very nice car ! I bought my car the same time you did (July 2001), and also have been through many phases with my car but mine dosent look half as good as yours does.

Keep up the good work

 

I love your car, nice way to show the progression. It's come a long way!

 

scott has awesome brakes now!

end

 

your front end is seriously the best i've seen. i love the light setup you got. how are the fogs compared to stock? how are the driving lights also?

 

Sperry's on a cruise to Jamaica right now, but I've ridden in the car a million times..the Hellas are awesome, too bright if you're behind someone, but they light up the road like no other. Also, the little driving lights were cool for a nice glow right in front of the car, however, he's taken all the lights off.

He ditched the driving lights because it's no longer his daily driver, and the fogs are gone to accomodate brake ducts...

 

Awesome write up. I read all of it, which I find my self rarely doing anymore.

As I sat here reading, I identified with everything you wrote...especially about how I've made the greatest friends just because I bought my car.

I can most definitely identify with spending the most ungodly amount of scrip.

Go for the STi stuff!!!

 

Where did you get the bra? Nice write up btw!

 

Thank's for the kind words everyone!

Cleofis: The Hella 500's have a driving light pattern and are extremely bright (esp. since I put 100W bulbs in them). I have them wired so they only come on with my high-beams, so if they're "armed" with the dash switch, simply pulling the light lever will turn them *and* my high-beams on. It rules for pissing off people that won't get out of the fast lane.

The small projector fogs were wired to the OEM fog wiring. I put Osram amber bulbs in them. They put down equivalent to stock light, but because they're small bullet projectors they look much better (IMO) on the car since they match the small projector lo-beams on the car. However, some people say my car's got a "buck-tooth" look because of the little lights in the lower grill area.

But, as LagnWagn said... the Hella 500 lights were removed for brake ducts, and the projector fogs came off because the car doesn't see much street use any longer. I purchased a 1994 SVX as a daily driver allowing me to park the WRX to keep it out of the snow. I'm planning on putting a light bar on the SVX for the Hella 500s, and I haven't figured out what I'm doing with the fogs yet.

Lucky 13: I purchased the bra directly from Subaru before they realized that it hinders air going into the intake snorkus and stopped selling it. I've still got it, though it's a bit dirty. Since I don't use it, I'm willing to sell it if you're interested. PM me an offer!

 

Update!

Since the original posts, I've added the 332x32mm StopTeck BBK to the front of the car. These are the StopTechs designed for the STi, which means I'm pretty much stuck needing wheels that fit over the STi's brembos. So I went and sold all 3 sets of rims that I had and purchased a set of Enkie RPF1s that clear the brakes in a 17"x8" fitment. These wheels are very light, fairly strong (supposedly they're "semi-forged" like SSRs are), not bad looking, and relatively inexpensive at about $1000 for four. For track days I'm using the StopTech Club-Spec race pads, as they're fairly inexpensive and more than adequate for the speed/weight of my car. I've also got a set of Axxis Ultimates that I'm contemplating using for auto-x and street driving between track days... however, the Club-Spec pads aren't as bad on the street as I expected they'd be, so I might not bother with swapping pads around (and all the bleeding/bedding that goes along with that).

Now, since a set of rims and snow tires that would fit over the new brakes would cost about as much as a winter beater, I decided just to buy a daily driver instead of continuing to compromise on the WRX in an attempt to keep it streetable and driveable in the winter. I lucked out and found a 1994 SVX for a great price, and only had to put about $1000 into it to get the tranny serviced as well as some other odds and ends that needed repair/replacement.

So, since the WRX isn't driven daily, I've gone and stripped some of the "luxury" items out of the car. The auto-dimming mirror got moved over to the SVX, along with the radar detector. I also removed the fog and driving lights, since they're unecessary on the track, and the fog light holes were converted to brake duct intakes. I also removed the sub-woofer, which will find its way into the SVX as soon as I get the time/money to upgrade the stereo in there. The rear seats are also out, since I rarely carry passengers in the WRX, and it's easier to pack all my race-day junk in the car w/o seats. (I'm not kidding myself to believe the removed seats are a significant weight reduction.)

I'm also in the process of buying a US STi 6MT tranny and an R180 rear diff. My car is only putting about 200hp to the wheels right now, so I don't actually need the beefier drivetrain, however, the gear-ratios and better LSDs should make the car far more competative in Solo1/2 even if I don't add power right away. Also, I want to protect myself from damaging the WRX's 5MT since I'd like to swap it into the SVX.

Once the tranny's upgraded. I think I'll probably end up adding fuel, turbo and a larger top-mount to make a bit more power out of the 2.0L. Then in the future go to an STi EJ257 block with some headwork on my WRX heads (think 9k redline muhahah!) and see if I can't put a useable 250-300 to the wheels.

So, here's a pic of the car as it is now (at Thunderhill), hopfully I'll have that tranny in before the next race season begins in April!







Note that I had to run my old Attacks on the rear (mad tight JDM style y0!) since the wider 8" Enkie's were rubbing in the back. I've since rolled the rear fenders, and I don't think that will be an issue any longer... I'll find out the next time I'm at T-Hill I guess.

 

OK I know you don't have the Hellas on anymore but let me ask you this.

I recently installed those same lights in the same manner. However, I didn't need a bracket like that. My Hella 500 Driving Lights only had a ONE BOLT mounting bracket so I basically drilled a hole through the sheet metal that is covered by the black plastic housing.

My question is, did your lights only have one bolt for mounting or did it have something else? I figured that it might be different because mine are Driving style but just wondering because I seriously didn't need the bracket.

 

I had (well have, just not on the car) the Hella 500's w/ the driving pattern. They are as you described, one large bolt on the bottom.

I was concerned that w/o reinforcement, they would bounce around... afterall the only thing back there was that semi-flimsy bracket for the OEM light, which seemed to work good when it's attached to light by 3 screws, but I didn't think it'd be stiff enough for that one large bolt on the 500's. That's why I added my own heavy-duty bracket, which resulted in a *very* rigid mount.

 

Ah now I see...I went ghetto and used little pieces of rubber wedged in between the light and the plastic opening, so I can adjust the height. I left the mount just a tad loose so it can move vertically just a bit...6K miles and no probs yet

 

wow, nice ride. Is that the spec-c wing? and where do y'all get you're supertones? I really like the spec -c wing, I wonder what it would look like painted.

 

http://www.lildevilmotorsports.com/p...oducts_id=5346

 

hey, thanks eric. I think I'll order me some.