Subaru Turbo kits
Posted on March 27, 2008
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In trying to find a good turbo to match to my car, I was a bit surprised at how popular the Garrett GT30 and GT35 series turbos have become for the Subaru platform in the last year. I believe Perrin was the first state-side company to release a GT30 kit, but since then, this number has grown. Now there are plenty of companies offering a GT30 or GT35 kit, and for good reason.
The GT30 and GT35 series turbos are able to produce reliable high top-end power without sacrificing the low to mid-range powerband. These turbos are highly available, and have lots of options in terms of exhaust and compressor housings. I’ll be looking for the GT3076 with the 0.82 A/R specifically.
When choosing a kit, the differentiating factors come down to the details. Weld quality, hardware quality (clamps, hoses, hardware, etc), quality assurance, replacement part availability, warranty, customer service and documentation. Generally speaking, these details have little to nothing to do with how much horse power the kit puts down, but it will have environmental effects on the race campaign. If you choose the company who has no warranty, little documentation and hard to find replacement parts, this will effect you in the paddock and eat into your racing budget.
P&L Motorsports GT30 kit
P&L Motorsports has recently released a nice GT30 kit that I’ve been keeping my eyes on. This is a smaller company, but they have announced some surprisingly good numbers for their kit. The parts are all high-quality, the welds look good and the kit comes with documentation. I like the looks of this kit, their numbers are realistic and their marketing lingo is honest and down-to-earth.
New items
Posted on February 26, 2008
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A new shipment has arrived, awaiting installation. Most of it is related to safety and adherence to SCCA ITE rules.
- Window net
- Rollbar padding
- New 3-layer nomex Momo firesuit
- Piloti Nomex driving shoes
Engine Progress
Posted on February 23, 2008
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The car has been on hold for a little while since the engine and heads were at the machine shop. The block was being bored from 2 liters to 2.2, and matched to the Tomei strocker kit pistons.
The heads were purchased off a JDM Spec-c engine from a guy on NASIOC. The engine was involved in a fire, so the heads needed a lot of cleanup work, and some machining to match the new block bore size. Once back from the machine shop, the difference was night-and-day. They look like brand-new heads.
Once these were back, I took time to create some comparison diagrams illustrating the differences between the USDM STI (EJ257)block versus the JDM STI (EJ207) block.
Block comparison: USDM STI EJ257 vs JDM STI EJ207
I was checking out my block compared to a USDM STI block, and noticed many differences with respect to cylinder wall thickness, and coolant chamber capacity.
It seems the EJ257 will be better application for street cars, and drag racing where heating isn’t as big a problem compared to road racing. This was also the conclusion Subaru came to in their white papers.
The EJ207 has continued to be used in Japan and Europe in road-racing applications due to its cylinder wall thickness and enhanced cooling capacity.
Head comparison: USDM STI vs JDM STI Spec-c
Right off the bat, the Spec-C heads have significantly larger intake ports, The intake splitter is also much more recessed into the head. The porting is much finer, and most of the casting burrs have been removed.
More images are in the Gallery - Car Build: 2008.02.23. Check em out.
Japan Trip - Thursday, January 17th, 2008
Posted on January 17, 2008
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I’ve refrained from writing until I can take a good amount of time to do it properly. Needless to say, I’m heading back to Boston tomorrow, so I will post retrospective posts once I’m back. Keep an eye out for them, and their photos. I’ve got plenty of good ones to share.
13:00
Met up with Ayaka and her mother in Shinjuku for a bit before heading into Shibuya to do some pre-departure shopping. I ended up buying some clothes for my buddy Matt, and a sweatshirt for myself. Perhaps its due to the time of year, but the deals I’m finding for the quality and style of clothes I’m finding is astounding.
18:00
The big find today was Nonbeiyoko-cho (Drunkards alley), just next to Shibuya, on the other side of the train tracks. Here you’ll find a collection of tiny bars/pubs the largest which fits 12, the average size fits 5-8 patrons. The patrons are regulars, the atmosphere is comfortable and welcoming, the food hot and homecooked by a single “Master” right at the bar in front of you, taking part in the conversation. Occasionally people would pop their heads in to say hi, and you could feel the friendly neighborhood-ly relationships in the air.
