ProjectSoloGear - Blogs

How I Missed My Lip!

PSG STi — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 02:57:27 GMT

Well, spring is almost upon us, that means putting the snow tires away, putting the summer rims on, and time to put on the bling!

- Matt

Into the Guard Rail

PSG STi — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 01:16:00 GMT

I never claimed to be the best driver in the world, but I like to consider myself reasonably coordinated. That's why it hurts me to post this picture:

It looks like I gave my car a black eye. So what happened? As I like to put it, my car got smashed in the face by a guard rail. Well, actually I lost control and gently directed the car into the guard rail, but that's neither here nor there. Jeff and I were on our way to lunch, and it was had been raining steadily the past night and continued throughout the day. We got on a local highway like I've done many times before, but this time it was apparently too fast. I lost the back end of the car, and kept my calm and tried to correct it... but in doing so, over-corrected swinging the car back in the other direction and straight for doom. The impact was very low speed, the airbags didn't even go off and it didn't look like the crash beam was touched! So with a quick look, some expletives, we drove on to get some chinese food. Funny thing is, the chinese restaurant wasn't even open... ironic, huh?

It's been a day now which has given me some time to reflect on what happened... in all honesty, I'm not that upset that I crashed the car. No one was injured, no other cars were around me, and insurance will cover the damages. In the end, it'll probably come out looking better than it did before, so I guess that's a plus.

But there are two things that bother me about the whole situation. First, it's the fact that it even happened. Let me rephrase that: the fact that I let it happen. And I know I just said I wasn't too upset about the accident, but this is a different feeling. It's like taking your newborn baby, punching it in the eye, and then finding out she needs eye surgery. I love my car, I really do, and it makes me a little sad to have to look at her all banged up. Second, I'm upset that I don't have good enough driving abilities to be able to correct small mishaps like this. I thought I was doing a good job of correcting (turn the wheels in the direction of the slide!), but I guess it was too much. The situation could have been avoided if it were another driver.... which makes me think, can I really handle this car? It sounds sappy, but it makes me doubt my abilities.

All in all, the damage to the car isn't upsetting, but the psychological affects it's having on me are another story. I'm sure any car enthusiast would feel the same way, especially if they're as attached to their car as I am to mine. Oh, and for all those who enjoy seeing other people's pain, or are thinking "I'm glad that's not me!", here are some more pictures to enjoy:

The Ugly Panda Returns!

ProjectSoloGear — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 02:28:00 GMT

Well, after a short break, the Ugly Panda returned, and the GC plate prototyping continued.
Last time we left satisfied knowing that the jack plates we ordered bolted right up to Aaron's Impreza no problem (although I did strip one of the bolts!), and our hole pattern for the GC plate worked out perfectly. The only hangup was the aftermarket Borla headers... how were we going to get around (or in this case, underneath) them?

Last week, the Panda returned, not only to help with some under body protection, but with a brand new motor! Aaron finally got his "Frankenstein" 2.5L in, and he couldn't be more pleased!

This also forced him to finally clean up the oil / dirt / grease / grime / sand coating he had underneath... but it doesn't explain why his tow hook is bent so badly...

Anyways, back to why we're here... back to the skidplate. The borla headers were causing us some headaches, and even with the stock exhaust system, some sort of bends or spacers are needed to clear the pipes. With the borla headers, there needs to be at least 2 inches of clearance, if not more, for a skidplate to function properly. As we though about our options, we kept the following in mind:

1) Maximize Contact Surface.If we are going to use brackets, use them so that they touch all along the frame of the car, not just at the mounting points. This will help keep the skidplate strong; otherwise, the mounting points become the weak spots.
2) Minimize Bends. Not only does this reduce the cost of manufacturing, but it will also keep the plate more rigid. The more bends you put in a skidplate, the weaker it will become.
3) Provide Ample Clearance. We've heard (and seen) too many stories from people who had only a hairs width of clearance between their skidplates and the oil pan... only to have dirt, stones, and other foreign objects collect in this cramped space. What happens when the skidplate takes an impact? Well, it sure will survive, but it'll compress all that m*** up into the oil pan, eventually cracking it. It's a fast way to end a fun day in the dirt, and fortunately there's an easy fix. Provide extra clearance so that dirt and debris can clear out on it's own!
4) Maintain Jack Point. Sure, we could easily put a spacer in the rear to help clear the oil pain, but then the skidplate is no longer touching the jack plate, and in turn you can no longer jack up the car using this point. The jack point must be maintained!

