The PB Subaru Impreza GDA WRX is still very much a road car, so the focus of this session of testing was to see how well the car would fair running a street coilover setup. Not to mention it is always good fun to blast around the track for a few hours!

 

 

We ran our standard street coilover kit, with pillowball mounts, and comfortable F8kg / R5kg springs. We didn't run any camber, set the height at the factory Impreza GD settings, and the only think we altered was the damping force. We went for 27 clicks on the front, and 22 clicks on the rear, which gave us a nice balance.

 

 

In regards to the brakes, we ran a front 330x32mm medium 6-pot, and rear 330x28mm 4-pot combination. Standard fixed rotors (rather than floating), and our 700 degree PB race pads, which performed marvelously by the way. After a 10 lap stint at full pace, we experienced no brake fade whatsoever.

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stEoGtxcjyc

 

Please click on the link above to see a short video of one of our laps. As you can see from the video we were gaining ground on the 911 until our fun was spoiled by the GTR! Of course due to the fact we only have 280whp at the moment, the 911 pulled away on the straights. But we were able to brake much later into the corners, without any drama or nose-diving. Then ease into the turn smoothly and maintain a much higher speed going around the bends with nice tight lines.

 

Yes, some may argue that is down to the Impreza's 4WD system, but it's worth mentioning that we were only running Bridgestone Potenza 215/45R17 91W road tyres, nothing special and definitely not suitable for the track. Taking that into account, I think the PB brakes and coilovers did an excellent job in a race environment.

 

 

It just goes to show that you only need to spend GBP2500 to achieve GT car braking and handling. And the best part was that after we were done at the track, we turned down the damping, switched the pads back to street, and had a nice comfortable cruise home. What more could you ask for?