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That’s interesting, did it still have the twin-scroll downpipe & system still on it then?
No, it had a standard UK WRX setup. I pulled off the headers and catted up pipe and replaced with ported OEM and a Harvey Smith up pipe from AS Performance, so they are unequal.
I did consider going twin scroll at that point but it worked out at about twice the cost and I'd read that the twin scroll setup isn't as responsive without the EJ207 AVCS heads, so that made up my mind really.
If I blow up this engine and have to go down a rebuild route, I'll probably consider it at that point. I may even look to import a rough car from Japan to pilfer all the running gear as that may be a better option financially.
No, it had a standard UK WRX setup. I pulled off the headers and catted up pipe and replaced with ported OEM and a Harvey Smith up pipe from AS Performance, so they are unequal.
I did consider going twin scroll at that point but it worked out at about twice the cost and I'd read that the twin scroll setup isn't as responsive without the EJ207 AVCS heads, so that made up my mind really.
If I blow up this engine and have to go down a rebuild route, I'll probably consider it at that point. I may even look to import a rough car from Japan to pilfer all the running gear as that may be a better option financially.
Sorry I didn’t explain that too well…
when you said your downpipe was miss-aligned & as the car was originally twin-scroll I wondered if whoever converted it had bodged the twin-scroll downpipe onto the single-scroll turbo…
Seeing as you had 3x exhausts not fit I was expecting the turbo back to be off the twin-scroll model, hence fitment issues.
Did you figure out what the issue with the downpipe not lining up was or just work around it?
I like that cobra tip, looks a lot more grown up than my 5.5” angled backbox
Last edited by Kaosone; 29 September 2021 at 03:17 PM.
when you said your downpipe was miss-aligned & as the car was originally twin-scroll I wondered if whoever converted it had bodged the twin-scroll downpipe onto the single-scroll turbo…
Seeing as you had 3x exhausts not fit I was expecting the turbo back to be off the twin-scroll model, hence fitment issues.
Did you figure out what the issue with the downpipe not lining up was or just work around it?
I like that cobra tip, looks a lot more grown up than my 5.5” angled backbox
The down pipe alignment issues are purely because Japspeed use appear to jigs made from playdough, none of their stuff fits very well.
The twin scroll down pipe is essentially the same as single scroll except it has a different flange to marry up to the turbo. that hasn't caused any of my issues though.
Exhaust 1 was not a 3" fitment
Exhaust 2 was from a blob wagon and had an odd fitment. the mid pipe was also too short
Exhaust 3 the flange on the mid pipe didn't match up with the flange on the downpipe, it was rotated. Also the down pipe was so off that the mid pipe would have hit the chassis.
Exhaust 4 was a Japspeed one that my mate lent me so I could get it running. It fit but really badly and was rattling against the chassis. This was most likely due to crap downpipe.
That's why a gave up and took it to H&S to just get it sorted, just couldn't be bothered with the faff any longer. In hindsight I should have just used a different downpipe.
I actually bought the japspeed headers and uppipe and an induction kit but decided against using them in the end.
Seat now fitted. The side bolsters are fairly low so I can still use the standard seat belt safely.
I ended up using an M2 base that incorporates the side mounts. I do have a couple of side mounts in the garage but this is a nice and simple solution.
Now I just need to fix a minor boost leak before mapping....
Yes, spreading the love!
I’ll never use Duncan again. Romain knows what he’s doing but is a bit of a diva and it wasn’t a pleasant experience, shame because he’s only 20 mins from me.
Bob is great but 3 hours each way on a good day.
Richard is 1.5 hours away and has been really helpful and understanding throughout the whole build. I always had him in mind for mapping.
been hearing good things about Mark at TDR recently too
Last edited by adam.pah; 02 October 2021 at 12:10 PM.
So it's finally mapped!!
Richard said it is very well set up and estimates it is now making around 350-360bhp at 1.4 bar. The power is very smooth and progressive which makes it easy to drive.
It has more in it but we didn't want to take it to the limit knowing that it may take a fair bit of abuse on the track, so hopefully it should be reliable too.
It's interesting to compare it with the RA which is running around 330ish on the standard twin scroll setup. The RA feels much faster point to point although I'm not sure how much difference there would be on a track.
I celebrated by fitting the new wheels and sticky tyres. The handling was good before but with these on it's incredible! It just sticks and goes with no understeer and you have to push it extremely hard to unsettle it.
Loving the white over white! Took it out for a quick spin.
While the wheels were off I had already decided that I'd fit the Blue Stuff pads so I can bed them in before a track day at the end of the month. @EBC Brakes UK had provided the pads as a free trial with the ask that I review them honestly on here once I'd tried them out. Unfortunately the pads they sent me do not fit my callipers. I had stated that they would need to be suitable for the standard WRX but it looks like I was sent the Brembo specific ones instead. I will need to sort out the brakes before hitting the track... @EBC Brakes UK feel free to pm me to discuss.
