Monthly Archives: July 2002

Confession

I have something to confess, driving an AWD turbo car on the autocross course may be fast, but it’s not terribly fun.

Driving the daily-driven car on the autocross course is a bit nerve-wracking when it’s got a few miles on it.

Beating on a project car is fun, especially when it’s a lightweight, RWD car with decent power and doesn’t act as anyone’s daily.

To that end, i’m retiring the Wagon from service as a racer, and directing my attention and some finacnes into building a fun, fast project car.

The car is a 1984 GSL-SE RX-7 that a few friends have raced several times this season. It’s got the 13B with EFI and an LSD. We’ve powdercoated the stock 14s (low weight), put some Falken Azenis tires on for superior grip, removed the AC and a number of other reasonably easy to strip items, replaced the cat with a test pipe, fabricated a custom ignition and put in a K&N air filter.

The car is fun to drive. RWD is a blast, and since the car has a completely stock suspension, it’s pretty balanced but very rewarding. No power steering makes some of the corners a bit of an exercise, but PS can get in the way in quick transitions.

I also beat a turbo MR2 and an Integra in SM2 to take my first 1st place ever. I’m stoked.

Additions

I’ve added a few things to the Library.

The first is a scanned in 91 Legacy brochure that Brian sent me. He requested it from SOA and they promptly photocopied the one they had and sent it to him. Now i have a brochure from all five years!

The other one is a Subaru Sales Force Guide. This is a guide meant for anyone involved in selling Subaru. It goes through the history of Subaru and all of its technological advantages over the competition. Very interesting stuff.

Update

Not a whole lot going on since i put the new exhaust bit on the car, so the lack of updates is basically due to that.

I did, however, get in a relatively minor accident on Monday afternoon. A red CRX was granted passage across a busy street, only to end up being crushed mildly with my front bumper. The CRX had it pretty bad, but my car barely noticed. There are some scratches, some splotches of red paint, and the headlight might be skewered a bit down. Also, the seatbelts will neither release or retract, so i’m going to have to call the local dealership and see what’s up with that.

I’m still trying to decide if it’s worth it to get it “actually” repaired.