Good idea to spend a few bucks on suspension bits and cooling on an NA 06 Impreza wagon for the occasional track day at VIR, Summit Point? I own it, I have track pads for it...reasons why it's a terrible platform? Suggestions on handling mods? Has like 130k miles, little oil weep at head gaskets, otherwise in pretty decent shape (clear coat not included).
Thanks!
The non-Turbo Subarus are in the same equipment class as any other small 4 door economy car. On these the brakes are likely to be the first to give up on a track.
You might check to see if larger brakes will swap from one of the Turbo cars, and maybe swaybars too.
Also if you don't AutoX, you might find it's a good start on finding your and your Impreza's limits.
I'm pretty much the slowest car at the local AutoX in my 4 door 07 Civic Dx 5 speed, but with some upgrades like 200 treadwear tires and a larger rear swaybar, I'm learning a lot and having fun. My track driving is on hold till I finish the 07 Civic Si that I'm rebuilding.
Interesting. This is a 5spd I presume?
Please update the thread if you go down this route.
JY_Rat said:Interesting. This is a 5spd I presume?
Please update the thread if you go down this route.
Was a mildly loaded question. Headed to VIR with it tomorrow. My CTS had some...trouble...and will be unable to attend as it is in the body shop and I really don't want to bail on the track day.
I'll update with photos of body roll and getting passed by Miatas down the back straight.
*And yes, 5spd.
But wondering if it's worth pursuing some time in the Whiteline catalog and figuring out the interchangeable parts with WRX/STi as mentioned by 78CobraII, before next event rolls around. Work on the fundamentals in a slow car...
I have no idea if it would be legal for your class but, I strongly recommend gaining some negative camber in the front, however your budget allows.
Since you're hitting the track tomorrow and sourcing some camber plates in that time is not likely, I'd put some crash bolts in the strut-to-spindle mounts. I did this many years ago when I used to Autocross my '97 Impreza Brighton and it gave me 2.7 degrees of negative camber. It also bumped me from H-Stock into STS but, that's another story. My daughter and I just did this for my '04 Outback and it looks to be about the same amount and it transformed the car. We removed the cam bolt from the upper holes and replaced them with some grade 8 flanged 1/2-13 bolts. I wanted fine threads but my local hardware store didn't have them. There is some potential for them to slip, especially if the car is driven at 10/10 on a road course but, it's a quick, easy, and cheap way to dial in some grip at the front.
Keep in mind that you will have to adjust your toe but, that's pretty easy on these.
I am 100% on board with learning in a slow car but, with the amount of understeer that platform has, you'll be absolutely murdering your front tires in stock form.
See how it does and go from there! Probably worth keeping an eye on oil levels and keeping it topped up, a baffled pan would be ideal but I don't think that will happen before tomorrow lol.
I started out on the track with my 04 Legacy wagon and the 07 Legacy wagon that replaced it has been on track as well (both 5spd, both NA EJ25). I find the cars pretty fun even if they are slow. Work on your trail braking to get the car to rotate on the way into a corner and then catch it with the throttle on the way out, lots of predictable fun. You can get the seatbelt to lock to, just recline or roll your seat back if you are shorter, give it a quick pull while keeping tension on it so it is locked, then just bring the seat back into it so you are locked in, not a harness but helps keep you in place a bit better.
Cooling, brakes, keeping oil in the sump are all more important but you can wake up these motors a bit with a tactrix openport 2.0 and ECUflash. I think Subaru really nuked these to try to get their fleet mpg down with all the turbo cars chewing through fuel at the time. Peak numbers are fine and you wont get much of anything more up at 6000+ rpm but below that there is a lot of performance you can get back. If you've driven a slightly earlier EJ25 with a cable throttle and compared it to yours with DBW you can feel the difference and you can get that back.
Have fun, flog it!
Thanks for comments. My scramble this week for prep: I got it aligned at a local Subaru performance shop who said they got a little bit of negative camber, replaced an axle, got carbotech pads and put on some Conti ExtremeContact sports, that I swore to my wife will have enough tread left for this car to continue it's duties as the dogs-to-vet taxi. Not sure if I lied.
Oh, and driving up tomorrow. Running with Chin Monday and Tuesday.
Pretty robust from a chassis standpoint. It's a wrx that makes 60-100 less hp yet somehow gets the same gas mileage. Easy upgrades from other Subarus in the brakes and suspension areas.
If you squint, they look just like vinyl!
