Subaru Impreza Wagon Track Project
Discussion
After being taken on track day by my uncle in his Westfield around a year ago I was hooked and have been searching for a track car ever since. When I sat down to decide what I wanted there was only one option for me.
After owning a Subaru Impreza WRX for 10 years it was an easy choice to buy another one and put my own spin on it and turn it into a track car
Bit of previous history I bought my first Impreza just over 11 years ago and went on to own it for 10 years literally going through every emotion with the car from complete joy to heart ache. I bought the car completely standard (225bhp) was addicted to it and went straight to modding it. Achieved 333bhp on the engine until it decided to let go. Out with the old and in went a semi closed deck from a sti and a bigger turbo we hit 425bhp. As a lot of you know you get used to the power so quickly and was looking for more power within in months. Decided a 6 speed gear box was next and a further turbo upgrade and when I finished it was running 485bhp was a very quick car as you can imagine.
The only reason I sold the car was I was worked a lot and didn’t really get chance to drive it. After saving for a few years I done the right thing and got on the property ladder so the car had to go to push me to my deposit I needed and I’ve missed it ever since.
Here’s a few pictures of my late Impreza
After buying a classic wagon and discovering it was a complete rust bucket the hunt was on to find another. After searching the normal sites for hours on end this week I found just what I was after. A completely standard blobeye wagon and a lesson learnt from the last one no rust on it which is great for a 20 year old car
Plan for the car is to turn it into a fun weekend car that is able to do a few track days a year. First job is to give it a major service. All oils filters and spark plugs and a new set of aluminium cam pulleys. Due to it being a track car I will be putting a baffled sump on it to stop starving the engine of oil. If you are familiar with Subarus you will know cylinder 4 struggles a bit with cooling so will be doing a small mod to help improve cooling.
Brakes wise I have already purchased a set of 6pot APs for the front and for the rear a set of brembos off an STI, so stopping wise I should have any problems there.
Handling wise will be getting a set of either tein coilovers or a set of BC coilovers. Have a set of while line anti roll bars and some drop links to improve the handling when out on track.
Power wise I won’t be doing anything yet after my last car and always chasing power figures this car will be completely different. Plan is to enjoy the car at its standard power then maybe after 6 months I will up the power, but for now I just want to enjoy the car.
Will hopefully get some more pictures of the car soon and all the work that happens on it.
Another money pit incoming
After owning a Subaru Impreza WRX for 10 years it was an easy choice to buy another one and put my own spin on it and turn it into a track car
Bit of previous history I bought my first Impreza just over 11 years ago and went on to own it for 10 years literally going through every emotion with the car from complete joy to heart ache. I bought the car completely standard (225bhp) was addicted to it and went straight to modding it. Achieved 333bhp on the engine until it decided to let go. Out with the old and in went a semi closed deck from a sti and a bigger turbo we hit 425bhp. As a lot of you know you get used to the power so quickly and was looking for more power within in months. Decided a 6 speed gear box was next and a further turbo upgrade and when I finished it was running 485bhp was a very quick car as you can imagine.
The only reason I sold the car was I was worked a lot and didn’t really get chance to drive it. After saving for a few years I done the right thing and got on the property ladder so the car had to go to push me to my deposit I needed and I’ve missed it ever since.
Here’s a few pictures of my late Impreza
After buying a classic wagon and discovering it was a complete rust bucket the hunt was on to find another. After searching the normal sites for hours on end this week I found just what I was after. A completely standard blobeye wagon and a lesson learnt from the last one no rust on it which is great for a 20 year old car
Plan for the car is to turn it into a fun weekend car that is able to do a few track days a year. First job is to give it a major service. All oils filters and spark plugs and a new set of aluminium cam pulleys. Due to it being a track car I will be putting a baffled sump on it to stop starving the engine of oil. If you are familiar with Subarus you will know cylinder 4 struggles a bit with cooling so will be doing a small mod to help improve cooling.
Brakes wise I have already purchased a set of 6pot APs for the front and for the rear a set of brembos off an STI, so stopping wise I should have any problems there.
Handling wise will be getting a set of either tein coilovers or a set of BC coilovers. Have a set of while line anti roll bars and some drop links to improve the handling when out on track.
Power wise I won’t be doing anything yet after my last car and always chasing power figures this car will be completely different. Plan is to enjoy the car at its standard power then maybe after 6 months I will up the power, but for now I just want to enjoy the car.
Will hopefully get some more pictures of the car soon and all the work that happens on it.
Another money pit incoming
darkyoung1000 said:
I do like a Subaru wagon and that’s an excellent idea to gently modify it for the occasional track day. Those brakes look the business!
Good luck with it and keep posting the updates!
I’m not worried about bhp this is just going to be a fun weekend/track car. Updates will follow in a few weeks time when I’ve got most of my new parts fitted Good luck with it and keep posting the updates!
Cambs_Stuart said:
I 100% agree impreza wagons are cool!
This was mine.
Any plans for reliability mods before taking it on track? Baffled sump, better cooling etc?
The plan is to give it a major service and change the water pump and the cambelt so I know it’s all fresh. Group N Baffled sump turned up today wasn’t going anywhere near a track without one. Only other mod I will be doing is to help cooling is helping out cylinder 4. In short it’s basically just an other pipe that attaches to the block which cools cylinder 4 down. Further down the line I may put a mishimoto radiator on as had one on my last Impreza and never gave me any hassle. Just want to enjoy the car first and see how it copes with its first track day in September.This was mine.
Any plans for reliability mods before taking it on track? Baffled sump, better cooling etc?
I don't suppose a very cheap whiteline rear strut bar would be of interest?
