PERFORMANCE

This car has been swapped with quite a few motor variations, and has had extensive upgrades stemming from these drivetrains. As of now, the motor is in what I hope will be it's final configuration. The heart of my car is a Japanese (JDM) Ver. 7 STi RA motor mated to a JDM Ver. 4 STi 4.44 5 speed transmission.

I will now go through each setup I've had, as well as dyno charts, and 1/4 time slips, if available, just because I wish to illustrate just how much work under the hood this car has had.

This car is sponsored by ECS Performance, and while a lot of the work done to this car was done by myself and Paul/Matt @ ECS before ECS was a company, I am deeply indebted to ECS Performance and everything they have done to make this car into what I have always wished it would be. Please check them out at www.eastcoastswappers.com. They are the reason I have not thrown in the towel and sold my car, especially since I am a broke law school student. They now do all the peformance modifications to the car, as I no longer have time.

Currently... as of January 2008

As of right now, the powerplant under the hood is a JDM Ver. 7 STi RA motor, arguably the best motor Subaru ever produced. With factory forged internals, 8:1 CR, big port heads with AVCS, 8250 rev limit and 276HP stock, I chose the motor because I wanted a high-revving boosted monster. I have had some terrible luck in the past with engines and transmissions, and my best friend Paul @ ECS Performance in Springfield, MA suggested I go with the strongest motor available. That was back in March 2006.

While I had many aftermarket parts left over from past motor swaps (1 WRX swap, 2 WRX/EJ257 hybrid swaps, not including the original N/A 2.5 motor), it was pretty easy for me to build a 300WHP car. Many of those parts from the original swap, including my old massive top mount intercooler which we dubbed "the fridge", over time have been replaced with better parts for more power. In my hunger for power, 5 transmissions let go on me (yes, 5), and my latest transmission is a Ver. 4 STi w/very short gearing (4.44 final drive). Although most of the transmissions that went were the result of letting my idiot friends drive the car, I will take credit for blowing up 2 of them. The car eventually will either get a PPG gear set or 6 speed in my quest for 450WHP. I know the current transmission cannot handle that much power so I am somewhat limited at around 300WHP for the time being, until I graduate law school and start making money. The motor is another story, and people have made well over 500WHP on an otherwise stock Ver. 7 motor.

The car currently makes 294WHP @ 21.5PSI via an OpenECU tune done by my boys at ECS Performance in Springfield, MA. Although I have not gone to the track since the tune, prior to this latest tune I ran 13.0 @ 108MPH in the 1/4 mile, but I know with the right driver and a strong transmission the car has low 12's in it, especially after this new tune. Pictures from the dyno session at Bishop Tuning in Canton, CT:

Modlist
*2001 JDM Ver. 7 STi RA motor
*1998 JDM Ver. 4 STi 4.44 5 speed transmission
*ACT street clutch
*Ported TD-05H 16G turbo
*Custom front mount intercooler
*Greddy Type-RS BOV
*JDM STi 565cc pink injectors
*Walbro 255LPH fuel pump
*APS turbo inlet
*Perrin shorty intake
*ERZ catless bellmouth 3" downpipe
*Perrin 3" twin tip catback exhaust
*ARP head studs
*Crawford head gaskets
*Optima Red Top battery
*STi short shift linkage
*Subaru rear differential protector
*SPT battery tie down
*Custom radiator shroud

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Initially the car had a giant GPMoto top mount intercooler and when the motor went in, the car was tuned at KTR Performance in Ayer, MA, making 265.9WHP @ 17PSI via Turbo-XS UTEC on their conservative "heartbreaker" dyno.

On the dyno:

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Past Configurations

December 2005:

Prior to the Ver. 7 motor, I was running essentially a hybrid usdm STi/WRX motor with more aggressive cams running Turbo-XS stage 4 with a 16g turbo. More specifically, it consisted of:

Hybrid STi/WRX Motor Mods:
*MY06 ej257 (STi) shortblock
*MY04 WRX heads
*STi cams
*Cometic lower compression head gaskets
*ARP head studs
*16g turbo (port and polished)
*GPMoto top mount intercooler
*TurboXS UTEC w/map selector
*Walbro 255lph fuel pump
*Ultimate Racing 785cc injectors
*Perrin short ram intake
*ERZ 3" bellmouth catless down pipe
*STi catless up pipe
*Stromung twin tip catback exhaust
*ACT street clutch
*ACT XACT Streetlite (13.9 lb.) flywheel
*Kartboy exhaust hangers
*STi short shift linkage
*Optima Red Top battery
*Subaru rear differential protector

The car was tuned by KTR Performance in Ayer, MA with a similar hybrid motor setup, but little did I know that the block was junk (I had bought the motor used). The car couldn't be tuned past 210whp and 222 torque because it was detonating so badly. I bought a brand new STi shortblock and rebuilt the motor myself from the ground up to exactly how I wanted it, but the motor shattered piston # 4 approximately 993 miles later (still during the break-in period of the motor).

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Summer 2005:

Initially, the car was swapped with a 2002 usdm WRX motor consisting of the following mods:

USDM ej205 WRX motor mods
*MY02 WRX ej205 swap
*Perrin short ram intake
*gutted stock up pipe
*ERZ catless down pipe
*Samco intercooler y-pipe hose
*ACT Street clutch
*ACT XACT Streetlite flywheel
*Kartboy exhaust hangers
*STi short shift linkage
*Optima Red Top battery
*Subaru rear differential protector

That motor went because the compression was very low in cylinder 4, so it got replaced with a hybrid setup.

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June 2004 - Summer 2005:

When I bought the car originally, it had the n/a ej25 RS motor in it. It made a decent amount of power with what I had done:

Mod List For N/A ej25 Motor
THIS SETUP RAN A 15.4 @ NEW ENGLAND DRAGWAY (#145 on timeslip)
*Weapon R intake
*Borla header
*Stromung catback exhaust
*Midpipe of Stromung catback has been modified/extended to accomodate a high flow catalytic converter which bolts directly up to the header
*Kartboy exhaust hangers
*ILP short shifter
*Optima Red Top battery
*Subaru rear differential protector

However, I needed boost, and realized that the car would be very unreliable if I turbo'd the stock 2.5 motor. It was time to swap.