Picked Up a New Project Jun 23, 2010
We just purchased a 2000 Subaru Impreza L wagon. We're going to get it ready for some rallycross fun as well as some TSD road rally events. We purchased the car from a friend of the magazine, and it's in decent shape. However, at 10 years old and with 156,000 miles on the odometer, it's a little tired. We'll be going through it from stem to stern.
First Work on Subie Wagon Jul 1, 2010
Our 2000 Subaru has taken over some daily driver duties. We did encounter one problem—the brake pedal and steering wheel were pulsating pretty severely during even mild slowdowns--but it has since been fixed. Here's how we did it.
We took the front brakes apart and turned the rotors down, as there was plenty of meat left on them. Next, we replaced the no-name pads with a set of PBR Ultimate ceramic pads sourced from Primitive Engineering.
The resulting brake performance and feel is much improved. The new pads have plenty of bite for street and rallycross use without being overly grabby.
Undergarments for Our Subaru Aug 4, 2010
Since we're getting our Subaru wagon ready for some rallycross fun, we decided to protect the underside with some products designed to keep the car from getting too chewed up from gravel and rocks.
The first bit of protection is a Primitive Racing skid plate. It bolts to the front lower radiator support and the subframe/engine cradle. We've found that these simple plates actually keep the lower radiator support from moving backward in the event of a hard hit to the underside.
We also installed a set of RallyArmor mudflaps. These flaps keep flying gravel from chewing up the paint and undercoating. We can actually hear the difference when going down a dirt road—a lot fewer thumps and clunks from flying stones.
Hella of a Lot of Light Aug 19, 2010
The stock lights on our 2000 Subaru aren't bad, but we've been poking around the back roads of Florida and need a bit more candlepower to show us the way home. We added a pair of Hella 500FF lamps and a pair of MicroFF fogs to the nose of our project car.
To mount them, we welded a light bar to the factory bumper beam. We used 1x3/16-inch steel bars for the mounting apparatus. The lights were then powered using the included relays and switches.
Shock Upgrade for Subaru? Aug 27, 2010
We've heard a lot of stories on how Konis aren't a good choice for rallycross use. It figures that we found a screaming deal on a set of Konis for a 2002-'07 Impreza. They fit our chassis with only a few easily remedied issues. We bought them and are going to see just how they hold up to severe abuse. We'll let you know how it goes.
One issue with the later WRX struts is that the rear perch height is slightly higher—but that's actually good for our off-road purposes. The brake line tabs are also slightly different, but some zip ties solved that problem.
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