The Autox Blog

Little Clip from the Subaru Challenge

Drew 05 STi — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 16:27:13 GMT

TiC 2008 Subaru Impreza STI having some fun at the Subaru Challenge this past weekend (8/23/09).

Govenor's Cup Ohio Valley

Double A 04.5 STI — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 16:30:28 GMT

Saturday morning, another points event. Ran in the first group. Car felt ok, but still is a Jekyl and Hyde machine. Sometimes I think it has a personality. Simi said she was fighting the car, but it started to get better with tire pressure adjustments. I ended up liking the car, but hating the course. Come to find everyone hated the course. Never fast, never flowing, just string after string of very slow speed, super tight corners. I was patient in the corners, allowing the car to rotate and blew out a huge 1.2 second lead over my class. They were baffled. Blazing heat the afternoon, followed by final results. I was first in class, 4th overall.

Saturday afternoon we were home by 4, and we found it a good time to nap. Slept until 6, then dinner at 7, and I found myself still quite tired, and was back asleep by 9. Simi got a 2nd wind and stayed up a little later.

Sunday arrived, and it was a normal quick event in the morning, and then a single elimination round in the afternoon. The course was backwards of Sunday, and modified to be much more flowing and fast. Sunday morning, my car was the exact same as Saturday, but it was impossible to drive. It just didn't want to do anything. I fell back and was 2nd in class, loosing by a few tenths.

http://cone-ychallenge.blogspot.com/

Sunday afternoon, the field of 64 cars were all sent out. Simi was in the group, and she drove great. The fastest 32 of the field moved on, and that was paired down to the sweet 16. My run to make it into the sweet 16 the car came alive. It blasted the course 8/10ths faster than any run, and felt PERFECT. I was the #1 seed, having a 7/10ths lead overall. At the sweet 16, instead of having #1 go against #16, names are drawn from a hat. I was #4, so I was placed in the #4 spot. So much for that reward. I had a clean, decent run, but was slower, and just scraped into the great 8. My next opponent was a very fast Ford Shelby Mustang, who was actually first overall on Saturday.

He did his run, I did mine. He told me he had his fastest run of the day against me, and we heard his name announced on the loud speaker. I thought it was over, a valiant effort, but alas, I actually won that round. His name was announced as NOT moving on to the final four. In the final four, I was matched up against another Subaru in the same class. My times were quicker, but approaching the fastest part of the course, the car pushed wide on greasy tires, and I had to let off and brake. Hit a cone for a 2 second penalty, or let off and hope the coasting around didn't destroy me too much. I let off, and my time faulted. The other Subaru advanced on a clean run. It was in the final round, where it lost to a very quick Honda, giving the Honda guy the overall victory.

I lost not because I was beaten, but because I screwed up. Final four was a great effort, but at the wrong time the car acted up and tossed me a curve ball. It really is just this thing that you never know how it's going to react. I'd like to think it was just me, but my wife drives it too, and she is in the same boat. Sometimes it punishes you, sometimes it rewards you. Predictability needs worked on, and hopefully in time I can get it there.

Thanks for reading.

-Double A 04.5 STI

I Support Autox

Drew 05 STI — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 03:32:59 GMT

I'm Drew, I own and autox a 2005 Subaru Impreza WRX STI. I started in A-Stock with a 100% stock STI, moved up to BSP after I got bit by the evil, evil mod bug. After awhile I had a 275 V710 17x10 CCW Equipped BSP STI that was a blast to drive. Now I'm going back a bit and attacking the STU class to help hone my driving skills.

First off I want to say Auto-X has done alot for me. The obvious ones are; Better driving, Great Fun, and the chance to push my car. The less obvious ones are; the lasting friendships, and the joy of building my car for a reason.

My first autox was a blast, driving down from Ft. Lauderdale to the unknown territory in Hialeah. Going to school at FAU and living in Ft. Lauderdale, I rarely ventured to the greater Maimi area. After posting up in a local "who's coming to this weeks event in Hialeah" thread on Nasioc.com I decided, what the hell. I had bought the STI with the desire to drive it, so that's exactly what i decided to do. After getting lost due to the interesting street structure of Hialeah I made it to the course and signed up. Initially I was concerned about tech and being a noob not sure exactly what was needed. Luckily there were some regulars there from Nasioc that were willing to help. Brett, Jose, Juan, Victor, Manny and a few other guys were more than willing to share their tire pumps, tire pressure gauges, painters tape and some fresh Pastelitos!!!

It's been a few years, so I'm a bit rough on the edges on how well....err...slow I really was, but I'll never forget the pain I felt. If you've ever grinned from Ear to Ear in 95 degree Florida heat for 8hrs straight you know the pain I'm talking about. It was AMAZING! I was the slowest STI out there (Surprise!) and near the bottom in terms of PAX but hey I had an awesome time.

I was hooked, that following Summer I was doing 3-4 autox's a month for nearly 7 months! Lets just say those RE070s that came stock on the 2005 Subaru Impreza WRX STI did not last long. I'm very glad I put them in storage right after I bought the car and put on some Cheap Falkens for the break-in mileage! I got a solid 6-7k miles out of those RE070s before I had to say good bye.

Well, I look forward to hearing some of your stories, simple, complex, analytical or hysterical. :)

-Drew 05 STI