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
After a month of nothing happening with the car and searching the internet sourcing parts I finally have some progress.
Brand new group N baffled sump has been fitted. This is a must if you are tracking a Subaru to help stop oil starvation when cornering. Cambelt and water pump has been changed for piece of mind. Purchased a set of RCM aluminium pulleys as didn’t want to risk the standard plastic ones sheering when I am out on track. Decided to change the colour of my rear brakes as my OCD wouldn’t have allowed me to have red front callipers and gold rear ones.
Some bad news well not bad news it’s just one of them things when buying a used car. After taking the engine out the clutch has seen better days, so will have to order a new clutch and flywheel. But on the plus side means I can upgrade it in the process and will have piece of mind it will last on track. U frame has seen better days aswell, but it’s a 20 year old car that’s spent it’s life in the UK so it’s to be expected that the u frame is a bit rusty will have to look at purchasing a second hand one in better condition.
Underneath it’s in pretty good condition for the age of the car. This weekend I will be fitting the brakes along with a few visual changes. Car is finally starting to make some progress hopefully I don’t run into anymore hiccups along the way, but that’s the fun of modifying cars
Brand new group N baffled sump has been fitted. This is a must if you are tracking a Subaru to help stop oil starvation when cornering. Cambelt and water pump has been changed for piece of mind. Purchased a set of RCM aluminium pulleys as didn’t want to risk the standard plastic ones sheering when I am out on track. Decided to change the colour of my rear brakes as my OCD wouldn’t have allowed me to have red front callipers and gold rear ones.
Some bad news well not bad news it’s just one of them things when buying a used car. After taking the engine out the clutch has seen better days, so will have to order a new clutch and flywheel. But on the plus side means I can upgrade it in the process and will have piece of mind it will last on track. U frame has seen better days aswell, but it’s a 20 year old car that’s spent it’s life in the UK so it’s to be expected that the u frame is a bit rusty will have to look at purchasing a second hand one in better condition.
Underneath it’s in pretty good condition for the age of the car. This weekend I will be fitting the brakes along with a few visual changes. Car is finally starting to make some progress hopefully I don’t run into anymore hiccups along the way, but that’s the fun of modifying cars
Good to see it's ticking along, even if it always takes longer than you think (especially when you're doing it yourself). I've seen plenty of U frames for sale on the subaru forums so hopefully that won't be too expensive. How are the radiator support and front arms? they were always a worry point when I had one.
Cambs_Stuart said:
Good to see it's ticking along, even if it always takes longer than you think (especially when you're doing it yourself). I've seen plenty of U frames for sale on the subaru forums so hopefully that won't be too expensive. How are the radiator support and front arms? they were always a worry point when I had one.
I’ve already managed to find a brand new U frame for £300 which you can’t grumble at. Stage 2 clutch and flywheel on the other hand is around £700 money well spent as had one on my last Impreza and worked really well until I upped the power and went to a 6 speed. Regarding the front arms they’ve seen better days so they have been switched out for an ally set. Thought I’d update this post with where I am currently with the car.
After a busy month of collecting parts for the car we finally got the job done. Brand new Uframe and clutch went on and the car was ready to hit the track.
I’ve never been on track before so this was a completely new experience for me. Was very anxious in the morning. Had the car noise tested and was 85 decibels surely that’s the quietest Subaru ever even the marshal made a joke of having to try harder next time
Got a few sighting laps in then was let loose on the track. Was an open pit lane event so could come and go as you pleased. I can’t believe I’ve never done a track day before was such a thrill. As the day grew I gained more confidence in the car. Considering its standard I had people coming up to me and commenting how quick I was going and couldn’t believe it was standard. They had a photographer there so as it was my first track day I had to purchase a few pictures
There are still some improvements to be made on the car for my next track day but this is where the story takes a new direction. After a great day with the car not missing a beat on the way home I lost all oil pressure and that was it the engine gave up. Ironic that the slowest I’ve been in it all day it decided to break on me.
I was expecting this to happen so I’m not really that bothered just didn’t expect it to happen this soon into ownership.
Back to the drawing board now of what route am I going to take. Options are a forged EJ207 out of an STI, forged EJ257 or a closed deck 2.1. Luckily I have a closed deck block that I could use but I’m really not sure which route to take as they are all expensive.
Joys of owning a Subaru
After a busy month of collecting parts for the car we finally got the job done. Brand new Uframe and clutch went on and the car was ready to hit the track.
I’ve never been on track before so this was a completely new experience for me. Was very anxious in the morning. Had the car noise tested and was 85 decibels surely that’s the quietest Subaru ever even the marshal made a joke of having to try harder next time
Got a few sighting laps in then was let loose on the track. Was an open pit lane event so could come and go as you pleased. I can’t believe I’ve never done a track day before was such a thrill. As the day grew I gained more confidence in the car. Considering its standard I had people coming up to me and commenting how quick I was going and couldn’t believe it was standard. They had a photographer there so as it was my first track day I had to purchase a few pictures
There are still some improvements to be made on the car for my next track day but this is where the story takes a new direction. After a great day with the car not missing a beat on the way home I lost all oil pressure and that was it the engine gave up. Ironic that the slowest I’ve been in it all day it decided to break on me.
I was expecting this to happen so I’m not really that bothered just didn’t expect it to happen this soon into ownership.
Back to the drawing board now of what route am I going to take. Options are a forged EJ207 out of an STI, forged EJ257 or a closed deck 2.1. Luckily I have a closed deck block that I could use but I’m really not sure which route to take as they are all expensive.
Joys of owning a Subaru
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