With these few ideas in mind, and after taking another look under the Ugly Panda, we decided that we'd have to make a one-off custom piece to protect the black and white rally beast. But still, we didn't have a solid way of mounting the plate. And another issue: the template we mocked up was getting dangerously close to the ground... would there be enough clearance for everyday driving?

We deliberated for awhile, and finally came up with a few good ideas:
1) Custom Rail System. Build a custom rail system that would attach at the front of the frame and connect to the jack plate mounting points. Essentially, we'd be creating a sort of subframe just for the skidplate to mount on. Not only would we have a place to bolt up, but we could keep the plate flat, and it would provide the clearance needed for the oil pan and exhaust.
2) Lower the Jack Plate. Instead of using spacers to connect the skidplate to the jackplate, we thought of putting a spacer between the jack plate and the cross members, then having the skidplate mount normally to the jack plate. This option would be a little more expensive, but would provide the clearance needed and retain the use of the jack plate!
3) Front Rail + Lower Jack Plate.With the lower jack plate idea, build a custom mount (think steel tube stock!) to mount to the front of the frame, which would lower the front of the skidplate. We would need to maintain this such that the angle of the skidplate is always up in the front, and probably need to bend or tuck the front of the plate within the bumper.

With these ideas (and a few others) floating around, we decided that since it was going to be a one-off piece, Aaron would go back and try to fabricate a rail/bracket system. I'm confident that one of the ideas that we have will work, and am committed to getting the Ugly Panda some protection!

- PSG

Prototyping Continues...

ProjectSoloGear — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 23:57:00 GMT

More work on the GC skidplate got accomplished tonight, as I got down and dirty again with Aaron's '95 Impreza:

First, I began by looking at the front of the frame. Unlike the newer style Imprezas, the first gens only have 2 bolts up front. And since none of them came with any sort of underbody protection (not even a flimsy dust cover!), all of them usually are rusted.

So the first step is to clean out these bolts holes so they can be used. In some cases, you can just force the bolt in there and it'll clean out the rust. But usually this won't work, and you'll have to resort to other means. My solution: take some PB Blaster and spray the inside of the bolt hole. This will dissolve some of the surface rust, making it easier to work with. Then, you'll need a tapping kit. Use a M8x1.25" tap and retap these holes. Make sure to use some sort of lubrication (I found that the PB Blaster I had already used was sufficient) so as not to break the tap. You only really need to work the tap in far enough so you can get the screw started, then you can just force it in and it'll clean up on its own.

After this is done, and with the new jack plate I installed yesterday, I had all the mounting points I needed. I used an existing plexigl*** template I had from previous designs and fit it up against the front. Interestingly enough, the distance to the jack plate is just a little bit longer than on the newer body Imprezas, so an adjustment had to be made.

The new holes I made worked perfectly, and the template fit like a charm! With the template up, I measured out where the oil filter and oil drain plug needed to be, and can now transfer that to my CAD system to generate a model. In a few days, we'll have a sheet metal prototype to finalize the design, and soon first gen Impreza owners can rejoice!

Still one problem though, the exhaust headers. Even with stock headers, there will need to be some adjustment made so that the plate doesn't sandwich up against them. There's two options: make some bends to clear the headers, or fabricate some spacers to gain some extra clearance. Just one more challenge, but I'm up to the task!

- PSG

1st Gen Impreza Prototyping!

ProjectSoloGear — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 23:52:00 GMT

GC/GF/GM... I still can't figure out the official name, but it's a first generation impreza, and it's sitting in my garage:

Thanks to Aaron from Not All There Racing for letting me borrow his '95 "Ugly Panda" (as it's so affectionately called) for some prototyping work on what we'll call the GC skidplates.

