xluben's FogTurbo Bugeye | NF Performance | 2002 WRX | 6266 | 2.5L | 6MT

[silvercookie]

I'm sure it has been asked a 100x, but what do you do for a living to be able to do this kind of stuff?

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[xluben]

Originally Posted by silvercookie

I'm sure it has been asked a 100x, but what do you do for a living to be able to do this kind of stuff?

I'm an engineer and my wife and I do photography on the side. BUT little to none of the money for the car comes from those sources of income. It's mostly funded just by selling things. Haha.

Also, keep in mind that the total cost of the project (including the car itself as well as all the mods) is still less than what you'd pay for a new WRX on the dealer lot (let alone a new STI).

[silvercookie]

Just amazes me between all your posts on here and pbnation haha. Love reading your threads.

[Jive Turkey]

ben stop trolling. you've got over 70k under that hood and its all because of your maxed out credit cards. #youtharealjohnytran

[xluben]

Originally Posted by Jive Turkey

ben stop trolling. you've got over 70k under that hood and its all because of your maxed out credit cards. #youtharealjohnytran

Nah, it's just on my tab at Harry's.

[Celery GT-5]

Too soon junior

[projectQWKSLVR]

I've enjoyed the videos of the progress of your bugeye. Especially the latest few as it seems the old analog speedo can't keep up with the rate at which the car actually accelerates. Reminds me of the top gear episode where the Lexis LFA made it debut on the show. lol

No F&F quotes (my bad).

[xluben]

The bolt repair is completed and the new T-brace, r180, and DSS rear axles are installed.

[Shortpersonbk]

So much jelly
Get her to the track!


Sent from my iPhone using NASIOC

[xluben]

Here's an updated video. Changes since the last speedo video:

• Retarded Timing by 1 Tooth on Intake and Exhaust
• Enkei RPF1 17x9" +45
• Federal 595 RS-R 255/40R17
• R180, DSS 800HP Rear Axles

50-100mph (2nd, 3rd, 4th): ~3.5 seconds

YouTube

YouTube

Doesn't quite make it to 130mph, but it looks like 60-130mph would be the in 6 second range.



Here it is plotted out against my 10.9 @ 128mph log from Rock Falls last year.

[toph]

6 sec 60-130 is crazy fast, especially for a Subaru lol. Nice.

[Hummus]

There isn't much information on the eibach prokit from users. The drop looks great and most say that they do increase firmness a little and improve handling but don't make for a harsh ride. Can you offer any more insight? Thanks!

[OrbitalEllipses]

[xluben]

Originally Posted by Hummus

There isn't much information on the eibach prokit from users. The drop looks great and most say that they do increase firmness a little and improve handling but don't make for a harsh ride. Can you offer any more insight? Thanks!

The drop is pretty good. The front does seem to sit a little higher than the rear, but it's not too bad. The ride is still pretty soft. Feels similar to stock. Nothing like cheap coilovers.

I can't comment too much on handling considering I have them on 10 year old stock struts and my car doesn't even have any sway bars. I kind of expected the shocks to have blown by now, but they still seem to be doing fine.

[SenorDucK]

damn, lotta happening in this thread! glad the track bug got you a little bit, I'm looking forward to the next track update!

[xluben]

My brother and I went out to Rock Falls today. I drove the car there and ran on the street tire setup. The car was run in full street trim and 3/4 to 1/2 tank of gas.

There were long lines in the staging lanes so it was about half an hour between passes. I ended up making 5 passes. I wasn't hooking up well and kept putting down 1.7s 60' times and 10.4 ET in the 1/4.

My best pass ended up being a 10.3s @ 139mph. It did 110mph in the 1/8th mile. Other than spinning a lot in 1st and 2nd the car did great and was feeling strong well into 5th gear.



I am hoping to be back again soon on slicks and maybe a little more boost and try for 9's. I think I have the trap speed to do it, I just need a good launch and the times should drop.

