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In November 2007, my first trip to Laguna Seca Raceway didn't quite go as planned.  Since that time, I thought the place owed me one until I could make my return.  I say the place owed me because my mistake of running over the Turn 6 apex marker like many others didn't seem that egregious.  A mid-January discovery of an open track day on February 25th with the Green Flag Driving Association (through MotorsportReg.com) paved the way for that return. The weekend before the track day, I got a new set of Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec tires (P225/45R17 90W) (nuts...the Tire Rack has a $50 rebate on these right now until March 31st if you buy a set of four) mounted and balanced.  Before putting the new shoes on, I changed the front and rear brake pads from the EBC Red Stuff Ceramic pads to Ferodo DS2500s.  I didn't change the rotors because I just replaced them the previous month with the EBC pads.  And thanks to the Motive Products hydraulic brake and clutch pressure bleeder I got from RallySportDirect.com, I was able to bleed brake fluid by myself for the first time using a fresh 500 mL bottle of MOTUL RBF 600 high temp fluid. After unpacking the car, adjusting the Koni strut inserts to nearly full stiff in the front and 1/2 stiff in rear (the latter required the removal of the rear seat (six 12mm bolts) to access the tops of the rear struts), mounting a video camera to the rear windshield, and slapping on some magnetic numbers purchased from izoomgraphics.com onto the front doors, the car was ready to hit the track.  I was assigned #16 because my last name was probably sixteenth on the alphabetical list of people registered for the intermediate group at the time the numbers were determined...

Saturday, January 3, 2009 marked five years of life together with my 2004 Subaru Impreza WRX Sedan, a.k.a. Devoted Dan.  After 104,000 miles, it continues to run well and provide smiles per mile.  Below is a brief rundown of our time together. 2004 January 3 - Took delivery from Frank's Irvine Subaru in Lake Forest March - Installed 17-inch Prodrive P1 wheels (made by O.Z...

Back in January 2004, I joined a cult.  Entry came in the form of purchasing a Subaru.  Last September, Colin McRae and his son, Jimmy, were killed in a helicopter crash.  On August 30, 2008, over a thousand Subarus caravaned to Prodrive's Warwick facility where they assembled to write his name with their vehicles and form the Scottish flag, the Saltire.  For those unfamiliar with his successes, Colin McRae won the 1995 FIA WRC Drivers' Championship driving a Subaru Impreza.  His efforts also helped Subaru win three straight FIA WRC Manufacturers' titles from 1995-1997.  The 25 victories he accumulated place him fourth on the all-time WRC win list.  He also won a silver medal in the inaugural X Games Rally event in 2006 despite rolling his Subaru Impreza WRX STI rally car, which was able to keep going almost as if nothing happened. Here's Inside Line's news article about the tribute to the late rally legend. Convoy of Subarus Stretches 30 Miles in Honor of Rally Driver Colin McRae BANBURY, England — Nearly two years after his death, fans of Colin McRae turned up with more than 1,000 Subarus to celebrate the life of the Scottish rally star with a record-setting convoy...

On Friday, June 20, 2008, an odd thing happened to my car's odometer.  Its backlight (see the lower right corner of the photo above) stopped working!  My thoughts ranged from, "<sarcasm>Great</sarcasm>.  Now I'll have to spend more money on the car.  Replacing this will be a pain, too, because the replacement instrument cluster will have to be turned to my car's current mileage," to "Upgrade time! :o)" after thinking a 2004 Subaru Impreza WRX STi instrument cluster (seen below) retrofit could work.  The problem with retrofitting a STi instrument cluster is that my car doesn't have the driver-controlled center differential (DCCD) or an outside temperature sensor.  Retrofitting the STi cluster would require modifying the cluster itself to make it work well with my car and getting it turned to my car's mileage. I don't know what caused the odometer backlight to go out.  My car's left side headlight bulb went out the previous night.  Perhaps that had something to do with it.  I replaced both headlight bulbs with European-spec Philips Vision Plus +50 H1 headlight bulbs (which are amazing by the way - I'd say their light output is better than the Euro-spec Osram Silverstar bulbs) on Saturday morning.  I took the car for a quick spin to Wal-Mart and back on Saturday afternoon, but didn't notice if the odometer backlight was on or not (it should be on anytime the ignition is in the on position).  It wasn't until I was leaving church on Sunday afternoon that I noticed the odometer backlight was fully functional again.  Seeing it illuminated again was a relief!..

