JC Meynet is quite a character. He’s sort of the Rodney Dangerfield of the time attack world. He’s a quick-witted old fart who enjoys a good laugh as much as a flying hot lap, and perhaps it’s because of his light-hearted approach to racing that he sometimes doesn’t get the respect he deserves. But we suspect that’s just fine by JC, a privateer who seems to relish the underdog role, not to mention the smack talk that comes with the long list of class wins and track records he set along the way. Not that his meticulously prepared GD Impreza STI is somehow less well developed than any of the big-name shop cars in the competition (though it’s built to Modified/Limited class specifications for the various time attack series he competes in, so it’s not an Unlimited build). In fact, JC and his sponsors (most notably AQ Motorsports) have worked tirelessly at turning what was once a grocery-getting STI into one of the fastest Subies on the planet. JC’s also one of those crafty types who likes to look for an edge wherever he can find it. In the case of the Shootout, he learned a lot about what it takes to win the big trophy while competing in AQ Motorsports’ widebody Honda S2000. “We competed in the Shootout last year, so we’re familiar with the antics that make up this circus — umm, I mean competition,” JC says. “Truthfully, we consider the Tuner Shootout to be one of the two most significant events of the year (the other being the Super Lap Battle finals).”
JC and his crew also managed to find an edge on the dyno, where they posted an astounding 692.4 whp and a stump-pulling 727.3 ft-lbs of torque at all four wheels, resulting in a power-under-the-curve score of 21,661. According to JC, “As always, we had a little trick up our sleeves, this time in the form of our switch to E85. This fuel is completely legal with all sanctioning bodies we race with and allows us to crank up the timing, boost and compression thanks to its cooling qualities. To make a long story, well, a little longer, we were able to crank out 750 whp and over 700 wtq on Church’s Tuning dyno [at sea level in Long Beach, CA, in cooler conditions] and still made almost 700 whp in the 95-degree heat and slightly higher elevation at UMS Tuning. As far as we know, this is the highest horsepower ever recorded by a Subaru and the third highest power level recorded in the history of the Shootout.”
Having finished second on the dyno, our traveling circus headed from UMS Tuning over to Firebird’s NHRA dragstrip. JC and his STI continued to run strong, posting a 10.94 at 130 mph. That’s F&F fast, and it was also good for second place in the event, just 7/100th of a second off the winning time. “This was the first time this car’s ever been down a dragstrip and only the second time I’ve driven on one,” JC says. “With our car still sporting the original and unmodified transmission and rear differential, we were reluctant to throw the dice and perform a proper drag race launch, choosing instead to utilize a conservative yet sporty street-style takeoff. Our cautious approach paid off with a respectable e.t., despite a loose chargepipe hose clamp that robbed us of some power.” With an aggressive launch and no boost leak, JC thinks a low 10-second or even a high 9-second run might have been possible, but we’ll have to wait until next year for that.