World One STI Competes in 1st Annual Primedia Time Attack!
04-14-2004, 01:17 PM
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Car Info: Do-Luck Bugeye WRX & 2008 Hydra-powered STI
World One STI Competes in 1st Annual Primedia Time Attack!
On Tuesday April 6th 2004 the World One STI participated in the first ever Primedia Time Attack Event. A time attack is a popular form of Japanese racing in which top tuner teams battle for the best single lap time of the day on one of Japan's many circuits. The most popular of which is Tsukuba (http://www.shejapan.com/jtyeholder/j...c/tcjtye1.html) which plays host to the Japanese Touring Car Championship Round each year. Each year the time attacks bring out the biggest names in the industry like JUN, Blitz, and this years champion HKS.
For the first time ever Sport Compact Car, and Super Street Magazine decided to collaborate and bring time attack racing to US shores. Early this year both publications began sending out invitations inviting US tuners and teams to bring their best to Buttonwillow Raceway for what promised to be an awesome showing of horsepower and driving ability.
In late March World One Performance began preparing our project STI to compete in this unique event by dialing in various aspects of the car, securing a qualified driver and tuner. We were absolutely stoked when Gary Sheehan of Sheehan Motor Racing (www.teamsmr.com) accepted our invitation to pilot our car. Who better to compete for a lap time in a highly modified STI than a Subaru sponsored, California native, professional USTCC driver?
Next, we contacted Phil from Element Tuning (www.elementtuning.com) to sort out the tune for the STI for race day. Several hours of painstaking race fuel, high boost tuning were going to be necessary if we were going to stand a chance at the time attack and Phil was eager to help out. Thank goodness he brought along his wide band, knock sensors, and prototype components or else we would have been lost.
A few days before the time attack the World One Team departed for Los Angeles to take in a bit of the SEMA International Auto Salon. After the show, one of Gary Sheehan's requests were that the O.E. Brembo Calipers that were on the STI to be swapped out in favor of Stop Tech's new STI 4 Piston kit with larger rotors. (www.stoptech.com). Since we wanted to do anything we could to make Gary feel at home in the STI, we dropped the car off at Stop Tech's facility in Torrance, CA and owner Bob Lee saw to it that the car was dialed in for race day. This included a brake kit installation with race pads, complete corner balancing and a ride high adjustment to Gary's specifications.
The remaining day and a half before the time attack was filled with non stop tuning. Phil from Element was an absolute hero for flying out all the way from DC and pulling an all-nighter road tune session in order to get the car where it needed to be. As the sun came up we discovered the limits of stock STI clutch. 24 lbs of boost and race fuel produced such a massive burst of power and torque that any attempt at rolling the tachometer past peak torque (4500 rpms) resulted in the OE clutch completely giving way. We tuned through the night and right up until the point when we had to depart for the race track where Gary was waiting for us.
04-14-2004, 01:18 PM
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Car Info: Do-Luck Bugeye WRX & 2008 Hydra-powered STI
By the time the our car and the rest of the Primedia group arrived at the track Gary had already arrived, and set up his trailer, air compressor, tent and tables for our team. Gary gave a quick once over the car and Stop Tech's handy work with the suspension and the Advan TCII's were pulled off in favor of 17's with Hoosier DOT Legal Slicks. After passing tech, the car was out on the track for warm up laps.
The World One STI was a competitor in the AWD Limited Class. The Limited Class is defined by cars that have DOT legal tires and real glass windows. Limited cars needed to be driven to the track a minimum of 40 miles in order to verify that they were okay to drive on the street. The AWD limited class however was saturated with cars that were anything but limited. Some of the cars in our class were the Sparco EVO VIII, XS Engineering's EVO VIII, Road Race Engineering's EVO VIII, Works EVO VIII, Worx Tuning's STi, RB Motoring's Skyline R32, and more. Other notables included Signal Auto's Purpleen Skyline R34 piloted by world famous wild man Tarzan Yamamoto running in the RWD limited class, Axis Wheels 360 Modena and Turbo 350Z all running in the limited RWD class, a number NSX's from Science of Speed and a monstrous Twins Turbo Supra.
Warm up laps went smoothly and Gary posted a 2:06.xx which was not bad for the first time being out on the track in a brand new car. After warms ups were over the car came into the pits and tweaking began on the Tein Flex suspension. Its important to note that the World One STi is a street car that has been dressed up for track duty. The Tein Flex suspension is a street set up, and the sway bars on the vehicle were stock. The interior was complete, and no other compromises were made for weight savings. The car was in the same form that it sits on our showroom floor, and as it is driven to work every day (with the exception of the slicks of course). After fussing with alignment, camber, ride height, tire pressure and making adjustments to the Do-Luck Hi Post wing, Gary was back out on the track to rip it up for session 1.
Each member of the team present was assigned a pit duty. When Gary pitted after 3 or 4 laps the entire World One Team, and Phil jumped across the bulk head and began taking tire temps, tire pressures, and making adjustment to the wing. We seemed to take the pits a bit more seriously than other teams that were present, but we didn't mind. At the end of session one Gary had cut his warm up time by about 3 full seconds. At the end of each session Gary had a number of adjustments that he wanted made to the car before the next heat. Not only did he diagnose the cars handling ailments, but he also new exactly which adjustment needed to be made to give him a better show at a lower time. Everyone pitched in during these 20 minute breaks.
