STi BLOG
My adventures with the STi.

6/17/07

So I had some annoying clunking in the rear of my car. I thought maybe the bushings of the rear sway needed to be greased. I removed the mounts and the bushing was bone dry. I slathered in some Mobil 1 synthetic grease and now it's all quiet. It has been 20,000 miles since I installed it.

4/3/06
Just got Protuned. Car feels a lot smoother and the power is better. I should of gotten this done a long time ago.

12/23/05
Big Willow sure is a fast track. Not as technical as Streets but more speed! I managed 130 MPH on the front straight before turn 1. Turn 8 and 9 is scary fun.

12/16/05
Another great track day! I got my lowest laptime of 1:33.58 CCW at Streets of Willow. Not bad for just springs, sway bars, and stage 2 ;)

12/14/05
Woot! Two more days til Streets of Willow!
A video to deter canyon runs: http://www.corvettekillstories.com/photogallery/albums/JBSBLOWNC5/Pics/wrxcrash.wmv

12/8/05
I got my new Pyrotect helmet today! SA2005 and in black, it's gotta match the car ;) I can't wait for the Streets of Willow and Big Willow track events this month!

12/2/05
I am loving this cold weather here. Turbos love the cold dense air!

11/2/05
Installed the Whiteline rear diff bushings. My drive to work was clunkless!

10/26/05
Just watched "9 on the Town". It was the first segment. They showed my clip four different times (incl. the preview). Pretty interesting how they covered motorsports from slot car racing, RC racing, Kart racing, and then Autox.

10/21/05
I just dropped off my girlfriend at the airport. I always try and follow traffic laws to the letter in airports because there are a lot of cops around and they are ticket crazy. I was pulling away and I heard "Can I ask you something?". I looked to the left and there was a policeman on a bike. I thought, what did I do wrong?!

Officer: "What brand of exhaust do you have installed?"

Puzzled I replied: "It's a BPM exhaust."

Officer: "Three inch wide pipes?"

Me: "Yes."

Officer: "The reason I'm asking is because I have the same car."

Me: "Cool!"

He then asked where I got the exhaust and about my Work wheels. I asked him if he was on the forums and to look me up. While we were talking I was in the middle of the street stopped. I bet the other drivers thought I was getting busted!

10/18/05
On my way home from work there was this white Chevy Aveo driving fast. I got up to him to the light and we were both in front. The light turns green and I hear him chirp his tires and speeds away. I get to him to the next light and he revs his little engine. The light turns green and I humor him and let him get a headstart and proceeded to blow his doors off. We come up next to each other and he says "Hey this is all I got! Great run, take care!" and I say, "Yea, but you beat me in MPG."

10/1/05
Attended a practice autocross at California Speedway. Best time I got was 60.5 secs., pretty good for a novice like me! The R compounds were great but I feel they will perform better on a road course. I also had Ken (2005 SCCA class champ) drive my car on the course. He liked how the brakes induced progressive oversteer.

9/25/05
Installed the RA1 tires on my car to break 'em in. Wow what a difference in grip! I can't wait to try 'em out on a course.

9/10/05
Attended the Team Blew autocross event. It was kinda fun. I'm pissed that stock cars were getting lower times. I admit they were very good drivers. I have to concentrate more on skills than modding. Stupid orange cones. Corner working sucks sweaty balls.

8/27/05
Went to Streets of Willow today. Ran it counter-clockwise. Corded the Falken tires and got the S-03 on now. It was so damn hot today! Highest temp I saw was 110 degrees. EGTs were hitting 1600F. The car ran great on the new suspension, wheel alignment, and brake pads.

8/14/05
Fixed an exhaust leak from the EGT sensor hole. Throttle response is better!

8/5/05
Got back from West End Alignment. Front settings are 1/32 toe out with -1.25 camber and 5 caster. Rear set to zero toe with -2.0 camber. Car feels so much better in the turns! Darin is the best. I can't wait for the next track day!

7/17/05
Went to the Mt. Hamilton meet in the Bay Area. Great cars and people. Around 215 Subarus showed!

7/10/05
Just installed the new Tanabe GF210 springs (TGF107). They are better than the old ones I have. I think they matched it pretty good to the stock struts. Ride quality improved. Suspension feels stiffer but it absorbs the small bumps better.

7/3/05
Installed my Hotchkis sway bars with the help of Pio. Wow, what a difference! Set the rear bar to the middle setting and it made the car loose.

6/28/05
Received my Hotchkis competition sway bars set! They are so nice. I will install them this weekend.

6/15/05
Someone in Japan posted on the forums and asked how Americans issue a challenge to a street race.

I posted: I usually drive up beside him and then I push up on the D-Pad to issue a challenge.

I'm trying to find the Hotchkis competition sway bar set for the STi. No one has it in stock because Hotchkis is short on endlinks.

5/18/05
I called NOPI and said I want to order altezza lights for my car.
They asked me what kind of car I have and I tell them a 2001 Lexus IS300.
They hang up on me.