I have a few photos and videos from the day that I will try to get up later. My in-car camera didn't work but I have the speedo videos and my brother's track side videos.

[xluben]

Some better photos from at the track.







Best pass was a 10.3 @ 139mph.



Video from my 10.3 @ 139mph pass today. Spins through 1st and 2nd.

YouTube

YouTube

Here is a plot of the datalog from one of the passes.



0-100mph: ~6.1sec
50-100mph: ~3.6sec
60-130mph: ~6.1sec

Here's the same plot compared against my 10.9 @ 128mph pass from last season.

[cvhjj]

Did you get rid of the hatch? I got a good feeling about this one!

[xluben]

Originally Posted by cvhjj

Did you get rid of the hatch? I got a good feeling about this one!

Yes, the 2011 WRX is long gone. This one isn't as nice, but it's faster!

[2011rex18]

Forgive me for having to ask but so many pages of numbers now Ben but for this track day and street setup, what type of numbers is your tune putting down hp/tq? That's such a nasty 1/8th mile for spinning thru first and second!!

[xluben]

Originally Posted by 2011rex18

Forgive me for having to ask but so many pages of numbers now Ben but for this track day and street setup, what type of numbers is your tune putting down hp/tq? That's such a nasty 1/8th mike for spinning thru first and second!!

It is probably a little over 600WHP Dynojet. The lighter weight helps too.

[imxblue]

Very nice.

[xluben]

I got an alignment this week and during the alignment it was noted that one of my calipers was leaking fluid. I decided to go with remanufactured calipers, new rotors, and StopTech Street pads. I also picked up a vacuum bleeder to bleed the fluid after.



Old vs. New



Old pads had plenty of meat left but were developing a lot of cracks.



The leaking caliper.





Old rotor.



StopTech pads.



New caliper.



New rotor.



The removal and install went off without any problems. All bolts broke free without any issues. I put it all back together and went to use the vacuum bleeder. I started on the first one and it was pulling a small amount of fluid but 90% air. This went on for half an hour or so while I hoped it would get better. I was poking around trying to find a leak somewhere in the system but I couldn't find anything.

Then I looked online and found other people have had similar issues if the bleed fittings leaks around the threads when loosened. This is exactly what was happening to me. It was just pulling in tons of air right at the fitting even thought fluid was filling the lines all the way back to the caliper.

I'm not really sure how to prevent this. Maybe thread sealant on the bleeder fitting? I ended up enlisting my wife to push on the brake pedal and did it the old fashioned way. That worked without any problems because it pushes air out via positive pressure instead of pulling it out through the fitting.

I have had ongoing issues with the coolant overflow reservoir overflowing on high speed pulls. It wasn't a lot, so I don't think my heads are lifting, but it was enough to be noticeable. It was using the small coolant reservoir that comes with the eBay FMIC kits. It is a small cylinder.

The Treadstone FMIC kit comes with a larger, rectangular overflow so I got that out and mounted it next to my slim battery. I dumped the nearly full cylindrical overflow into the new one and it barely filled it (maybe 1/2" - 1" from the bottom. I measured the dimensions and the cylinder has about 25 in^3 of volume and the new one is around 72 in^3. So I should have a lot more room for expanding coolant. I will see if it helps...

Coolant overflow.



After I got that buttoned up I went and did half a dozen 50-5mph hard stops and then some more driving to cool it down and a couple 3rd gear brake boosts. The brakes seem to be working fine (the other ones seemed to be working fine too, but I believe they could have failed eventually due to the leak).

[John_Clark42]

How do you like the stoptech pads? I have the same ones - yet to be installed.
Also what rotors did you put in? I'm trying to decide between oem or hawk sector 27s

[xluben]

Originally Posted by John_Clark42

How do you like the stoptech pads? I have the same ones - yet to be installed.
Also what rotors did you put in? I'm trying to decide between oem or hawk sector 27s

I like the StopTech street pad. I have run them before. They're a decent step up without being too aggressive. The rotors I got are just cheap ones from the brake store.