Weapon of Choice
Last year, APR brought out an Evo VIII so wicked they actually named it EVIL-R. Running on 275/35R18 Bridgestones under a wide-body kit, it had the blocky profile of a postage stamp and subtlety of a rabid porcupine on the seventh day of a meth-and-tequila binge. The car was impressive, but it didn't win. So APR returns this year wielding a new sword, honed and refined with lessons learned.
APR's new weapon of choice is a 2005 Subaru WRX STI that has sucked up virtually every piece in the company's catalog while not quite reaching the ragged and zany performance hinterlands. And the tires are even wider.
Yes, this car has been updated with the 2006 horseshoe-grille nose, but the most apparent change is the truly massive wide-body kit. Built by APR Performance itself, the SS/GT kit increases the WRX's overall width an impressive 3.15 inches and allows the fitting of 18-inch wheels up to 11 inches wide. In this case, a set of Racing Hart forged SP-S10s inside P285/30ZR18 Michelin Pilot Sport Cup radials.
That much grip at the corners won't churn with a stock engine, so the 2.5-liter, flat-four turbo motor has been engorged and fortified with a thick dose of HKS nutritional supplements. Ingestion starts with an HKS Mega Flow intake feeding an HKS GT30 turbo, pressurizing an HKS downpipe, and streaming into an HKS front-mount intercooler. There's an HKS Super Sequential blowoff valve aboard to avoid catastrophe, an HKS Electronic Valve Controller (EVC) to optimize boost delivery, and an HKS Carbon-Titanium exhaust system. Fuel arrives courtesy of a Walbro pump.
To ensure those thick tires present their best face to the pavement, the suspension has been reconfigured around adjustable camber plates, custom-valved TEIN EDFC-equipped coilover shocks, Hotchkis hollow anti-roll bars (25.4mm front and rear, with the aft bar being three-way adjustable), and Hotchkis adjustable front and rear suspension links. Project Mu four-piston calipers clamp down on meaty 345mm front rotors, while Brembo two-piston calipers look after the back.
The exterior's wide fenders, Seibon carbon fiber hood and blood-red BASF paint all make a radical statement. And the interior is nearly as overwhelming. There are so many Auto Meter gauges aboard, the car almost sags under their weight. An Autopower four-point bolt-in roll cage is in there too. Recaro SPG racing shells hold in the driver and navigator. There's also a Momo steering wheel and a Razo knob sitting atop the B&M short shifter.
Though it's wide and red like EVIL-R, this Subie doesn't have the same menace. But that doesn't mean that it can't be just as wicked.
Editor's Note: All-wheel-drive cars never have a problem competing here. This one has a ton of rubber, but not much power. It might be the ticket for the road course, but may mean murder on the drag strip.
By James Tate
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