These days, there's no need to introduce the all-conquering Subaru WRX; we've heard all too much about their rally winning and road-racing prowess. But what's the WRX (the older models especially) like when it comes to mundane, everyday kinda driving? Well - put simply - it could be a lot better. Just ask the torque-hungry Ross Coonan...
Ross made the switch to a new Rexie back in '95, after he sold his beloved V8 Brock Director. For sure, it was a big culture shock. Not surprisingly, he loved the new WRX's agility - but in terms of driveability, it wasn't a patch on the bent eight Director. Torque in the low-to-middle revs was what Ross needed. And lots of it!
After running around in the stock 155kW Rex wagon for around 12 months, Ross soon saw that there was a lot of aftermarket gear starting to pop up for his car. He then navigated his way through those freshly-mapped waters with a hi-flow exhaust (with a Remus muffler) and a custom BGT computer chip. Oh, and a set of schmick 16-inch Enkei wheels pissed off the original 15s. However, unlike many WRX owners, Ross still wasn't all that rapt with the on-road improvement that these mods gave. Not at all. The next major phase saw a VF22 turbo bolted on (boosting to 17 psi), a custom top-mount air-to-air intercooler, AVO full-face clutch, BGT/MicroTech computer and a couple of Whiteline swaybars. Certainly, the car saw a fair swag of stuff go on in one big hit. And this was soon supplemented by A'PEXi dampers and a brace of 25-30mm lowered King springs.
Unlike later model Rexies, the MY95 model never scored very big anchors - its 277mm ventilated front discs were barely enough to cope with the performance of the standard car! Ross, seeing this now glaring deficiency, moved up to a pair of STi front discs and calipers and - unusually - a couple of 22B twin-potters for the rear. It's a braking upgrade that goes part of the way to compensating for the big boost in performance that was about to come...
Now with a fair list of mods under its skin, Ross was reasonably happy with the all-round performance of his WRX and was quite content to drive it. That is, when there were no problems with its 5-speed gearbox... Ross tells us that he had no end of trouble with the second gear synchros (which were beefed up to double-row in later models). Subaru dealers weren't being very flexible about the situation, suggesting that Ross simply "change gears slower". His reply was that was the WRX is supposed to be a high-performance performance rally car - it, therefore, shouldn't have such a weak gearbox. Not surprisingly, both sides reached a hostile stalemate.
After this episode, Ross sought the services of local Melbournian Phil Lowe. Phil was originally just going to make the necessary conversion to the twin-row second gear synchros, but - after taking Ross for a ride in his own WRX - he soon had a lot more than that on his plate! "That thing had heaps of grunt," recalls Ross, "and it turns out it was actually a 2.2 litre". It was just the upgrade that Ross had been looking for this whole time - it gave a big increase in torque everywhere.
With dribble nearly running out from his mouth, Ross then passed a request on to Phil for one of his big-banger 2.2 litre conversions - a 10% increase in swept capacity. What Ross received was the EJ20T's quad-cam 16 valve heads modified to fit onto the sides of the stock 2.2 litre bottom-end. The only change to the guts of the 2.2 was a set of Ross forged pistons from America, giving a compression ratio somewhere near the standard 8.0:1. With the motor assembled, it then went into the car with a hybrid turbocharger (using a Sierra Cosworth compressor wheel) and a pair of big Bosch fuel pumps. Not wanting to attract quite so much unwanted attention on the street, Ross also swapped the atmospherically venting A'PEXi blow-off valve for a closed-loop AVO item. Gone was the loud "psshht" that everyone seems to crave. Finally, the direct-fire ignition system was also converted to the later model coil, lead and plug set-up.
So was Ross happy now?
You bet. Off-boost - which is where the engine realistically spends most of its time - is where the 2.2 litre's torque gain is at its greatest. "It climbs up hills in 5th gear easy now," he continues, "it just chug-chugs its way up." Response is also greatly improved, and it's nice being able to short-shift the gearbox and still pull away from traffic. In its present configuration, the 2.2 engine will continue to rev past 6500 but, after that, the stockie injectors are well and truly running out of puff. Up to this point, though, the car's been dyno'd at BGT and shown a healthy 175kW at the wheels (on 18 psi boost). But just wait until it's got more fuel - Ross says it should be good for about 190kW at the rollers. Not that outright power is what he's really chasing...
Another area of on-going development is the car's exhaust system. The latest stainless steel system uses a 4-inch pipe off the turbo, a high flow cat and a big rear muffler. Recently added to this are twin in-line resonators to try to get rid of the sonic boom that pounds its way inside the cabin (something which isn't usually a problem in the sedan).
Other than that exhaust rumble, the interior is p-l-e-n-t-y comfortable - a full custom purple/burgundy leather re-trim ensures that! And there's also an AVO boost gauge on the A-pillar, A'PEXi digital turbo timer, Momo wheel and a STi gearknob. The sound system is one that has blown the socks off even the biggest bass heads. It's a top-quality mixture of a Denon CD/tuner/stacker, Boston Pro splits and a Bazooka subwoofer out the back (which un-straps when Ross needs to use the wagon's cargo carrying capacity). The speakers are all powered buy an amplifier so big, it barely fits under the driver's seat!
Other than the 16-inch Enkei rims, Ross has only had to refine the factory's out-of-the-box appearance. He's roped in colour-coded mirrors and side skirts, a low front spoiler (which has been properly moulded on) and - we're told - there's even an STi rear wing about to go on. An STi wing for a wagon? Yep. Ross tells us this monstrous thing actually looks like a Porsche 911 whale-tale. Awesome!
If you ask us, it sure sounds like Ross is now getting more and more into the car - thankfully! Next up, he's looking at a BPM flywheel along with a STi gearbox (with its appeal of shorter ratios). Maybe then he'll take time to drive the car as much as he can. After all, the 38,000 kilometres on the 5-year-old clock aren't indicative of someone who can't get enough of driving... Oh well, we'll know he's 100% happy when he suddenly stops riding his deadly-treadly to work!
Contacts:
BGT Performance Centre
+61 3 9874 8866