Tip of the Day: A person will usually steer his or her vehicle to go wherever he or she is looking. Here's a video of my run down Glendora Mountain Road back on February 18, 2008.  One "issue" I had during it was looking ahead with my eyes instead of looking at the rear of Jon Mak's 2006 Subaru Impreza WRX STI.  This gave me greater respect for professional race car drivers who need to focus on the racing line and keep track of the other cars in front of them at the same time.  I basically had to mentally force myself to keep looking ahead instead of the rear of his car. Here's an excellent article on Inside Line by Mac Demere about using your eyes properly as a driver...

Last week, I ordered two new Bridgestone Potenza RE-01R tires to replace the two front tires that took a beating at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.  The tires arrived on Wednesday and sat in the backyard until they could be mounted and balanced on wheels.  On Saturday morning, I took the tires and wheels to Island Tires & Service (www.islandtire.net) in Pasadena.  Service was friendly and quick as I arrived and left in about half an hour.  Later that afternoon, I swapped the stock 2006 WRX wheels and tires that were on the car for the Prodrive P1 wheels that had been in storage since mid-November. On Sunday afternoon, I did a recce run for a drive I was going to do the next day with some friends.  The plan was to go North on Azusa Ave until it turned into San Gabriel Canyon Road and continue along that until East Fork.  On East Fork, I headed East to the point Glendora Mountain Road (GMR) began.  GMR was where the fun to be had until it ended down the mountain at Sierra Madre Ave.  The first and only previous time I had driven GMR was back in July 2007 when I had the 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX hatchback for an evening.  It's definitely more fun to drive in daylight than at night. Because I was stuck behind a GMC Yukon the entire time I drove along San Gabriel Canyon Road yesterday, I figured it would be better to go North on GMR and double-back today...

After busting the left front strut of my car at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in November, I was presented with the burden privilege of upgrading its suspension.  I was hoping to have the upgrade done before I went to Laguna Seca, but the JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) STI (Subaru Tecnica International) springs I ordered in late July.  The problem is that they didn't arrive from Japan until after I had to get the car ready to go to Monterey.  I ordered Koni adjustable strut inserts a little before I ordered the springs.  They came within a week and sat in the house for the next four and a half months. The springs that were on the car previously were Prodrive lowering springs.  Prodrive is the U.K.-based company that prepares and runs the Subaru World Rally Team in the FIA World Rally Championship.  The Prodrive springs are actually Eibach springs that are manufactured to Prodrive specifications.  Prodrive has never released the spring rates for their springs.  The closest they've come is saying that they're 25% stiffer than stock.  The stock spring rates for a 2002-2007 USDM (United States Domestic Market) WRX Sedan with a 5-speed manual transmission are 163 lb./in. front and 119 lb./in...

Question of the Day: What is the main difference between the photos below? Before After On Sunday afternoon, the mod, as in modification, bug bit me again.  I purchased a red hazard switch from Subaru Genuine Parts a few months ago, but never got around to installing it.  Late last week, I contemplated installing the switch and finally decided I would attempt to do it last weekend.  What held me back so long was the concern that I would break or scratch an interior trim piece in the process. What's the big deal about a red hazard switch?  It's a JDM item.  That's what!  JDM stands for "Japanese Domestic Market."  If you don't understand the JDM craze, you won't understand why something this retrofit is cool.  The red hazard switch made its first appearance on the Japanese 2004 Subaru Impreza WRX STI S203.  Since then, Subaru limited its use to the Japanese STi/STI models until the 2007 Subaru Impreza WRX STI Limited was released in North America.  Because of that model's introduction, the switch became readily available on this side of the Pacific...

