SnOmaha 2015

It took awhile, but winter finally showed up in my area.  After mild weather through November and most of December, snowstorms finally made their way through Omaha on Christmas Eve and again on the 28th.  While most loathe the mere sight of a snowflake, my Subaru friends and I embrace it!  Owners from every corner of town gather in local parking lots and spin donuts through the day and into the night. 

I wasn't able to get out Christmas Eve to join my fellow hoonigans, but I did manage to sling some snow around yesterday with two other Subies after work.  I took my '00 Impreza 2.5 RS and joined a '05 Legacy GT Wagon and a '14 XV Crosstrek at a nearby parking lot.  I'll let the rest of the photos tell the story of all the fun we had!  Enjoy!

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.

2016 WRX STI Higgins Edition

It might not be an "official" version available from Subaru, but for all intents and purposes, this is my 2016 Subaru WRX STI "Higgins Edition".  Adorned on both sides of the rocker panels of my Series.HyperBlue WRX STI are black "Subaru Rally Team USA" decals as well as two "#75" decals on both sides of the rear spoiler.  It seemed fitting to celebrate Higgins & Drew this year for their relentless work this year in the Rally America series.

In the late 90s, when Subaru was reeling in award after trophy after title with their championship-winning rally cars, they released several special edition Imprezas to celebrate those accomplishments.  They released the Impreza P1 with their rally partner ProDrive, the iconic Impreza 22B with a special wide body, and a handful of others.  They also created two limited-production versions for their winning drivers.  Both the Series McRae WRX and the WRX RB5 were released to celebrate Colin McRae (who won the WRC in '95) and Richard Burns (who won the WRX in '01) respectively.

As such, when David Higgins drove his Vermont Sportscar prepared WRX STI to sweep the Rally America Championship and claim a Perfect Season, I couldn't think of a better way to adorn this limited edition Series.HyperBlue WRX STI than with David's number on the wing.  This eye-catching color is spot on to the blue color on the championship car that took home the Gold in all 8 Rally America events.  While this similarity is probably just a coincidence, it seemed like a great way to celebrate this incredible feat.

In a similar way the owner of a Series McRae WRX must be proud to represent the winning legacy that Colin left behind, I am proud to cheer for SRT USA's David Higgins and Craig Drew in their accomplishments, especially with their incredible performance in the 2015 Rally America Championship every time I drive this car.  At the very least, Mr Higgins himself seems to like it!