Brad Dawson has bought his Mum's car. No, he didn't offer her a couple of grand for a rusty-but-trusty Toyota Corolla; he bought Mum's MY96 Subaru Impreza WRX Rallye! Brad's parents - in particular Mr Dawson - had been looking at buying a WRX for some time, but they were put off by the contemporary pre-'97 model's "seats like out of a Nissan Prairie". For sure, sales of early WRXs were crippled by their el-cheapo interior trim. But when the '96 Rallye special edition came out (one of 100 released in Australia), the Dawson family had their prayers answered. This was the first WRX to sport a decent cabin - hooray! A shiny new Prodrive blue WRX Rallye was swiftly purchased from interstate (they were selling like hot cakes at the time) and found a home in the Dawson family garage. Cosy it was.
However, when Mr and Mrs Dawson decided they were prepared to say "goodbye" to their reliable pocket rocket, it was son - Brad - that was keen to take up where the previous generation had left off. And - if you know Brad personally - you'd know that it wasn't gonna stay standard for very long...
Having recently acquired a job at the Gold Coast Tony Rigoli workshop, Brad debuted his Rallye at the 2001 Willowbank Jamboree. As he says though, what you see here was a fast chuck-together for the event - the guys simply wanted as many TRP-modified vehicles laying down impressive numbers as possible.
So what does a quick TRP 'chuck-together' include?
Well, a 2.19-litre (aka 2.2-litre) TRP stroker kit went inside the standard 96-spec flat four, including forged pistons, a stroker crank (bore diameter remains untouched), billet rods with stronger rods, rings and bearings. The block was O-ringed and the heads remain standard MY96-spec.
Take a look at the size of that turbocharger - massive isn't it? Yet, this Turbonetics T60-1 is lovingly known as the "baby" turbocharger around the Rigoli workshop. Like the bigger versions of the T60, this turbo is mounted on a custom top-section of exhaust manifold and has excess exhaust gasses bled off by a Turbonetics Racegate. Both the post-turbine and post-wastegate pipes are heat wrapped and merge together into a mandrel 3-inch exhaust system, with just a single "cheap thing" SuperFlow muffler. Brad doesn't pretend that there are any cat converters!
Boost pressure is controlled to 24 psi by a Festo pressure regulator, with the heated charge air cooled by a 3-inch thick Mick's Metalcraft front-mount air-to-air intercooler. This required some cutting of the standard MY96 bumper bar in order to fit. Once the chilled air has passed back through the polished mandrel bent plumbing, it enters the realm of the stroked EJ20 engine via a standard throttle body (in its standard location). A TRP high-capacity blow-off valve vents pressure spikes during gear changes.
With a now-2.2-litre engine boosted to 24 psi, it makes sense that the standard management system was swapped for a MicroTech MT8 plug-in, running an internal MAP sensor. It's wired up to fire four 880cc high-flow injectors and late-model manifold-mounted WRX coils. Brad says that the early ignition set-up where the coils were mounted directly atop of the spark plugs are often subject to heat problems. Like many quick Rigoli WRXs before it, a MSD booster module adds to the spark energy of the late-model coils. The fuel system, too, is boosted by a high-flow Bosch pump and an adjustable rising rate pressure regulator.
Backing the rumbling Rallye motor is a TRP-sourced dog box, in which - since installation - Brad has already managed to destroy second gear. Not surprisingly though, the Jim Berry high clamping pressure plate and brass button clutch aren't light on the gearbox. Note that the suspension has been left 100 percent standard, though the rims are traditional Sparco Tarmac 17s wearing 215/40 Falken GRBs.
Indoors things are kept mild enough to not give away the car's immense performance. As mentioned, the MY96 Rally scored a vastly improved interior over the previous models, with contemporary suede-insert rally seats and door trims. All that Brad's added is a different Momo steering wheel, turbo timer, A-pillar mounted Autometer boost gauge and shift light.
With the ready-in-five-minutes build completed, the vehicle hit the Rigoli workshop AWD Dyno Dynamics dyno for a power pull. Brad tells us that the "baby" turbo was set to a mild 24 psi, but with C16 unleaded race fuel, the car emitted 355 horsepower at all-four.
It was enough to go out to Jamboree and do a quick run. Indeed, the car performed quite well, giving an 11.5-second ET at 127 mph. That was Brad's first-ever full-bore launch with the new 'box and engine. No other successful passes could be done because a front driveshaft broke during the next run...
Mission accomplished.
But Brad isn't stopping there. He's going to remedy the driveshaft weakness with custom billet shafts as well as be the first person in Australia to fit variable cam timing heads onto the standard EJ20 block. This, he says, should give a tremendous boost in bottom and high-end torque. Certainly, high-end torque will skyrocket when the monster T66 goes on!
Brad aims to get his everyday driven Rex running under 10.5-seconds over the quarter mile, which - as he says - will mean that if he wants to keep competing at Willowbank, he'll need a cage and possibly a rear 'chute. Brad's not so keen on that idea, so he plans to get everything set for a one-only blistering pass before the officials start jumping up and down. "Oh well" he says, "I guess I'll just have to race it on the street"...
Contacts:
Tony Rigoli Performance
+61 7 5528 4666
Mick's Metalcraft
+61 2 9755 7137
Jim's Clutch
+61 7 3891 6114
(Australian Competition Clutch Supplies)
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