's been the S202, S203, S204, WRX STI Spec C, and even a WRX STI Spec C Type RA-R. All of those cars are factory hot rods, with all kinds of cool goodies like stiffer suspensions, different (usually larger) wheels and tires, better brakes, and more power. What do we ever get? Well...there was the "Limited" model that one year, that came with leather and a sunroof.

Perhaps there's been some kind of change in philosophy in Spring Hill, because Subaru has announced a special edition that sounds pretty good to me. Named (wait for it...) "WRX STI Special Edition," the car will gain some features and lose some. Gained: Revised suspension with stiffer front springs, stiffer rear shocks, stiffer rear subframe bushings, and a fatter rear sway bar; and special wheels from the Japan-market Spec C car that MUST be lighter than the 27-pound standard US wheels.

Lost: Six of the ten speakers, and five of the six CD slots in the stereo; HID headlamps; turn indicators on the side mirrors; auto climate control; and $2000 of price, bringing the MSRP down to $32,995 plus delivery fee.

The grumpy Subaru forum denizens didn't seem too thrilled about this car ("Give us the Spec C!"), but I like it. It's slightly lighter, I assume it handles better, and it's quite a bit cheaper. In fact, I'd like to see Subaru go FARTHER in this direction. I'd continue the de-contenting and remove the entire SI-Drive system, switch to 17" wheels and tires, and swap the spare tire for a can of flat-fixer. (I'm trying to think of what else you could remove, but I'm out of ideas.)

The other thing that would make a special edition car a little more special would be a few more horsepower. Call it ten more for a total of 315, and maybe 100 pounds off the standard car, getting the weight down to maybe 3150. Sounds like a fun ride to me.