Tonight was just to confirm that the newer generation jack plates fit on the older generation body styles. Why do we need this? Because the first gen imprezas didn't come with dust covers, so the original jack plates for these cars had no mounting rear mounting spots for a skidplate:

Notice the jack plate on the right (first gen impreza) has no threaded holes, while the new jack plate on the left has the threaded holes we need. Also, as you can see from the next photo, these plates are identical, so fitment is not an issue:

And yes, Aaron's car is excessively dirty underneath! And notice that his oil pan is crushed in a bit... he could definitely use a skidplate for this rallycross car!

One final note... I did notice that on this particular car, the exhaust configuration was different than what I was used to seeing. Instead of having the exhaust headers coming out either side and connecting just behind the jack plate, this car has the p***enger side exhaust wrapping around the front, then merging with the drivers side exhaust before continuing down the car. Not sure if these are aftermarket headers (they don't look it), but this is going to be another challenge to face while designing this plate.

Stay tuned!

- PSG

PSG RallyX Carnage!

PSG STi — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 23:23:00 GMT

A lot of people told me I was crazy when I told them I was going to rallycross my STi... I mean c'mon, who would take a nice, limited production car, and beat the hell out of it? Well, I would, and I don't regret a minute of it!

But having fun does have it's prices, and my car was hurting a little bit after the event:

The first picture shows the middle of the bumper, and the second picture shows the p***enger side near the fog light surround. Both we cracked during an uphill climb over a bump, where the face of the car basically plowed into the ground before being launched into the air!

As the black knight would say, "it's just a flesh wound!". The bumper will be replaced in the spring. No need to get a new bumper now and have it get scraped up during the winter.

Would I do it again? In the STi, not a chance, and for two very good reasons. First, you can see what the car went through and how it came out. I don't want to do that again to my car. Second, if you take a look at the results (http://www.geocities.com/rallyrpi/rallycross07.html), I was soundly beaten by an Audi 5000 (circa 1989), an '02 WRX, and a '97 Forester. Heck, I was the only STi registered for the event! So it's not about the power, if you're a good driver, you can win in a cheap beater... and that's my plan for next years rallycross.

Do I regret taking my car out in the dirt? Not a chance! For that much fun, you just can't beat it... even if I do need to replace some body parts. In the end, this is heritage the car comes from, and it's only right to allow it to get down and dirty!

Should I Join the Bandwagon?

PSG STi — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 00:12:00 GMT

Gus.

Henry.

Doug.

Dan.

Rich.

And now Jeff.

So many of my friends have EVOs... and only a few have Subarus (and even less have STIs). Maybe theres something about them I'm missing. Maybe I should join the bandwagon...

And this would be the perfect time to do it. The new WRX is supremely ugly, and from the reviews that I've read, it's not nearly the boy racer its predecessors were.

Although they're not at the same power level, the new Lancers that came out earlier this year looked very nice. I don't know too much about their over feel, but it seems like Mitsubishi is stepping up and creating a more sporty sedan, while Subaru is scaling down to try to appeal the the m*** market. There's still speculation about what the new STI and EVO X will look like, but from the concepts, it looks like the new EVO will blow the STI out of the water.

And if Suburu carries their current "scale down" thinking, the STI will be unimpressive, and just by looking at the Concept X, the EVO X looks like it's going to be a beast!

So who knows, maybe I'll have to take a look at the EVO X and see what all the hype is about.

Fun in the Sun

PSG STi — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 00:31:00 GMT

Another day, another autocross. Today's was at Rowley Springs in Bristol, CT. The course was short and fast, the temperature was hot, and coming off a disappointing showing at Fairfield, I was ready to make some improvements.

My first run was good, fast enough to put me near the top of A-stock (yes, I said A-stock, CART kicked me out of novice cl*** without telling me). However, the next three runs were a repeat of last weekends event, where I couldn't improve much more than a few tenths of a second. Frustrated, I came into the last run telling myself to be smooth, but also be fast. I also changed the way I attached a few of the turns, and as a result, I ended up shaving another half a second off my time! Today, I left happy, knowing that I still could improve, and finishing in the top 20 out of 95 drivers wasn't bad either! Still, I wasn't able to pull ahead of Phil, who beat me by just .2 seconds on the last run. If he hadn't managed to get that time, I would have beaten him by a mere .001! What a victory that would have been!