By the end of session two the World One STi was second in class with a 2:00.43 lap time. This time was fast enough to be the 4TH FASTEST OVERALL lap of the day. That's right, all classes aside, Skylines, Supras, NSXs, EVOs, street configuration, race configuration, regardless, the World One STi was 4th in a field of nearly 30 by the end of session 2. Our class leader the Sparco EVO VIII held the fastest time of the day with a commanding 1:57.xx
During session three more adjustments were made however traffic on the track hindered many a lap. Experiments were done in the pits, and at one point we even pulled off the Do Luck Wing during the middle of a session to try and get rid of some persistent under steer. At the end of the session Gary had commented that we had better put the functional Do Luck Wing back on because without it the rear end was to loose. Despite our adjustments traffic on the track hindered many a lap.
The World One STI was a competitor in the AWD Limited Class. The Limited Class is defined by cars that have DOT legal tires and real glass windows. Limited cars needed to be driven to the track a minimum of 40 miles in order to verify that they were okay to drive on the street. The AWD limited class however was saturated with cars that were anything but limited. Some of the cars in our class were the Sparco EVO VIII, XS Engineering's EVO VIII, Road Race Engineering's EVO VIII, Works EVO VIII, Worx Tuning's STi, RB Motoring's Skyline R32, and more. Other notables included Signal Auto's Purpleen Skyline R34 piloted by world famous wild man Tarzan Yamamoto running in the RWD limited class, Axis Wheels 360 Modena and Turbo 350Z all running in the limited RWD class, a number NSX's from Science of Speed and a monstrous Twins Turbo Supra.
Warm up laps went smoothly and Gary posted a 2:06.xx which was not bad for the first time being out on the track in a brand new car. After warms ups were over the car came into the pits and tweaking began on the Tein Flex suspension. Its important to note that the World One STi is a street car that has been dressed up for track duty. The Tein Flex suspension is a street set up, and the sway bars on the vehicle were stock. The interior was complete, and no other compromises were made for weight savings. The car was in the same form that it sits on our showroom floor, and as it is driven to work every day (with the exception of the slicks of course). After fussing with alignment, camber, ride height, tire pressure and making adjustments to the Do-Luck Hi Post wing, Gary was back out on the track to rip it up for session 1.
Each member of the team present was assigned a pit duty. When Gary pitted after 3 or 4 laps the entire World One Team, and Phil jumped across the bulk head and began taking tire temps, tire pressures, and making adjustment to the wing. We seemed to take the pits a bit more seriously than other teams that were present, but we didn't mind. At the end of session one Gary had cut his warm up time by about 3 full seconds. At the end of each session Gary had a number of adjustments that he wanted made to the car before the next heat. Not only did he diagnose the cars handling ailments, but he also new exactly which adjustment needed to be made to give him a better show at a lower time. Everyone pitched in during these 20 minute breaks.
By the end of session two the World One STi was second in class with a 2:00.43 lap time. This time was fast enough to be the 4TH FASTEST OVERALL lap of the day. That's right, all classes aside, Skylines, Supras, NSXs, EVOs, street configuration, race configuration, regardless, the World One STi was 4th in a field of nearly 30 by the end of session 2. Our class leader the Sparco EVO VIII held the fastest time of the day with a commanding 1:57.xx
During session three more adjustments were made however traffic on the track hindered many a lap. Experiments were done in the pits, and at one point we even pulled off the Do Luck Wing during the middle of a session to try and get rid of some persistent under steer. At the end of the session Gary had commented that we had better put the functional Do Luck Wing back on because without it the rear end was to loose. Despite our adjustments traffic on the track hindered many a lap.
04-14-2004, 01:19 PM
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Car Info: Do-Luck Bugeye WRX & 2008 Hydra-powered STI
During session four we debated whether to up the boost to 30 lbs and try to chase down the Sparco EVO VIII, but in the end it was decided that the almost three seconds could not be made up by and amount of HP. Gary had squeezed the STI dry, and with the street suspension and less than brand new tires times just were not going to get any faster. Session 4 was called to an early close when a FWD race Civic burst info flames and spilt oil all over the track. And so the day ended with the World One STi finishing 2nd in AWD class and 6th fastest overall, which we decided was just about as much as you could ask for from a stock block STI with a set of 1500 dollar street dampers.
Perhaps most encouraging is that after 30+ laps of automotive torture the STI was no worse for wear and was driven back home to LA that night and 1200 miles to Seattle the following day with absolutely no issues. Something that is very important is that this shows that the stock STI block is a very strong engine that is capable of big power and high boost when properly tuned. It had taken all the force that professional driver Gary Sheehan could dish out, 24 lbs of boost from an FP green, and enough chassis flex to make the windshield crack and the fenders bulge out but it had never felt better. The drive home was like floating on air despite that the Tein's were set on full stiff. I attribute this to the A+ work of the guys at Stop Tech. Set up is everything!
