RS Revival: The Next Stage

The dust has settled on the 2015 NRSCCA Rallycross season.  Between podium finishes, champion codrivers, and de-beaded tires, it was an exciting run for my first complete season of Rallycross events with the RS!  There was also a lot of sharing the wheel this season as three other drivers had a chance to whip this coupe around the course.  This 2000 Subaru Impreza 2.5RS Coupe managed to gather up 36 points in Prepared All-Wheel Drive (PA) to take the 2015 Overall win in it's class.  I'm proud of how far this car as come and what it's able to do around the dirt track.

There are still improvements in line to take this car even further.  Improvements for suspension, reliability, and power are waiting in line during the off season in preparation for the 2016 NRSCCA Rallycross season that will start up next spring.  With grip improved thanks to the new IndySport SG tires, there's more speed to tap into by making these adjustments.  The next stage is literally "Stage 2", which will tie the Gorilla Top-Mount Cold Air Intake, Stromung Exhaust, and headers all together with a tune.  The car will exclusively run on 91 Octane once the tune is in, which is fine since that's all I run anyways! 

I'm excited to finally get this Stage 2 Tune going.  The exhaust parts have been sitting around for awhile so it'll be good to finally have things together.  While we've got the car up in the air, we'll be checking out some suspension components that will likely need addressing.  Some bushings or bearings are going bad so I want to get it all nice and solid.  The car is understeering a bit to the drivers side under hard braking on dirt and gravel, even when there's two people in the car.  It was a little noticeable at the last two rallycross events which were a bit more difficult.  Making the necessary adjustments and repairs will make the cars handling more predictable which will help make the car easier to drive through technical rallycross course designs.