Second blog entry for you guys.  Hopefully I'll have more time to write a more regular column.  Anyway onto one of my Christmas Gifts to myself. The Escort Passport 9500i Radar Detector. Let's start this off with my driving record.  My official record includes 2 tickets, one for an "unsafe lane change" and the other "disobeying a road sign".  This doesn't mean however that I haven't been pulled over a lot of times.  I also drive about 30-40k miles a year so I'm a bit above average in terms of miles driven each year.  I haven't been pulled over in about 2 years or so but felt that with the purchase of my 2005 Legacy GT Wagon w/5MT it was only a matter of time before I would get pulled over again.  With that said, I did my research and as most enthusiasts have said, you come down to either a Valentine 1 or an Escort.  I'm a gadget guy, and could not pass up the Escort 9500i with it's built in GPS chip.  After having it for about a week I finally got into all the features.  It has the usual X, K, KA, KU, Pop, Laser, and a few other bands that it will detect.  It also does SWS signals which some road signs emit giving messages to you in a digital readout.  Those are the "regular" features.  In addition, it has an adaptive volume control, so if your ambient interior sound is high, like if you have your stereo up or window open it will be louder than normal.  Once you get familiar with the bands and the warnings you can flip it to "expert" mode where it actually gives you the frequency of the radar in addition to the level of radar you are being hit with...

Ok, so I finally am able to sit back, relax, and give you guys my impressions of the 08 STi, first hand, non journalist view, non professional view of it....   Let me preface my write-up in that I've been a Subaru fan for years, starting in the late 80s when my cousin bought a 1988 XT6.  I bought my first Subaru in 1997, a 1988 XT6.  It wasn't perfect, the air-suspension needed replacement after some time, and this started my work on Subarus.  Since then I've been working on them in my spare time and even grew a small side business out of it.  My Subaru resume includes the 1988 XT6 Automatic, a 1991 XT6 Manual, a 1992 SVX AWD, 1996 Impreza L AT, 1994 Legacy Turbo Sedan 5MT, and now daily drive a 2005 Legacy Turbo Wagon 5MT.  I also have been road racing and track instructing since 2002 and auto crossing since 2000.    Enough of my Subaru background, as I could write for hours about my Subarus and the good fun I've had working on and driving them.  You are reading this for the '08 STi info!  So it was a fairly cool evening here in the Northeast, a few friends got together for dinner in NJ.  Chatted about Subarus and reminisced about the past, past Auto-Xing and the future of where Subaru will be heading too.  After dinner, we headed out to the parking lot, very similar to the old days in the late 90s when we would meet in parking lots and look at our cars and talk for hours about Subarus.  The 2008 STi was parked right next to my 2005 LGT Wagon, interesting how similar in stance these cars both have.    I sit down and begin to explore the car, the legend, the car that has grasped us since time began!  This was my first time getting a close up look at a car long before the general public would even be able to order it! Could this be?  I guess after being a loyal fan for so many years I finally got a peek at the future :)   Ok, so I sit down and immediately I feel that the seats are a tad wider than my Legacy GT seats.  The elbow room in the driver's seat is also a bit more, allowing my ample 300lb frame a comfortable seating position.  Forward visibility was superior to that of the previous STi due to a more elegant and slender intercooler scoop, slightly larger than the scoop on my LGT but subtle.  The dash was well laid out with the GPS/stereo unit placed high on the dash, something that I have missed since my 1997 Isuzu rodeo which placed the stereo at the top of the dash, above the HVAC controls, and above the air vents.  Being a driver, this is very important to me because when I drive, I like to drive, and controlling the stereo atop the dash like that makes it much easier while keeping your eyes and senses on the road...