All in all the day was a huge success for all parties involved. Element Tuning, Sheehan Motor Racing and Stop Tech, thank you for collaborating to show the entire Primedia publication reading public what a well sorted out street spec STI and driving ability coming out of the ears can do. When the Super Street and Sport Compact car publish their editorials on the event in July I think readers will be surprised to see who ran slower times than our STi.
2nd in AWD Drive Class and 6th place over all on a national level? We'll take it. Look out next year!
Many More pictures on our site here:
http://worldoneperformance.com/news/...ck/default.htm
Garret
President
WOrld One Performance
www.worldoneperformance.com
Perhaps most encouraging is that after 30+ laps of automotive torture the STI was no worse for wear and was driven back home to LA that night and 1200 miles to Seattle the following day with absolutely no issues. Something that is very important is that this shows that the stock STI block is a very strong engine that is capable of big power and high boost when properly tuned. It had taken all the force that professional driver Gary Sheehan could dish out, 24 lbs of boost from an FP green, and enough chassis flex to make the windshield crack and the fenders bulge out but it had never felt better. The drive home was like floating on air despite that the Tein's were set on full stiff. I attribute this to the A+ work of the guys at Stop Tech. Set up is everything!
All in all the day was a huge success for all parties involved. Element Tuning, Sheehan Motor Racing and Stop Tech, thank you for collaborating to show the entire Primedia publication reading public what a well sorted out street spec STI and driving ability coming out of the ears can do. When the Super Street and Sport Compact car publish their editorials on the event in July I think readers will be surprised to see who ran slower times than our STi.
2nd in AWD Drive Class and 6th place over all on a national level? We'll take it. Look out next year!
Many More pictures on our site here:
http://worldoneperformance.com/news/...ck/default.htm
Garret
President
WOrld One Performance
www.worldoneperformance.com
04-14-2004, 03:55 PM
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Congratulations to the World One Team and Gary Sheehan! Thank you for the opportunity to be part of such a fun event and for having the faith in me to tune this car.
You could not ask for a better bunch people to be teamed up with for such an event. It was a very long week of hard work and very little sleep but I had the privilege of riding along with Gary Sheehan during the morning practice session and that was all it took to keep me fired up for the rest of the day. It’s kind of tough tuning a car while drifting. LOL!
I want give a very special thank you to Gary Sheehan for not only driving this car to its fullest potential but for his vast experience and hard work. He spent more time wrenching on suspension setup than he did driving but continued to smile the entire time. This guy truly loves racing cars! We took tire temps and pressures throughout the day and with this information he knew exactly what changes were needed to make the car handle. At the end of the day we knew Gary had optimized the cars setup by clicking off consistent lap times within the 1000ths! He is truly a phenomenal driver and a true professional. He was braking so much later into turn one than the competition it was sending chills up my spine.
That brings me to the brakes and I can’t thank the entire Stop Tech crew enough for all their hard work. They absolutely bent over backwards squeezing us in the night before the event get this car ready. They worked past midnight to not only install their new STI brakes but to corner weigh and setup the car’s suspension. They even preformed the bedding in of the brakes for us but maybe it’s because I fell asleep in the shop and they wanted to sneak a ride in the STI. LOL!
Alex and Darwin, you guys were extremely helpful and we couldn’t have done it without you so thank you very much!
See you next year!
Phil
Element Tuning
You could not ask for a better bunch people to be teamed up with for such an event. It was a very long week of hard work and very little sleep but I had the privilege of riding along with Gary Sheehan during the morning practice session and that was all it took to keep me fired up for the rest of the day. It’s kind of tough tuning a car while drifting. LOL!
I want give a very special thank you to Gary Sheehan for not only driving this car to its fullest potential but for his vast experience and hard work. He spent more time wrenching on suspension setup than he did driving but continued to smile the entire time. This guy truly loves racing cars! We took tire temps and pressures throughout the day and with this information he knew exactly what changes were needed to make the car handle. At the end of the day we knew Gary had optimized the cars setup by clicking off consistent lap times within the 1000ths! He is truly a phenomenal driver and a true professional. He was braking so much later into turn one than the competition it was sending chills up my spine.
That brings me to the brakes and I can’t thank the entire Stop Tech crew enough for all their hard work. They absolutely bent over backwards squeezing us in the night before the event get this car ready. They worked past midnight to not only install their new STI brakes but to corner weigh and setup the car’s suspension. They even preformed the bedding in of the brakes for us but maybe it’s because I fell asleep in the shop and they wanted to sneak a ride in the STI. LOL!
Alex and Darwin, you guys were extremely helpful and we couldn’t have done it without you so thank you very much!
See you next year!
Phil
Element Tuning
was the engine internals all stock also?
04-24-2004, 02:05 AM
#14
VERY NICE! Congrats!
im wondering if world one had a full night to tune and swap out brakes.. why didn't you guys install sway bars or any other suspension mods to improve your ride for the track day?
or was the class limited by those parts not to be installed?
im wondering if world one had a full night to tune and swap out brakes.. why didn't you guys install sway bars or any other suspension mods to improve your ride for the track day?
or was the class limited by those parts not to be installed?