I was told that tyres only last a couple of years and then they harden. I decided on the NS2R because I'm still a novice on track and these are cheap and pretty easy to work with. I think I paid about £80 a tyre from Driftworks. I had AD08R's on my last one and they were good but I've been told the new compound is not as good as they're almost double the price.
You have WRX brakes on that Spec C (I know it was cannibalised when you got it).
That might be worse than putting an STI spoiler on a WRX
Some of the spec c's actually came with the 4 pot brakes as standard, the 16" model I think. It was to do with some rallying rules that state wheels can only be a certain size or something.
Anyway, I agree with you, they're never going to be good enough when the car is driven hard. I'm currently on the hunt for replacements.
Some of the spec c's actually came with the 4 pot brakes as standard, the 16" model I think. It was to do with some rallying rules that state wheels can only be a certain size or something.
Anyway, I agree with you, they're never going to be good enough when the car is driven hard. I'm currently on the hunt for replacements.
Lol i thought was because you cant rally on low profile tyres therfore smaller rims... Therfore smaller brakes, is it called homologation for rally,? you have build a certain amount of road going cars.
Im pretty sure thats why the ford rs200 was called that because of amount of 200 road going cars?
Adam im glad you didnt have dyno fail on a road map
Lol i thought was because you cant rally on low profile tyres therfore smaller rims... Therfore smaller brakes, is it called homologation for rally,? you have build a certain amount of road going cars.
Im pretty sure thats why the ford rs200 was called that because of amount of 200 road going cars?
Adam im glad you didnt have dyno fail on a road map
As mentioned previously, the standard Subaru 4 pots would probably not last long on track. I knew that the gold brembos would be a relatively simple swap so I kept an eye out for a set.
The price of Impreza brembos seems to have sky rocketed recently, they're now double the price of comparable brembo calipers made for other production cars. I enquired about a couple of sets that were available but everyone seems to want very strong money even though most needed some attention before I could bolt them on (striped mounting threads is common with these). I also made some enquiries at Godspeed about their own brembo kit which is reasonably priced, but they still haven't responded to any of my emails so I gave up on that option. Eventually I found a full set that had been recently refurbished in black and then not fitted so I'm jumped on them.
Next on the agenda was to sort out the disks, pads and new fluid. As this car uses the 170mm rear handbrake shoe, I had 2 options when it came to rear disks; either fit a wider shoe or go with a conversion disk, I decided on the latter.
A quick call to Alyn and it all arrived within 48hrs.
Next was the fitting. The only thing I had to modify was the stock dust shield on the rear. I couldn't get the larger disk on so had to remove the lip with an angle grinder.
Unfortunately I ran in to 2 problems after getting this far.
The first was that as I was bleeding the lines through, one of the bleed nipples sheered its threads inside the caliper. The threads must have already been weak as I didn't use any force, very frustrating on a set of calipers that have just been refurbished with new nipples. I also lost most of a new bottle of fluid in the process, grrrr! Anyway, the next day I whipped it off the car and posted it up to Alyn for repair, hopefully it will be straightforward and I'll have it back next week.
The second is a bit more terminal, the lovely set of Superleggera's that I just had freshly powder coated don't fit over the brembos! I tried using a 10mm spacer but even with that there's no clearance so would need to go to a 15mm spacer if I want to run them. I do love these wheels and like the white on white look but I've made the tough decision to sell them and move on. I'll be getting the tyres swapped over to the gold ones in the next day or 2.
Before I fit the wheels back on I'll be cleaning everything with brake cleaner and re-checking all the bolts.
Just to keep the pressure on myself to get this project finished and start using it, I went ahead and booked a track day! I'll hopefully be running it up to Snetterton on the 8th Nov. Keeping my fingers tightly crossed that Alyn can fix the caliper and I get a few other bits delivered in time to have it ready!
Unfortunately the car didn't make it to Snetterton last week. As I was prepping it on the Sunday afternoon, I noticed a weep from the rear caliper. I popped out the piston and closer inspection revealed a damaged seal, that meant curtains for the track day.
A quick call to Alyn at AS Performance the next day and he kindly found a seal and posted it out right away. It's all fitted and the car is back on the ground. I also replaced a wheel bearing in the middle of that going on as it was grumbling.
After bleeding the brakes through and taking it for a quick test, the brakes are really spongy. I feared that I had got some air in the master cylinder in the midst of all the issues I had with these brakes and this confirms it.
I found a few people trying a basic technique to clear the MC so I plan on giving it a try this week and report back. If that doesn't work then it'll need a bench bleed!
I probably won't have a chance to fit in another track day this year now so will look at Feb '22 to finally get it out. That gives me time to replace a tired track rod end and give it a service.
It'd been stuck in the air a few weeks. Not ideal on an unfinished driveway! Here's the weep. I thought it may be coming from the banjo but after I removed the caliper it became clear it was leaking out from the dust cover The piston came out far to easily Damage to the seal. This must have happened when the piston was refitted after the refurb. New OEM seal and dust cover Finally back on the ground.
Unfortunately the car didn't make it to Snetterton last week. As I was prepping it on the Sunday afternoon, I noticed a weep from the rear caliper. I popped out the piston and closer inspection revealed a damaged seal, that meant curtains for the track day.
