A friend of mine, whose car is in the Reader Rides section, has been selected as a qualifier in Sport Compact Car’s Ultimate Street Car Challenge.

His name is Alan Card, and he’s got a 96 Impreza Brighton with a Legacy Turbo engine swapped in, along with a host of other quality modifications. My contributions to the project were finding the engine, the front calipers and 15″ Turbo wheels for his race rubber.

I honestly doubt that he’ll be chosen as one of the finalists, but to be the only non-WRX Subaru among 5 is pretty cool.

Check out some old pics of his car here.

Well, i think i’m closer to having the DMS where i want them. They’re a bit different than the D2s, in that the only height adjustment available is gained by cranking on the springs. The D2 was adjustable via threads on the bottom end of the unit, so i had another way to change height.

I’ve dialed them back a little, to 4/4 from hardest, and the ride is a bit smoother while not giving much away in the corners.

I finally went in and got my car past the annual insprction/emission tests required in the most populous counties in Utah. I passed emissions without any problems, probably as good or better than when it rolled off the boat in 92. Inspection was a bit tricker, as i had to take the window tinting off from the front two windows. It was %8 too dark, and it’s one of the items they look at hard. Due to a change in Utah law, however, i can keep the darker tint on the back of the car. Whew.

I found an intercooler on eBay this week, and ended up winning it. It’s from either a JC Sports or Rallispec 2.5RS turbo kit, and features a genuine Spearco bar & plate core. It’s not large, but made specifically for adaptability and to fit well into the engine bay. Fitting it should be relatively easy, as there’s a lot of room between the inlet and compressor outlet to adapt something. The BOV is also external, so i should be able to fit that in somewhere.

I do wish the hoodscoop were larger, like the RS, but since i’m not looking for high-boost, just lower intake temps and a bit more power, i should be fine for the time being. Others that have put the WRX slanted IC on have noted performance improvements with just the stock scoop, so i should be ok.

I’ve been tweaking with the height, trying to get the rear from rubbing, but by raising it up, i’ve noticed that my camber settings in the rear are screwed up. These come with washers that have eccentric holes in them, letting me adjust the camber in the back.

By doing this, i can get a little negative camber, and probably lower it farther because the outside of the tire will be farther into the wheel well.

In other news, i’ve removed everything i can from the transmission cooling/filtering system. All i had was the lines that came forward and the filter. Not a lot of stuff, but it was nice to get it off. The tranny cooler might serve another purpose: Oil cooler.

Well, I spend the better part of last night installing my new suspension, and a bit of time today doing some more tweaking.

What do i think of it? In a word: Wow.

This is the kind of setup i wanted originally, and it’s taken me a year to get here, but i’m glad i finally reached a better part of my goal.

The car rides much, much better, even with the dampening setup at full stiff while i get the height worked out.

Fun!

I’ve added a few new interesting things to the Library:

Legacy Turbo FAQ. This is an attempt to answer the most common questions about the Legacy Turbo.

Larry Witherspoon’s EJ25 headswapinfo. Larry valiantly attempts to put some SOHC EJ25 heads on his EJ22T.

Kevin’s Suspension Tales. This is an article i had before, but it got lost in a redesign. It’s very good stuff for those looking to upgrade their suspension.

I had a very good time at the local autocross this last Sunday, placing 7th of 16 in an extremely competitive Street Modified class. I was .7 sec from being in 4th place. The car was running pretty well, and the cool conditions probably helped me out a bit.

I’m learning to appreciate low-end torque, as i can run the whole course in 2nd gear and not bog at all, something the WRX guys couldn’t do.

Also, i’ve stumbled upon some DMS 40mm coilovers for an unbeatable price, and i might possibly have them by this weekend. Needless to say, i’m excited to get these world-class coilovers on the wagon.

I’ve added a link to one crazy Liberty, it’s been built up by Stirlo, and it’s one of the most unique looking BCs i’ve ever seen. Check out the page directly here or via the Reader Rides link.

I’ve added pages for scans from 92 Subaru and 94 Legacy brochures i have, they can be found in the Library. Nice stuff.

I’ve also updated the “My Legacy” profile for my own car, adding some of the bits i’d installed during and after the transmission swap.

I finally got PS7 and DW4 installed on my new machine, so i put them through the test and put together the scan i made of an Australian Subaru Liberty brochure.

It’s big, dialup users beware, and the images are also wide to accomodate the format better but to maintain readability.

Have a look, and i have a half-dozen more in the oven.

Subaru Liberty Brochure

Well i did just pass 115k miles, but that’s not what this is about.

For the past 3 tanks of gas, i’ve consistently gotten over 300 miles per tank, at least 21MPG. I do not drive like grandma, but i do have a fair amount of driving on the flat and a decent percentage at sustained speed.

The manual just keeps making me happier!

Last night we tried to swap a set of 17×7 Team Loco 142s onto my car. They fit well, but unfortunately the wheels have an offset of +47, quite a bit different from my RS wheels that use a +53 offset. As a result, even with the narrower 215 tires, i rubbed on all four corners. My RS wheels with 225 width tires, same Kumho Ecsta 712s as on the 17, don’t rub, ever.

I did get some pictures however, and the car did look pretty cool. Eventually i’ll find something that works better.