Return of the Hoonigan

Ken Block is a motorsports icon.  From racing exploits worldwide to the media machine that is Hoonigan Industries, there's very little chance that petrolheads don't know his name.  He got his start with Subaru in  2005 racing with their US Rally Team and gained attention and credentials with each passing event.  From his Rookie of the Year debut to Gymkhana videos going viral, Ken had established himself very quickly.  When he left Subaru to further pursue his dreams with Ford, many wondered if he would ever race with Subaru again.  Now that Ken's abundantly successful 11-year-long run with Ford is over, the question remained: what's next?

Today Hoonigan Racing Division unveiled a car for Ken with a familiar logo on the front grille.  The Head Hoonigan In Charge is back in a Subaru!  This isn't to be with Subaru Motorsports USA directly, but it is a car prepared and built by his longtime friends at Vermont SportsCar (who manages the factory Subaru team).  Hoonigan Racing Division is tackling 6 events in the ARA Championship with Ken Block alongside longtime codriver Alex Gelsomino.

It's gonna be a wild ride!  Welcome back to Subaru, Ken.  I know you'll have a blast!

Tour of the "Subaru Wall"

When my Higgins Blue STI parks at home in the garage, it rests next to a wall full of posters, signatures, and great memories that go with them!  I get questions constantly about all the neat stuff on there so I thought I'd put together a video that gives you a bit of a tour through this display.

If you saw something I didn't go over and would like to know the story behind it, let me know!  Happy to share these experiences with you!

Thanks for watching!

Intercooler Shroud Project - Part 3

 On the one hand, it's been a long time since I revisited this project on my blog. On the other, I literally have done almost nothing new with this project anyways!  However with the questions I get about this and the minor adjustments that admittedly do need to be made, it's time to give this some attention again.  This is a custom-built aluminium intercooler shroud that a friend helped me build at his fabrication shop.  It is designed to mount directly to the stock STI intercooler and has been measured to fit under a ViS Racing Carbon Fiber hood for a 2015-2020 Subaru WRX STI.

Does it work?

Indeed it does!  While I don't have a way to gauge if this is an improvement over the stock intercooler shroud, this piece was built more out of necessity.  The ViS Racing Carbon Fiber hood does not have any sort of ducting underneath to direct air to the intercooler.  So, while the hood scoop itself is larger and there are vents on the side for additional cooling, the air is blown all over the engine compartment instead of directed through the intercooler like it should.  I did notice that temperatures were running higher and boost was not coming on as strong as it would, which was my first indication that the hood was actually hindering performance instead of helping it.  When we built this Intercooler Shroud those issues went away and the car performed normally.

Can I buy one?

That's the plan!  But, as of this article, I have not built any others just yet.  There are some minor clearance issues that I have noticed over time that have started to wear into both the hood and the shroud, so we'll make adjustments on this initial shroud, make the adjustments in CAD, and hopefully build a few more for those who have this same issue.  However, because this is designed to work with a stock STI intercooler with this specific kind of hood, the application for other Subaru models and years will be different AND will also be different for other kinds of hoods, too.

When will you make them?

I have no idea!  Could be tomorrow.  Could be next month.  Could be next year.  I'm a busy guy and while the minor issues the shroud has are enough to stop me from attempting to mass produce these for general sale to the public, they aren't enough of an issue to keep me running it on my own car.  I just finished a bunch of upgrades to my STI (for which a full write-up is coming soon) so it would be nice to tackle this next.  I just need to find time to meet up with my Fabrication Friend and get crackin on it!

Stay tuned for more!

The Forester tS Project

 It's no secret.  The US automotive market misses out on some pretty cool cars.  Even cars that are offered here have special editions and performance model versions of the standard stuff we normally get are skipped here.  So when I found out that the Forester would no longer be offered in the US with a turbocharged engine option, I knew we'd be keeping our 2018 Forester XT in our stable a little longer.  And when I found out Japan has a "tS" model of the Forester, I had an idea of what to do with our family hauler.

The Forester tS Project

In Japan, there are several tS models that have been made over the years.  "Tuned by STI", these tS models don't typically enhance the engine package like the full STI treatment gets, but are more focused on suspension, aerodynamics, and other things to sharpen the focus on performance.  In the case of the JDM Forester tS includes uniquely-tuned dampers and coil springs, lowering the ride height by 15 mm, 19-inch Enkei wheels, and Brembo brakes with four-piston calipers at the front and 2-piston calipers at the rear.  There's also a slight body kit that adds some definition to the lower portion of the bumpers and side skirts.  Inside there are upgrades such as the STI logo on the leather-trimmed steering wheel, CVT gear knob and instrument gauge, leather and suede trim, red stitching, STI embroidery on the seats, red STI push-button start and black roof liner.

Most of the items are dress-up related.  What caught my attention was the suspension and braking upgrades that could improve the driving dynamics of our USDM Forester XT.  For transforming ours to earn the "tS" badge, I'm combining the parts list of the Japanese Forester tS with some "sensibility" for our family's daily use.  I don't want to sacrifice ride quality, especially given the local roads where I live, but I do want to sharpen up the handling.  A little extra flair outside could be fun, too... but I don't want to go overboard and invite challengers at every red light.