5/13/05
Just came back from Streets of Willow. We ran it counter-clockwise. Wow, it seemed like another track since I always ran it clockwise. There were some sick modded Evos there. I was still on my stock pads so they were outbraking me on the last session of the day.

4/27/05
Reloaded the Stage 2 91 Octane Base map. The CA map felt slugglish on acceleration. I didn't have any trouble with pinging on the regular map.

4/21/05
Installed the TiC and Kartboy shifter bushings today. Very nice improvement! Less "slop" and changing gears feel more precise.

3/31/05
Just had some paintless dent removal done. Well worth it!

3/26/05
Took a roadtrip to Solvang. When I went to my car there was a ding in the passenger front door. Thanks to the asshole in the white Jeep that parked next to me.

3/17/05
Loaded California 91 Octane Stage 2 Base map. Idle seems smoother. EGTs are lower. MPG slightly better.

3/5/05
Participated the Redline event at California Speedway. We ran the interior course. It was pretty easy compared to the other tracks I drove. I experienced some nasty brake fade as the day went on. Here is a video of me riding the tail of a yellow Evo and eventually passing him.

2/13/05
Stupid EGT sensor popped out again! I got a metal strap and secured it. It aint gonna come out again!

1/21/05
Went to Streets of Willow today. Got this weird lawnmower-like sound. I got scared of running the car anymore and called it a day. When I got home, I checked it out. It was the EGT sensor, it popped out of the exhaust manifold. The exhaust was coming out of there! I replaced it and it's all good.

1/19/05
Went to the SFV meet tonight. Large showing! Lots of WRX's, STi's and Legacy's.
On the way home, a 2005-ish Nissan Maxima wanted to play with me. I just floored it and he was a little speck in my rearview mirror.

1/11/05
Just hit 18 PSI! Target boost for AccessPort Stage 2 is 17.5 PSI +/- 0.5. My necked snapped back when I hit the throttle now. The AccessPort was worth the money. No detonation heard even on 91 craptane.

1/9/05
Just installed the AccessPort in my 05 with the Stage 2 91 octane Base map. So far throttle response better and less bog. Butt dyno thinks it's faster but I want to dyno it one day.

12/18/04 & 12/19/04
Went to GT Live in Fontana. Wow. Lots of nice cars in the car club preferred parking area. Lots of STi's and Evo's. NSX's showed up in force. My car was parked next to the main foot traffic area and got a lot of looks. The JGTC race was awesome. The Cusco Impreza took 3rd in the GT300 class. Unfortunately it slid into a wall on Sunday during the 2nd sprint. Seeing all this racing makes me want more track time! My video here!
Great photos here!

11/10/04
As I was backing out of my driveway, a man walked up asking how I liked it. He was one of the roofers working on a neighbor's house. He asked if it had lots of power and I told him 300HP stock. Then he said, "Wow, that's a lot of power for that small car".

I attended my first Subaru meet in Northridge. Lots of cool people and I gained a lot of knowledge.

10/8/04
Took the beast to the road track! Lots of fun with all this new power. I experienced some understeer. Maybe get a rear sway bar with endlinks? There was brake fade after 4-5 laps. Need new brake fluid, stainless steel lines, and better pads.

10/2/04
I was stopped at a guard shack to a resort. The guard asked me where I got the wing and I told him it was stock. Then he tells me he wanted to trade in his Suzuki Aerio for a STi.

9/25/04
I got my new Falken tires mounted on today. While at the tire shop, a crowd of customers formed around it and were checking out the STi.

The tire tech asked if I installed the turbo and I told him it's stock.

9/17/04
I saw a red Dodge Neon on my way to work. It had a GTR badge on the back so I had to do a blow off on him. Aint I a meanie?!

9/12/04
I gave my three friends a ride along in the STi. The two that sat in the back giggled like lil' schoolgirls as I floored it. They were guys.

On the way back home, I met a newer white WRX with a STi wing on. At first he would hang back, pacing me. Then we came to a red light, him on the right lane and I was on the left. He gunned it, I thought what the hell and gave chase. I reeled him back in. I hit the rev limiter on 3rd and I was still able to pass him. I hit the brakes hard once I did. He was a cool fellow Suby owner :)

8/23/04
While I was making a left turn, an old red Porsche convertible passed me really slow. Then the driver turned his head way left to gawk at the STi as it passed me.

8/13/04
While getting an oil change, a customer waiting after me was walking around my car. He said he never saw one of these cars before and he loved it.

I was driving down the street and came to a stop light. A man and his little kid were in it. The kid was craning his head out the window checking out my car. When the light turned green, the kid turned around and stood on his seat to still check it out as his car was moving in front of mine.

As I was getting into my car in the lot. An elderly lady was pulling out of her parking spot next to mine. She rolled down her window and told me my car was so cute.

8/10/04
As I was getting out of a gas station, a "distastefully done" Civic stopped to let me out. He had a green light! The driver and passenger ogled my car as I pulled out.