VIR:
Day started off well enough. First session figuring out how the car drove on track (suuuuper slow out of turns and lots of understeer). 2nd session was a lot of fun. Found a groove with two Miatas and traded point by's for a few laps. Car felt maybe a little down on power towards the end, but assumed I was just getting more comfortable on track and it's sluggishness was just becoming more apparent.
But then start of third session and she didn't want to start. Eventually did, but ran rough. Cruise control light was flashing and CEL lit. Limped to Quantum where it died at their entrance. They pushed it right in and quick diagnosis via codes they pulled (cam sensor and MAF codes, l think) and listening to it's pitiful turning over without firing, was that it had likely lost time, somehow. No terrible racket, so surmised it could potentially have somehow jumped a tooth or three? Wasn't after a deep or definitive diagnosis, just someone to tell me A.) I wasn't missing something simple and B.) The car wasn't running tomorrow's sessions.
Negative answers to both of those and they graciously gave me a ride back to paddock so I could grab truck and trailer, then helped me push Subie onto the trailer (a steep tilt deck for my tractor). Said my goodbyes, checked out of hotel early and laid hammer down and got home before storytime with the daughter.
Reckon I'll try to diagnose it more scientifically in the weekends to come.
All suspension stuff from a WRX or STI chassis is compatible. These cars push badly in slow corners. I'd want front camber plates and a stiffer rear bar to try and help it rotate better.
Flat engines have oiling issues in race tracks. On pavement it will be worse than I see on dirt. I'd look into oil control too.
Such a bummer but glad you had fun while it lasted! Hoping it's nothing big
jfryjfry said:Such a bummer but glad you had fun while it lasted! Hoping it's nothing big
I figured the chances of "DNF, mechanical" were greater than zero, for sure. But I did have fun. Holy understeer, though!
Not sure it'll be diagnosed anytime soon. Falls toward the middle of the pack as far as project urgency.
i pretty much did this exact journey with my 2005 2.5RS sedan, even did my first/only track day on VIR (north course)! i was right around the same mileage too, weirdly enough. drove there in it, car did great and had no issues, drove home. sorry to hear yours has given you some grief, unfortunately i'd want to do a compression test. its rare they jump time and the EJ's are poorly factory tuned when it comes to fuel/timing and can often run lean. with you describing a slow descent into power loss i'd wonder if its not a cylinder going down.
provided its not totally dead and/or you want to keep it, i'd recommend you forget track work and take it rallycrossing. that is where this particular model really shines. the low-ish weight, AWD, torquey engine and low gearing make these genuinely quick in the dirt with decent tires. that's exactly the path i took - started in autox, tried track work, and settled into rallyx where the car was very locally competitive even on my daily driver all season tires. i would show up, take the baby seat and spare tire out, pump up the tires and yank the ABS fuse. then drive sideways all day and have a blast. their power is too weak for track stuff, the suspension geometry sucks once you lower them, they don't control oil well at high G's and the AWD just wants to understeer on pavement. its just far more oriented to low grip situations.
here's my old thread, the mod list is towards the beginning. anything from the 02-07 WRX or 2004 STi will carry directly over. i focused on suspension and pads (they aren't fast enough to really need the brakes upgraded beyond that). best mods were the struts/springs, RSB, good alignment and upgraded pads. everything else was just personal preference for me or very minor gains. i think my tune did help a bit with engine longevity.
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/2005-25rs-an-ongoing-tale-of-the-dirty-daily/96121/page1/
@ScottyB, I will probably have some questions once I sort out what's going on with the motor.
To that end, I started pulling the plugs to check compression and first one I pulled (#4?) looked like this:
Valve cover gasket? Something more nefarious?
The oil is from gaskets, it probably has nothing to do with anything internal with the engine.
But I don't really know anything about Subarus, other than my track day buddy has had to replace two engines in his WRX because of oiling issues during track duty.
In reply to Spearfishin :
Spark plug tube gaskets. It's a "they all do that" thing. Not the root cause or a symptom of the engine failure though.
Onward towards compression test. Got as far today as "driver's side plugs removed" before getting pulled to more pressing tasks.
i'd agree with everyone else, looks like a valve cover plug tube gasket. i had to do my valve cover gaskets twice in 135k miles. the exhaust being under the engine probably adds to a degree of accelerated thermal breakdown compared to your typical upright inline engine, if i had to guess.
definitely feel free to let me know if you have any questions. been out of the subaru game a while now but i might remember a couple useful things I hope.
Eventually I'll get to the Subaru...
Body roll?
Easily keeps up with Porsche's in the twisties. I swear!
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