A quick call to Alyn at AS Performance the next day and he kindly found a seal and posted it out right away. It's all fitted and the car is back on the ground. I also replaced a wheel bearing in the middle of that going on as it was grumbling.
After bleeding the brakes through and taking it for a quick test, the brakes are really spongy. I feared that I had got some air in the master cylinder in the midst of all the issues I had with these brakes and this confirms it.
I found a few people trying a basic technique to clear the MC so I plan on giving it a try this week and report back. If that doesn't work then it'll need a bench bleed!
I probably won't have a chance to fit in another track day this year now so will look at Feb '22 to finally get it out. That gives me time to replace a tired track rod end and give it a service.
It'd been stuck in the air a few weeks. Not ideal on an unfinished driveway! Here's the weep. I thought it may be coming from the banjo but after I removed the caliper it became clear it was leaking out from the dust cover The piston came out far to easily Damage to the seal. This must have happened when the piston was refitted after the refurb. New OEM seal and dust cover Finally back on the ground.
Looking good there how did you find them there nankangs....... Sure are cheaper on 17s.
Sorry didnt make your track day
Looking good there how did you find them there nankangs....... Sure are cheaper on 17s.
Sorry didnt make your track day
Thanks bud. They’re a good budget track tyre. They warm up really quickly so are good for a slow novice like me. An experienced/fast driver would probably overheat them pretty quickly on a dry day though. Considering most semi slicks are double the price, I think they’re a shrewd buy and will definitely improve handling on track
The car hadn't been moved since my last post a month ago so I decided to charge the battery this weekend and start using it. The brakes are feeling much better but still need a full bleed to be perfect. I'm leaving that for when I fit the braided hoses that @Dreep kindly donated though, probably when the weather improves a bit. Anyway, I did a 60 mile round trip to get Christmas shopping today and it ran like a dream. Still got a couple of bit I'd like to get done but nothing major now, just little things that bug my OCD, and it hasn't had a wash since mapping day so it's filthy. One of the front bushes is a bit squeaky so I need to take a look at that and there sounds like there's a nut or bolt in the chassis somewhere as I can hear it move around under braking. No idea where it could be so I need to strip the carpet out and get underneath it again. Hence waiting for better weather!
Looking lovely there I intend to start using mine a bit more as well - i'm 95% certain I'll chop the rest of the cage out and go full fat interior in it.
Interesting that your bumper doesn't have the winglets - is that a spec-c thing? Looks like a WRX bumper with added STI covers? I quite like the way your one hasn't got skirts as well - might copy that design
Thanks Henrik. Not bad for the ugly sister!
The Spec C came like this except they have a low level WRX spoiler as standard, I think the STi one was optional though. I'm not sure if yours has the mounting clips in the sills or not, I know the STi skirts do so you may have holes to contest with, as per the picture.
The back seats weigh nothing so I'm keeping them. A cage obviously helps with rigidity but the seats make it a more versatile car with 3 kids and another on the way!
Adam, your car is coming along really nicely, congrats on where your currently at.
Just a question on brakes, i'm considering the pad and disc combo below, i won't be tracking my car, just the usual type of spirited driving occasionally on quiet country roads and obviously sticking to the speed limits. I noticed you went for the DBA discs, is that because you'll be going on track, how do you rate the combo below that i'm thinking of pulling the plug on
Adam, your car is coming along really nicely, congrats on where your currently at.
Just a question on brakes, i'm considering the pad and disc combo below, i won't be tracking my car, just the usual type of spirited driving occasionally on quiet country roads and obviously sticking to the speed limits. I noticed you went for the DBA discs, is that because you'll be going on track, how do you rate the combo below that i'm thinking of pulling the plug on
Thanks.
I have the PFZ pads on both of mine and will buy them again. They are a good allrounder really being able to bite around town but also take the abuse of spirited driving. They can be a bit wooden first thing in the morning but soon warm up and are much better for road use than my previous DS2500. The PFZ need to be bedded in correctly otherwise I've heard people have issues.
Regarding the disks, DBA's seem to be widely regarded as a good option with the T2 being more road focused. I've know several people who have had issues with the Godspeed disks, when they're put to the test they have either warped or cracked, and that's fast road driving only. I had a set on my old daily and they were okay for a daily commuter but I wouldn't use them on anything faster. I actually have a brand new set of fronts sitting in the garage that I acquired as part of the deal on the calipers but decided not to fit them. They are half the price of the DBA's though so maybe it's not fair to compare them, I guess they're a good option if that's what your budget allows. When it comes to brakes and tyres, I choose the quality option every time though.
I noticed in the link they mention that the PFZ are not as good as the CL. Maybe on track that's true but on a road car they're probably comparable. My mate is pulling his CL's after a couple of hundred miles and replacing with PFZ due to the squealing and fallout they left on his wheels and body work.
29 September 2021, 03:06 PM
(I know it was cannibalised when you got it).
I intend to start using mine a bit more as well - i'm 95% certain I'll chop the rest of the cage out and go full fat interior in it.
