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Well the Covid lockdown in Cyprus put paid to my plans. But back on track. Decided on widebody plus a carbon roof. Trial fitted the 3 piece Simmons OM wheels. When i modified then from 18x7 i went to 8.5 inch by getting a 2.5 inch outer rim and keeping the internal 6 inch for a deep dish look. I was going bolt on arches at the time. They are now a +20 offset and the front is just right despite the much wider front end. Maybe a 10mm spacer might be needed to fill them out once it is lowered a bit. However rear needs something wider a 10 or 10.5 inch with a 255 or 265 tyre. I am not a fan of over tyring (new word?) a Subaru and think that a grippy 235 tyre, maybe a 245 is all you need for street use based on its size and weight. Track work, yes I might go for a 10 or 10.5 inch but not for street use. Will use a 30mm H&R spacer on the rear for street use. Next week off to fabricator for intercooler pipes. Then back to mechanic to finsh all off, then roof install and then paint. Hopefully mapping thereafter.
Yes they are on the stock wings although a fair bit of metal cut away. The blending in has taken a few days of work to get perfect. Looking up into the wheel arch it all looks like one piece from the inside as well.
Carbon roof saves 7 kilos. Also removed the standard boot and STi wing (22kilos) and replaced with wing from track car at 3.7 kilos including the metal support and Spec C boot lid. Only another 4 kilos. 13 kilos lighter. Have to sort out the springs as the boot now shoots up when opened.
Also saved another 7 kilos by repalcing standard seat and frame (23 kilos) with the Sparco from track car at 8 kilos, plus new frame at 6 plus harnesses another 2kilos. So so far 28 kilos off the car. Have identified at least another 20 kilos to coem off whilst still retaining full interior annd ir comditioning. Albeit new wheel and tyres are 3 kilos heavier each. The 235/40 Yokohama AD08R is 1.5kilos heavier than a 225/40 Pirello P Zero and the Simmons 3 piece at 8.5 inch are also 1.5 kilos heavier than a 8 inch Enkei RP01. So saved some weight up high in the car but have added weight as unsprung mass with the wheels but
will have more grip.
What’s the trade off with running a wider wheel & tyre combo?
Slower steering & more tram-lining?
Yes, heavier steering and tramlining. Want to see how the 235/40 go. Used to wheelspin thru 1st and 2nd with Pirelli PZero at 225/40. So hoping the AD08R and wider tyres help. 265s AO52 will be for track.
Very slow progress due to very busy mechanic and a new toy that I have that means I have not been chasing it up. Once back from exhaust fabricator there was plenty of wiring to sort as had added an under bonnet surge tank and pump form Chevron and also had to relocate the methanol injection onto new piping. Took the chance to redo the wiring in the boot as well and added a new battery holder. Was considering a lithium battery to save some more weight, but they are quite expensive. Will look at what the smallest battery I could get it and have it on a trickle charge as well. A mate with a modded classic swears no issues with a battery from a Yaris which is half the weight of mine.
Also ordered a rear polycarbonate window from Plastics4 Performance and will fit with the carbon roof.
Went back to body shop yesterday for final work, and adjustments and off to paint.
So a lot of work has happened in last six months -
New ID 1300 injectors installed Sorted stuck electric window New AP disc mounting bell bolts on front discs Heap of titanium nuts and bolts installed in engine bay as look better and slightly lighter Reinstalled standard STi seat as Sparco race seat was a bit too small for me and would be uncomfortable on longer journeys
Bought a heap of heat management material from Funk Motorsport. Decided to fit after mapping in case need to adjust anything or any leaks become evident.
Whilst looking at engine bay I could not help but notice the state of the wiring loom. After 20 years of heat it was looking a bit sad and I thought prone to failures. So spoke to a local a wiring specialist who does looms for customers from all across the world and is also a very experienced mapper and he made me a new motorsport spec wiring loom. It was a good thing I did as several connectors fell apart and the loom had a lot of bodge hacks into it as different mechanics/electricians worked on the car in Japan, UK and Cyprus.
I decided on a brake change. I had bought from RCM their Alcon Motorsport kit which was destined for my GC8. As I will not finalise that this year and possibly only get it ready for 2023, I thought no use these brakes should sit in a box waiting. So they are now on the STi replacing the AP Racing setup.
Alcon 365mm disc 8.4 kgs, caliper 3kgs and bracket 1.2kgs so 12.6kgs
AP 330mm disc 6.6kgs, caliper 2.6kgs and bracket 1.7ks so 10.9kgs
Rear
Alcon 343mm disc 6.2kgs and caliper 2.1kgs so 8.3kgs
AP 335mm disc 7.8kgs and caliper 3 kilos total 10.8kgs
So a bit heavier on front as expected from a much larger disc and caliper and much lighter on rear as Alcon is a 2 piece disc whereas AP is a one piece disc. I think these will be good....