Here me and my friend Ikuko enjoyed a slow paced dinner from 18:45 until 23:00. We were the first to arrive, but gradually the regulars showed up, a bit surprised to find non-regulars in their place, but they gradually warmed up to me and Ikuko, and we all had a wonderful time sharing experiences.
Japan Trip - Monday, January 14th, 2008
Posted on January 15, 2008
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8:00am
Today was the last day in the Hakone area at the hot spring resort before heading out to Tokyo. I enjoyed my final adventure to the onsen in the morning before breakfast. Ayakas’ father suprised me by snapping a few photos while I wasn’t looking. I was relaxed enough that I never noticed until afterwards.
11:00
We checked out around 11am, and drove around Hakone a bit more. This time the weather cooperated a bit more, revealing the valley below the resort, as well as the summit of Mount Fuji. I’m not sure why, but this time Mount Fuji seemed a lot larger than it did last time I visited in 1999. Perhaps the weather was more clear this time around. Either way, its a massive mountain compared to anything around it.
Eventually we found ourselves eating lunch at a local restaraunt selling Hottou, a local specialty similar to Udon, only much thicker and with massive noddles and ingredients such as pumpkin and large potato chunks.
16:00
From there we headed to the Mount Fuji natural springs, the source of many of the Fuji based bottled water companies. It was a very beautiful areas, with many naturally styled gardens built around the springs.
From there we headed into Tokyo via highway.
21:00
Once in Tokyo, myself and Aya went up in the Tokyo City Hall building to take a look from the top floor, getting some amazing night views of the city skyline.
Japan Trip - Sunday, January 13th, 2008
Posted on January 15, 2008
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7:00am
Me and Ayakas’ father woke up early to take a bath in the hot springs downstairs, breakfast was served afterwards at 8:00am.
We spent the day driving around the Hakone area, first stop atop the summit of the mountain our resort is built on. There a visitor center is mount, with a few resturaunts, a shrine, and plenty of hot jets of steam poking out of the mountainside.
10:00
From there we headed to the Tokaido Sekishou. This used to be the gate barring people from leaving or entering Edo (now Tokyo) during Edo period Japan (1600s to the 1860s). It was really interesting to walk along parts of the Tokaido knowing its history.
Noon
We had a nice drive around Hakone perfecture afterwards, going through various mountain passes. The City of Hakone itself is unique, in that it has so many modes of transportation to get around in, including: Car, bus, bike, boat, cable car, and pirate ship. Yes, thats right. On lake Ashi, there is a pirate ship that takes tourists around the lake, despite being a landlocked lake that is nestled inside an ancient volcano around 3000 feet above sea level. I’m not talking small pirate boats, but 100% full scale pirate ship replicas. These things are huge, and people just accept them as normal everyday things. “Oh, its pirate ships, its FUN!”. This is why I love Japan, because pirates are accepted everywhere.
15:00
Eventually we ended up in the port/castle town of Odawara, where we had a late lunch along the harbourside. The place we ate at was really a marketplace, but it had a outdoor eating area with grills to cook the fish you bought in the market. Here we grilled up some fresh Aji, Sanma, Saba and a few others. Easily some of the most fresh fish I’ve ever had. Aya was eating the stuff up super hard, shes’ really been missing this style of cookery back in Boston.
Afterwards we headed back to the resort for more onsen time.
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Recently Written
- Subaru Turbo kits
- New items
- Engine Progress
- Japan Trip - Thursday, January 17th, 2008
- Japan Trip - Monday, January 14th, 2008
- Japan Trip - Sunday, January 13th, 2008
- Japan Trip - Saturday, January 12th, 2008
- Japan Trip - Friday, January 11th 2008
- Japan Trip - Thursday, January 10th 2008
- Japan Trip - Wednesday, January 9th, 2008
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