stumbled upon this thread and wanted to wait for things to settle down before posting..quite the flame fest.
At any rate, since the car being mentioned is my old car, which has proven itself well in PGT trim before going Open, thought it would be good to clarify a few things since my name and business are being mentioned in a public forum.. here's my .02.
1. First of all, it was purchased from me in Open trim, not PGT trim. Far more goodies allowed in Open. The parts money is better spent (as mentioned) in Open. The WRX tranny/diff/axles, and fiberglass hood pushed it out of PGT. Turbo Leggy trannies are hard to get, too fragile, and expensive to replace guts in (over $2k in parts to stay in PGT, did that once). The only other thing that could be done to get it faster in PGT legal trim is an SAFC (had MBC @ 10-12psi, FCD, up/downpipe/ 3" exhaust). Also, maxing the HP out of the 2.2 turbo is asking for tranny issues w/ a turbo 5 speed, better clutch and stock guts. Did have tranny trouble a few times in PGT, as some of you know..LOL
2. The engine that was swapped into it was used, but not as "tired" as portrayed (drove the car it came out of 110+ easily)..It had half the mileage of the old one, was smooth, and ran fine. Many guys/gals here have 150k+ EJ22Ts that still scream along just fine..had a CEL (Knock sensor) that needed fixed to get everything out of it. Would be fixing that first before a full rebuild.. That cooked engine that came out had compression issues..
3. My reason for switching cars was due to the fact that if $$$ was going into upgrading an Open car, it should be the Impreza (GC8 STi) that has been ongoing for a couple of years. It was time for completiton. It was not because the Leggy wasn't fast enough..I was at the point of diminshing returns, especially in PGT trim..That Leggy with an EJ20G swap or EJ22T/ DOHC set up, different turbo (TD04 or TD05), and TMIC with the current set up, that'd be close to or more than 300chp unrestricted. That's about $1500-2k worth of parts. If you want to get the bang for the buck, and get a bunch more HP, that's a good way to go. Headwork, P&P, Extrude honing the intake, 3 angle valve job, and valves/springs would be near, or more than that much $ and not nearly that sort of gain. Not PGT legal though...
4. Whatever modifications are not explicitly listed as PGT legal in the NASA or R-A rule book, are NOT legal in PGT. If you don't like that (as I didn't), keep the car Open and build the whizz out of it with the list posted.. It will be way faster than a PGT legal Leggy Turbo.
5. With more seat time, you will get faster.. That's not saying your driving is good, bad or otherwise, just a fact of all motorsports. How many stage miles at speed have you run in that car to this point? Can it be driven 100% at all times? I couldn't drive it 100% for quite a while. Until I began left foot braking, I wasn't using all the car had, as the turbo needed to spool to pull out of turns. Once you get the hang of lfb-ing, you'll carry much more speed through the turns, and be able to really attack the stage, as you're always in the powerband.
6. Please be nice to others on the board.
Putting up a post in a forum is basically asking for opinions, like them or not. It's fine to not agree with someone, but namecalling for it is really unnecessary. Since Jason is a co-driver, he's very familiar with the rules, he needs to be as part of that task. We are also close in the starting order and stage times at many events as well. on this subject he's got good insight. He's just straight up with comments sometimes..
I'd be glad to answer any of your other technical rally questions, from a scrutineer/ tech inspectors' standpoint too..At some point I'll probably be teching that car..
Rally On!
