Cobb's WRX rolled up to our little gathering of all-wheel-drive goodness with the subtlety of Andrew Dice Clay at an Indian Princess bake sale. Its fender-flared, turbocharged, over-tired, stalky machine nearly knocked us down with overstated purposefulness. It was cool. Cool in a way that only ultra-specific specialty cars can be.
Better yet, it packed the goods to achieve the above-stated goals. Beginning with the grip part of the equation, Cobb installed custom-built 18x10-inch Kodiak wheels. Did you get all that? That's 10 inches. Wide. On a Subaru.
Not so subtle.
Around those ridiculously oversized wheels, Cobb wrapped 285/35ZR-18 Kumho Victoracer tires. That's 285s. On a Subaru.
Also not so subtle.
Making all this sticky rubber fit into a Subaru-shaped, SCCA-approved package took some ingenuity. That ingenuity, in this case, took the form of gigantic fender flares, which Cobb had shaped to fit gracefully into the stock WRX body. The result is intimidating. A bit awkward, maybe. But intimidating nonetheless.
Maintaining some measure of control over the wheel and tire package are Koni double adjustable coil-overs, Eibach ERS racing springs and Cusco anti-roll bars at both ends. The rear bar is adjustable. Bringing the package together are Cusco camber plates, a few secret parts and endless hours of valving, spring and alignment tuning.
Under the hood, the car was fitted with a built and turbocharged EJ25 from the WRX's little brother, the 2.5RS. Combining the naturally potent torque of the larger engine with an APS SR50 turbo helps eliminate the all-wheel-drive bog.
The EJ25 went together with forged 9.0:1 pistons and billet rods. Its heads were also ported and polished and fitted with Cobb high-lift cams, valve springs and titanium retainers. The factory ECU was reprogrammed to drive larger injectors and the whole mess was tuned in-house on Cobb's all-wheel-drive dyno.
Bringing things to a halt are four-piston AP Racing calipers and 13-inch rotors in front. The stock caliper/rotor combination was retained in the rear. Cobb pads, stainless-steel brake lines and Silkolene fluid were also used.
In all, a brilliant package. Just watch out for those water trucks.
EVO VII Group N Rally CarCompromise is the only way to describe what SCCA regulations do to otherwise serious performance cars in Group N rallying. The Group N rules, which exist to control costs and create close competition in this international class, have a second effect as well-they make the cars slow. OK, not exactly slow, but certainly off the pace in this crowd.
Don't get us wrong. Wolfgang Hoeck's EVO VII rally car might only run a low 14-second quarter mile, but the dragstrip isn't exactly its stomping ground now is it? We're sure it's still more machine than most people can handle on the narrow, twisty gravel roads of rallying. Proving that point is its finish at last year's Pikes Peak International Hillclimb where, in Hoeck's skilled hands, it won the Group N class.
Still, it remains relatively stock. In fact, under the hood, the only change is the addition of the Group N-mandated 32mm turbo inlet restrictor. This small piece of aluminum is almost solely responsible for the car's diminished acceleration times.
Proflex coil-overs allow the EVO to take the pounding rallying dishes out and an upgraded clutch beefs up the drivetrain. Other than these few changes, the safety equipment and a roll cage, this car is the same EVO VII you could buy off a lot in Japan or Europe. Even the active differentials remain. However, handling problems we experienced in this test make us wonder if they were operating properly at the time.
Hoeck used BFGoodrich g-Force Drag Radials sized 225/45-17 for this test, as they're the same tire he and Rhys Millen used at Pikes Peak.
Motorex R33 Skyline GT-R
For Motorex, it's just another R33. For the rest of us, it's automotive erotica.