The 2008 racing season ended with a successful 2nd place finish for our debut race at Virginia International Raceway with the Redline Time Attack. The car performed like a champ with gobs of power and loads of grip.

We took a few months off, and are now ready for the 2009 season, fresh with updates to the suspension and engine.

We secured a suspension sponsorship with Stance USA for a set of GR+ 3-way adjustable coilovers with remote reservoirs.

We hit the ceiling of what we could do with the OEM WRX ECU last season, topping out with 350whp, so we looked into a new ECU. I decided on using the Autronic SM4.

Matt spend a few days getting the tune right, and made huge leaps and bounds producing a tune that spools 1000 rpm sooner than it did previously, and now produces 50 more horsepower, topping out at just shy of 400 wheel horse power. More importantly the power curve is much more broad, giving me a much more usable powerband.

Bill had a few new ideas for the intercooler piping, especially the design of the hot side, so he increased the piping diameter. We also reran the fuel & breather lines under the intake manifold for that “tucked” look. Bill also welded up a new catch-can to replace our Nalgene trail bottle.

We discovered that the mid-pipe in the exhaust was rusting out, so bill welded together a completely straight 3″ exhaust system. It now has the crisp sound of a Group A rally car.

To get more grip on the road, I bought a set of 17 by 9 +35 Volk CE28N Time Attack wheels wrapped in 255/40/R17 Nitto NT-01 tires. I haven’t used these tires yet, but I’ve heard they’re very similar to the Toyo RA-1.

We also got around to a bunch of small things: New shifter bushings, new tow hooks, got rid of the hood scoop, and installed a race rearview mirror.

This coming Monday and Tuesday I’ll be up in Montreal for the COM Time Trials at Mont Tremblant circuit, then onto June 20 and 21st for round 3 of the Redline Time Attack in Chicago.

For more specs and details: the RASpec Impreza.

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