In recent years, the Japanese art of drifting has established itself as a
popular motorsport. Well, it seems there’s another Japanese racing scene
emerging – touge!
David Noble tells us without equivocation that “touge is his thing.” Nothing
beats attacking a twisty mountain road with your hair on fire!
Not surprisingly, David’s car is set up as a touge special.
The Subaru WRX is a great platform for touge racing thanks to the stability
of its AWD chassis – you can throw anything at it mid corner and the chassis
will just smile and shrug it off. And, of course, the EJ20 turbo can be tuned
for plenty of speed...
David’s MY02 WRX features a host of mods that give meaty mid and top-end
performance without sacrificing response. The air intake kicks off with a Blitz
stainless steel air filter, which is fed cool air by the factory induction
snorkel. A custom stainless heat shield also prevents hot engine bay air making
its way to the filter.
The standard MY02 turbocharger is pretty limited when you want to make good
power, so David replaced his with an IHI VF29 roller bearing turbo – it’s one of
the smallest in the VF family, providing fast spool-up and a broad operating
range.
With boost pressure set to 19 psi using a Blitz Spec-R unit, it’s just as
well the factory top-mount intercooler has been upgraded. A Blitz front-mount
intercooler kit, complete with an atmospherically-venting blow-off valve, routes
its way through the engine bay. The pipes are polished for maximum ‘bling’.
A search of the engine bay will also turn up an oil catch can, and Blitz oil and
radiator caps.
The exhaust is an-off-the-shelf Blitz 3¼ inch system with a custom mandrel
dump pipe and high-flow cat converter. Note that the up-pipe to the turbo has
also been replaced. The standard up-pipe contains a cat converter that is known
to disintegrate when the engine is modified.
To extract the best possible performance from these mods, David’s WRX carries
a ChipTorque Xede interceptor module to alter mixtures and timing. A Walbro
255L/hr pump is necessary to meet the fuel flow requirement at maximum power – a
certified 185kW at all four on ChipTorque’s Dyno Dynamics chassis dyno.
David is happy with the power as well as the overall driveability and
performance of the car. “It can smoke all four wheels out of corners,” he
says.
The driveline remains stock with the exception of a 2400lb clutch kit from
Direct Clutch. A shirt-shift also gives sportier gear changes. Diffs are
standard Subaru.
Of course, you need more than just raw power to make a successful touge
machine.
David’s WRX displays poise and confidence through the hairpins and sweepers
thanks to its Tein Type Flex coil-overs with adjustable hats. The suspension
package also includes a Whiteline anti-lift kit, Cusco 22mm rear swaybar,
Whiteline rear swaybar mounts and linkages and a Cusco front strut bar. A rear strut brace is also on the
way.
Brakes are largely stock but are tweaked with a
Cusco master cylinder brace, DBA front discs and custom
brake pads. The standard ABS system remains in operation.
Visually, David has given his ride the boost that it deserves.
“I originally owned a ’99 WRX with a few mods and I hated the look of the
new-look ’01 WRX when it was released.
“I went to Jamboree, though, and I saw one with the C-West kit and I had to
have it,” he says.
The C-West kit comprises a front bumper lip, skirts, rear lip and grille. A
rear spoiler is also part of the kit but, for a number of reasons, David runs
with the stock rear spoiler. Note that the car is also de-badged for a cleaner
look, there are clear side indicators, a Blitz badge on the boot lid and a few
stickers. Overall, it’s one of the best looking ’02 WRXs we’ve seen. It’s
detailing is also immaculate.
Rims are trick-looking 18 x 8.5 Koya K64s that David had powder coated white
- the only downside of this is they’re an absolute pain to keep clean.
Interestingly, David relies on 225/40 Dunlop Direzza tyres – a choice swayed by
the fact that Blitz use them extensively on their home-market cars.
Indoors, the ’02 WRX comes factory with a highly supportive pair of front
seats. These are up to the rigours of touge but David has whacked in a Blitz
gear knob and turbo timer. A trio of Blitz gauges – worth AUD$1400 – has found their way in after our photo shoot.
David is extremely happy with the way the mods have gelled – the car
is a much better all-round package. The only area left to develop is the brakes
– and David already has plans for DBA rear discs, braided lines and upgrade
pads. Yep, those brake pads get pretty damn hot after a downhill run!
Those touge skills have recently been enhanced with some outings to the local
Morgan Park Raceway (in Queensland).
Even though David says he was just having some “fun” he still managed to lap in
43.7 seconds – just 0.7 slower than a 450hp Skyline GT-R!
Be warned. If you see David blaze up behind you and switch his headlights on
you’d better pull out all stops or pull neatly to the side of the road.
This touge machine is comin’ through!
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