Round one for our transformation is adding a little of both.  In the styling department, we've switched to a Sport Grille up front, a "tS" badge replacing the "XT" badge on the rear tailgate, and some quad-tipped exhaust borrowed from my STI.  Also borrowed from that car is a stiffer rear sway bar that replaces the thinner one from the Forester quite nicely.  I've already noticed in hard cornering that the front end doesn't understeer as easily and the whole car seems to stay more planted in the curves.  It's been a nice improvement to the driving dynamics and the extra touches outside have helped give it a little more presence in a sea of Crossovers on the road.  Plus the primary driver (my wife) doesn't seem to mind the improvements, which means I haven't sacrificed comfort in the name of performance either.

Items of consideration for Round Two involve the brakes, suspension, and wheels.  Taking cues from the JDM Forester tS, it'd be nice to find a happy medium between the performance-based suspension without giving our Forester a choppy ride on these bumpy main roads.  And, with a possible brake upgrade on my STI, it's very possible that more of those parts could wind up on this car.  We'll see!

2020 Updates

Last fall I became a father for the first time and it's been quite the ride.  I took a bit of a break from things to focus what little energy I had on helping out at home.  As 2020 rolled in and I started to figure out this fatherhood thing, I started to set my sights on resuming things in the car world.  From modifications to my cars to continued efforts in stage rally with my team, there were a lot of things I wanted to get done this year.

Enter the "pandemic".  Politics and opinions aside, it has put quite the damper on my plans.  From a financial standpoint of being able to afford taking care of my son, racecar parts take a back seat.  And with most of the racing I was planning on doing for Rallycross, Autocross, Track, and Stage Rally, those goals are out, too.  Even with racing starting to resume, it's hard to take time off work when I need to rebuild finances and emergency funds that were used when things were closed.

Still, I can't complain too much.  Nebraska hasn't been hit nearly as hard as other areas of the country.  My family members and I are healthy, we still have jobs, and with nearly everyone I know driving these Subarus that I've recommended over the years, nobody has had any surprise repair bills or costly maintenance issues which has helped.  We've even managed to enjoy our Subarus on small trips around the area together.

My WRX STI and my Baja Turbo have been great and plans are starting to come together for both of them.  I even managed to have a little fun with my wife's Forester XT and some stock STI exhaust that was taking up room in the shed.  So as my Subaru life starts to resume, so does my writing on this blog again.  I've admittedly missed the fun of documenting my exploits in the Subaru world and I hope if you've been enjoying reading this blog that you'll get something fun out of it, too.

Before long, I'll have a quick write-up on the Forester XT modifications, MtnRoo plans with the Baja, and some fun power mods coming to the STI.  Stay safe and we'll see ya next time!  

Subaru RC Cars - 2019 Livery

When Subaru released their Higgins and Pastrana RC Rally Cars, response from fans was swift!  A surefire sellout of these neat All-Wheel Drive remote controlled replicas of the rally beasts seen in the forest stages was inevitable, but now there's another run of them.  And this time they're wearing the new colors... and by that, of course I mean the throwback blue and gold!

These cars are pretty robust, as I've run mine through the ringer more than once.  Plus, since they're waterproof, you can run em outside without issue just as the Rally Gods intended.

Visit SubaruGear.com to order yours!

Add in the "FREEOVER50" code, and shipping is taken care of, too.  These sold out quickly when they were initially released, so it's best to jump on this sooner than later if you don't want to miss out!

The Internet < Real Life

I've been driving Subarus since 2012 and have loved the experience thoroughly.  However, it isn't just the cars themselves that I enjoy.  A stand-out feature of owning a Subaru, to me, is the community that's around them.  From street racers to soccer moms to adventure-seekers to everything in-between, there's a lot of ways people enjoy these cars.  I'm a firm believer that the people who enjoy Subaru most are those that are actually going out there and enjoying them with their fellow owners... not sitting on their phones picking out the coolest instagram filter to use. 

All too often I meet people that own Subarus that, like a lot of other cars, are enjoyed for a short time and then they just move on to the next best thing.  People tend to go through cars like they do cell phones and I think that's because they haven't experienced a connection with them beyond the steering wheel.  The diverse community around Subaru grants owners plentiful opportunities to go out and experience things outside of their daily 9-5 grind, but that's only if they seek it out or even know that such a thing exists in the first place. 

These days Social media has granted us the potential to connect more with those communities, but all too often, we limit that to online interactions only instead of going out and meeting these people face to face.  Whatever the reason, people seldom take the plunge to go out and meet their fellow owners to go out and enjoy these cars together... and this is the key problem I see all too often.  The increasingly negative tone of sarcastic comments, snide remarks, and general trolling online isn't befitting of a "community" at all, but these people wouldn't be acting like this if they actually knew their fellow owners in person.  It's too easy to hide behind the anonymity of the internet that enables lofty keyboard warriors an indispensable amount of opportunity to wreak havoc however they see fit.  It's a damn shame.

The right way to approach it, in my opinion, is to utilize Social Media to SOCIALIZE and connect with your community!  Meet your fellow owners at events, go to car shows and community outings together, use that common ground of the enjoyment you get out of these cars as a baseline to engage with others and let it grow from there.  And with the All-weather nature of Subaru, we should be able to do that year-round... not just waiting for "Car Show Season".  Do  donuts in the snow in the winter with your buddies!  Go Karting together during the spring rainy season!  Squad up and go to car events together in the summer!  Take a scenic route through some twisty roads in the crisp fall air!  There's things to do with great people if you just take that first step and engage with your community.

The internet can be a great tool to connect people, but it doesn't mean nearly as much to actually make those connections.  I emplore you, if you haven't done so already, to go out and discover this community that is here waiting for you.