Next up: alignment, max camber, and FCSCC autocross on July 22nd!

Death of a Tire

PSG STi — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 22:46:00 GMT

The Hoosiers are no more.

One of the best autocross tires available on the market today, I destroyed my Hoosier A3S04's in the May 20th autocross event at Plainfield, just after 3 events of use (they were used, of course). I should've taken the advice that was given to me and had these tires closely monitored and had my camber adjusted to the max allowable to reduce any rollover. Unfortunately I was ignorant, which resulted in the loss of 4 good tires.

Now that I've experienced R-comps, I can never go back to racing street tires. A fellow autocrosser told me about a great deal on Toyo RA-1's. The Toyo's wouldn't be the same as the Hoosiers, but it's still a racing tire, so I went for it (besides, the deal was too good to p*** up!). I was soon in for an unpleasant surprise...

This past weekend at Plainfield, I debuted the RA-1's. They looked great when they were delivered, and look even better on my gold STI rims. But how would they perform? Would they grip as well as the Hoosiers? Well, I found out the hard way. With plenty of tight turns and sweeping arcs, the Plainfield course really allowed me to see what the RA-1's could do, and it was quickly apparent that they weren't as grippy as the Hoosiers. Every turn it seemed like the car was pushing, and no matter how I drove, I ended up with relatively the same times. Frustrated, I ended the day third in Rookie Stock, and was still trying to figure out how to drive on these tires. Maybe I was pushing the car too hard? Maybe I was taking the wrong line? Whatever it was, I need to figure it out, and figure it out quick.

Project JDM is Here!

PSG STi — Tue, 22 May 2007 00:56:00 GMT

All cars have dreams, and my car has a dream of going back to its roots, becoming pure JDM. And that dream was one step closer to being realized with a brand new Fujitsubo Power Getter Catback exhaust!

If you've been following my updates, you know that this project was supposed to start about two weeks ago, when I anticipated getting my exhaust in the mail. But a recent string of bad luck had my exhaust shipped out to California, while I impatiently sat at home only to be delivered a fuel pump. With little effort, I immediately got the price reduced by $80 and the exhaust was soon on its way back to my door. Two weeks later, my exhaust finally came in, but happiness soon turned into disappointment and anger.

As I opened the box to inspect my new exhaust, I noticed several small "dings" in one of the resonators in the intermediate pipe. Immediately I called RavSpec telling them of my displeasure, and they only offered to have a new exhaust shipped from California. Knowing that the packaging was going to be the same (which was not sufficient to say the least), I negotiated another $70 off the price due to the damages. For a $900 on sale for $800, minus $80 due to shipping error and another $70 due to shipping damage, I ended up only paying $650! Satisfied, I immediately set to work on the installation.

First Impressions
Fujitsubo is known for their quiet exhausts which was a main reason for my choice. Compared to my stock STI catback, the Power Getter is barely more noticeable in car, with a slightly larger difference if you're standing directly behind. Fujitsubo is also know for the precise quality, and was very evident in the superb welds at all the exhaust joints.

It's hard to feel a 7 - 10hp gain on a 300hp engine, but I think the gain is there. If anything, I gained the bling factor with the huge exhaust tip angled out, giving the rear an aggressive new look. Overall, I'm very pleased with my choice: the sound is exactly where I want it, the quality is second to none, and I've increased power without sacrificing anything in return.

The Next Step
What's next for Project JDM? It's hard to say for sure right now, but on the list is: suspension, exterior accessories, wheels, tires, and some interior bits. It may be awhile before JDM once again hits my STI, but I'll keep you up to date with all the JDM happenings!

It's Good to Stay High

PSG STi — Tue, 08 May 2007 23:38:00 GMT

Everyone says that tires are the single biggest modification you can do to improve your times at an autocross, and this past weekend I finally realized it for myself.

It was the second event running on the Hoosiers, and besides still getting used to the race tires, I've always scratched my head over what tire pressure to use. Some say to start with the pressures high to keep the tires from rolling over, and bump them down as necessary as the day goes on. Others are of the mindset to keep the pressures low so they heat up fast, as in lower than the recommended stock pressures. Due to the nature of the course (small, short, and tight turns) and the weather (relatively cold in the morning), I decided to start with the pressures low to get the tires to heat up faster.

