The Build
To get the inside scoop on the build of Block's new STI gymkhana machine, our friend Quirt Crawford from Crawford Performance dodged surly female interstate troopers while sharing some details of the car with us on his iPhone.
The build process can best be described as intense, according to Quirt. In fact, the build was so ambitious that Crawford had to shut the shop to the public for almost two months so his entire staff could work on the Gymkhana TWO machine nonstop, logging 16 to 18 hour days to meet the deadline. That wasn't helped by the fact that the project got off to a bit of a slow start. "We were waiting on a full WRC bodykit from Prodrive in the UK and that took the better part of three weeks to arrive and clear customs, and then once we had the kit it was apparent it was going to require major modifications to make it fit." Since the fenders were designed to stretch the wheelbase and raise the fender lip location, the kit was going to require relocating the suspension pick-up points and would make the car look like a rally car, not a tarmac car. After considerable debate with Ken and James Han from Subaru, the decision was made to stick with the stock fenders, with exterior enhancements being limited to the Prodrive wing, CP carbon hood and roof, Syms sideview mirrors and STI carbon-fiber roof scoop and front lip along with the bad-ass graphics package Block designed.
Where the real magic happened was under the hood and the fenders. For starters, CP built one of its bulletproof SR5 2.6-liter stroker engines and equipped it with a JDM STI twin-scroll turbo manifold and a custom turbocharger from Garrett for faster response and a broader powerband. Crawford also retained the OEM heat shield that comes with the JDM STI exhaust manifold, which effectively separates the massive heat buildup from the turbo system from the rest of the engine bay. The power and responsiveness of the Gymkhana TWO STI's engine impressed Crawford so much that he immediately tore the engine out of his time attack STI and swapped in an identical setup to the gymkhana car. Tuned on E85 ethanol fuel and controlled by a MoTeC M800 system, Block had 566 whp and 611 wtq available for tire annihilation. Speaking of which, apparently 13 sets of BFGoodrich KDW tires were shredded during the making of the new video, but no animals were harmed (other than Rob Dyrdek).
Under the fenders, custom-valved Tein Super Racing coilovers can be found, attached to custom CP A-arms, tie-rods and hubs. "The Tein engineers really know what they're doing with gymkhana setups, and they nailed the setup on this car right from the start," according to Quirt. The low-speed valving is softer than on CP's time attack STI, but the high-speed valving is a bit stiffer. With a surprisingly compliant suspension and a very neutral alignment, during its maiden test drive just a week before the video shooting began, Block was ecstatic with how the car handled. Only a few clicks on the adjustable shocks were made before Block was totally satisfied and filming began.
The only major technical glitch that came up with the STI during filming was an electrical problem that Crawford eventually tracked to the cam position sensor, which had lost pin tension when MoTeC was building the complete custom wiring harness for the car. Once he troubleshot this problem, the only challenge that remained was replacing tires, keeping the tank full of E85 and swapping on fresh bumper covers whenever they got beat up a little-like during the Timmy the Dummy stunt.
By David Pratte
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