So car is finally back and running after nearly 3 years. It was a shock to drive it again. I have been used to a late model Focus ST that feels heavy but with light controls, clutch, brakes, steering and with storage space. Whereas the Subaru is old school and has a mechanical feel. It drives like a much lighter car which I had not realised before but with heavy clutch, direct gearchange and the Alcon brakes which are just unbelievable although noisy. New specially valved Bilstein B16s handle the bumpy roads like I requested. There is literally no substance to the interior, low dashboard and with no storage space, but in the end as long as it has air con and electric windows that is enough. Although the V7 STi seats are considered the best of the stock seats, I do prefer the much grippier Recaros in the Ford. Maybe one day a Recaro Podium will find its way in.
It feels good with engine having strong torque and response even off boost whilst running it in. The day I collected it was 40 degree and it handles the heat absolutely fine, although I did not, as no air con on as noticed compressor and intercooler pipe may have some slight touching. Did about 150klms last week and the sound proofing that I added makes for a much more pleasant experience.
Still plenty of work to do including -
- the running in for about 700 klms. The plan will be to do a road map up to 1 bar after the running in and possibly October or November when I have done several thousand klms to put it on dyno and finish mapping as it will be a bit cooler then - needs new rear wheel bearings as very noisy - some mods to intercooler to throttle body pipe as will just catch on spinning air con compressor - bodywork and installation of carbon roof and rear lexan windows and some repainting as one or two spots where paint has bubbled on new fibreglass. Car is being sat in the hot Cyprus sun to help with the curing process - new interior roof lining and may spruce up the cabin a bit with alcantara - may replace some of the blue silicone hoses under bonnet with black for a calmer look - more heat management to be fitted in the engine bay plus some ducting behind bumper and grille to force air into radiator. - suspension setup with corner weighting
Of course i went to start it on weekend for a drive and it seems the surge tank pump is not switching on and supplying fuel. After checking it over, it seems the Link is not triggering the under bonnet pump so ECU has been removed and sent away for checking.
I have a YT video up of me talking rubbish for far too long about the car when I got it home. Some footage of the GC8, Mono and cat as well. May do some more videos as I develop it further. My YT account is iam2scoobies and it has some Mono videos as well.
alcons for mostorsport without monoblock calipers
mine setup with same style bells but alcon monoblock race rc6 caliper, noisy thats why i went with ap 362mm kit
Congrats on getting the car running after so long, you have some serious bits of kit on that !
Enjoy it in the mountains those roads are made for it.
,
Thanks, it has taken a while. Needed to get it on the road to hopefully stop with the tinkering whilst it was sitting in workshops. As it is one of seven cars at home, most service providers never saw it as urgent, plus Covid and lockdowns did not help.
Yes, perfect roads.
I have been looking at the Spal fans that you mentioned. Which ones did you get and where from?
alcons for mostorsport without monoblock calipers
mine setup with same style bells but alcon monoblock race rc6 caliper, noisy thats why i went with ap 362mm kit
Marketed as a motorsport kit with much lighter calipers with no dust seals and anti-rattle clips, but maybe not as extreme as your kit. Once I will finish my GC8 track car I will transfer these Alcons to it and then get a road biased kits either Alcon or AP. I do have my existing AP 330mm front and rear set which also does the job and if they don't sell I might reuse. But these Alcon have been sitting around for 3 years and I thought may as well use them
,
Thanks, it has taken a while. Needed to get it on the road to hopefully stop with the tinkering whilst it was sitting in workshops. As it is one of seven cars at home, most service providers never saw it as urgent, plus Covid and lockdowns did not help.
Yes, perfect roads.
I have been looking at the Spal fans that you mentioned. Which ones did you get and where from?
I ordered two of these, they are very much more effective than the mishi ones on my car.
You will need to modify the mishimoto fan shroud as these are a bit larger and the mounting points are different, but easy to do.
Noted. I thought as much when I saw the mounting points. So far it ran at good temps but that has been mainly open road driving so 40 degrees plus traffic may not agree so well. But I will monitor over the next week or two and see if it starts running hot.
Noted. I thought as much when I saw the mounting points. So far it ran at good temps but that has been mainly open road driving so 40 degrees plus traffic may not agree so well. But I will monitor over the next week or two and see if it starts running hot.
28 May 2020, 03:03 PM