I began the day with 30 psi all around.

On the first run, the car felt very slippery... I'm not sure if that was due to the tires still scrubbing or if the pressures were wrong, but something didn't feel right. To get the car to turn better, I bumped the rears to 32 psi and ran the rest of the day. However, I still didn't feel like the car was gripping right, but continued to day with a 30/32 split front to rear.

Unsatisfied, and finishing second in ZN to Phil by just 2/100ths of a second, I bumped up my pressures back to 40 psi all around and took a fun run.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE!

It could have been that the course was warmer, or that I had learned the course throughout the day, but increasing the pressures made the tires grip 10 times better and allowed me to pull 1/2 a second off my best time!

So needless to say, I'll be starting out the next event HIGH, high on tire pressure that is!

CART Autocross: 05-06-07

PSG STi — Mon, 07 May 2007 01:55:00 GMT

Here's a clip of run 4 in my STI from this weekend's autocross.

I'll post some post event thoughts tomorrow!

Project JDM Delayed

PSG STi — Wed, 02 May 2007 23:15:00 GMT

Well, the company I bought my first JDM piece from, RavSpec, made a stupid mistake that will delay project JDM for a few days. They mistakenly sent me a fuel pump and sent my item to California! I was a little irritated, but a phone call got things straightened out. Project JDM will have to wait a few days!

Project JDM Begins!

PSG STi — Tue, 01 May 2007 23:30:00 GMT

Tomorrow I'll be receiving my first piece to project JDM. Can't wait to install!

Check back tomorrow to see what it is!

First AutoX on Race Tires

PSG STi — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 00:47:00 GMT

This past weekend, FCSCC held their third autocross of the season, this time at an old dog track in Plainfield, CT. It was also the first time I had a chance to use my Hoosier A3S04 autocross compounds.

Although they are only 225's, the Hoosier's are much wider than a street tire due to squareness of the sidewalls, so the contact area is larger than the RE070's. And needless to say, they're race tires. Still, I was unsure of what to expect, and was both excited and frightened with what the car might do. First, let's start with an overview of the course.

The new lot that FCSCC will be running for the rest of the year was less than impressive. Although it's the largest lot I've been to yet, it's still got cracks, bumps, sand and gravel, which makes for an overall bumpy ride. Still, it was in better condition than CART's old lot in Bristol, and the fact that it was so big was a plus. The course started out with a right turn into the timing gate. It was then a left, right, left, into a decreasing radius left turn that brought you to the back of the lot. With a jog to the left, then another left turn around a pole, you found yourself on the first straight. At the end of the straight was a 90 degree turn, followed by a Chicago box and into a 90 degree right. Then a quick accel brought you to another right, which led into the second straight. At the end of this straight was a sweeping 180 to the left, following by a chicane which brought you into the finish gate.

I began the day expecting to throw away the first and maybe the second runs, and I was right. The first is always the slowest, as I learned the course and felt the grip of the Hoosiers. The grip was amazing, but when the car got out of shape, it was much harder to reel back in. The second run I was over confident and thought that the tires had been scraped clean and were at their max performance. But I was wrong, and came in too fast into one of the turns, sliding my way through at least 3 cones. I finished the rest of the run more cautiously, trying to figure out what had happened. On the third run, I started to understand the limits of the tires and my driving skills, and was able to best my first run by .7 seconds. Run 4 was also an improvement, brining my time down another .5 seconds. However, on the last run of the day, I was unable to improve anymore and scored .3 seconds slower than my best time.

As for my new tires,, I love the grip, but I still felt like I wasn't as fast as I could've been. Usually I score at least 2 or 3 seconds from my first run to my best run, but this time I was only able to pull off 1.3 seconds. It could have been that the Hoosiers were still warming up from a few months of storage, I wasn't used to them, or a combination of both. Although I didn't feel faster with my race tires, it's hard to say how much faster than street tires they actually made me. Still, I think the Hoosiers are giving me better braking power, allowing me to turn faster, and also accelerate sooner out of the corners. I just need to put the power of my STI and the grip of my Hoosiers together, and I think I'll have a good autocross season!