project blackbird

[stoke]

Hello.

My name is Bill, and I've been the proud owner of this 2001 2.5RS coupe for the past five years.



I've been an RS25 member since I first bought the car in August 2004, but I held off on starting a thread about my car until it had truly evolved to a level where I could be proud to show it off. After a year and a half of periodic work, including a long-awaited engine swap, I've finally got the project moving in the right direction.

[stoke]

HISTORY:

My first car was a black 1996 Honda Civic that I bought when I was 16. The car was a total dog, but it was fun to drive and easy to modify and maintain. I added some 15" wheels with stickier tires, an AEM intake and an APEX'i World Sport exhaust. The end result was inexpensive and fun, but not really the most capable car. After a year of driving it in college, I decided front-wheel-drive and no torque just wasn't going to cut it in a very hilly, snowy town. I needed more torque and all-wheel-drive.

With money limited, I narrowed it down to a 2.5RS coupe or a first-gen Eclipse GSX. A girl who lived near my parents' house had a 2000 BRP automatic that I really liked, and my father had owned Subarus since 1988, so the choice of the RS was pretty easy. It took me over a year to find one, because I wanted a black 5-speed coupe from 2000 or 2001 and the price had to be decent. I ended up finding my car on eBayMotors, being sold by a Chrysler dealership in New Hampshire. I spoke with the seller, took the Buy it Now option and drove to NH with my parents to pick it up.



Immediately, there were problems. The car threw a CEL on the way home and there was a noticeable grind in third gear--neither of which the dealership was willing to compensate me for. I was unable to pressure them into changing their position, despite the fact that the listing had called it a zero-issues car. I then took the car to a well-known local transmission shop to have the grind fixed, which resulted in a $1200 bill and third gear continuing to grind. I eventually bought a used gearbox on NASIOC and had it installed, which is the reason I'm now running an EJ205 on a 150k mile RS transmission. When something finally shatters, there will be a fresh set of RA gears in the 5MT case. The car also took a new knock sensor and a new oxygen sensor to clean up the CELs. That fall I took it to its first autocross, too.



With the majority of the issues finally worked out after a year or so, I added a WRX 6-disc changer and a set of 15" Legacy wheels with Nokians for the winter. A Cobb intake went on, but I didn't care for the sound and minimal power gains, so I sold it. For the next two years it was a reliable and incredibly capable daily driver. It got me up the hill to campus for morning practice during the winter, took me back and forth to summer jobs every day and kept me happy doing it. Despite a plethora of door dings and a scraped rear quarter (thanks, college parking lots), I absolutely loved it.



After graduating, I elected to move to Boston to go to grad school. This was a dark hour. Without the cash to store my car in a major city for a year, I had to let the RS languish in my grandmother's garage. It was driven once a month by my parents, but I didn't drive it for more than a couple days at a time for a full twelve months. However, while I finished my graduate degree in London over the summer of 2007, I was able to visit Prodrive's headquarters and do a track day at their test facility in the English midlands. I also managed to accumulate some rare and interesting parts while I was in the UK, including a P1 gauge cluster and a super baller Prodrive keychain.



When I got back from the UK and landed a decent job (this is pre-economic meltdown), I was finally able to mod the revived RS. Lots of ideas had festered in my head during the lean years of no mods and little use. I bought a Prodrive WRS suspension kit from a member here on RS25 and replaced the stock struts with it, complementing a 20mm WRX sedan RSB and Whiteline front and rear endlinks I'd installed earlier. As my rear wheel bearings were roaring at the time, I replaced them and upgraded the brakes to 4/2 pots all around (DIY thread here) in the process. I added a set of STi 5-spoke goldies as well, completing the suspension, wheel, tire and brake upgrades in one fell swoop. Current brake pad choice is Hawk HPS and tires are 215/45-17 Falken Azenis RT-615's. A big shoutout to my buddy spec.G for the wheels and the use of his garage and expertise during the suspension/brake install. Additional thanks to Carlos at the shop in NJ for the wheel bearing job and for cutting out my rear lateral link bolt.



A few months after the suspension work was finished, I was relocated to a new position in Chicago's northwest suburbs. This job required a lot more travel, so I didn't have much time to work on the car. During this time I saved up some cash and made plans, while getting to know Dylan at DS1 Motorsports here in the Chicago area (and asking lots of asinine questions). I bought a completely ridiculous daily driver (thread here) and finally settled on an EJ205 as my engine of choice. I selected this motor for a few reasons: a) low cost and easy availability, b) cable throttle for easier install and better response, c) the GC chassis was designed for a 2.0L turbo, and d) smoggability.



I sent my harnesses to ECS for merging, and after a lot of miscommunication and phone tag between myself and them, got it back after I had already completed most of the mechanical portions of the swap. It was surprisingly easy, despite my total n00b mistakes here and there. I almost botched the whole thing by splicing the wrong wire for the fuel pump ground! Fortunately I didn't leave out any major bolts, and despite my swap kit coming with a bent crossmember and a badly blown turbo (thanks again, G) I was able to get it all bolted up, wired up and fired up after about six months of laboring evenings and weekends when not traveling for work.



As it sits right now, the car is fully reassembled and back on the road. It's a blast to drive, although the clutch is still bedding in and it hasn't yet been tuned. When it is, the mechanical portion of my five-year learning project will be mostly complete. Body mods, paint and interior will be next on the agenda, along with learning to actually drive the thing in anger. I hope to bring it out to this fall's Subaru Challenge in Lafayette as its first event in about four years!


I want to thank all the members of RS25 for keeping me excited and inspired about this project of mine, and for providing help and expertise for my questions. I hope I can provide the same assistance to those who are looking for it.

[stoke]

MOD LIST:

Car - 2001 Subaru Impreza 2.5RS Coupe - Black Mica

Engine-

- EJ205 Engine Swap (2004 WRX)
- ECS Merged Harness
- JDM GC8 Crossmember
- 2006 WRX Clutch
- Exedy Street Flywheel
- STi Group N Engine Mounts
- Prodrive Intercooler Y-Pipe
- Prodrive Flex Uppipe
- Prodrive Catted Downpipe (Swain Tech Coated)
- Prodrive Oval Tip Axleback
- WRX Resonated Midpipe

Transmission-

- STi 5MT Short Throw Shifter
- STi Group N Pitch Stop Mount
- STi Group N 5MT Mount
- 2006 WRX OEM Exedy Clutch
- STi 11/16ths Clutch Master Cylinder

Suspension/Brakes-

- Prodrive WRS Suspension Kit (P1 red springs/Bilstein monotube struts)
- Cusco Type OS Aluminum Front Strut Tower Bar
- Cusco Type 40 Aluminum Rear Strut Tower Bar
- 20mm WRX Sedan Rear Anti-Roll Bar
- 19mm WRX Wagon Front Anti-Roll Bar
- Whiteline Front Endlinks
- Whiteline Rear Endlinks
- Whiteline Steering Rack Bushings
- 2006 WRX 4-pot Front Brakes
- 2006 WRX 2-pot Rear Brakes (w/ 2006 backing plates)
- Hawk HPS Brake Pads
- JDM Rays STi 5-Spoke Wheels (17x7" ET48) - autocross
- Falken Azenis RT-615 tires (215/45-17) - autocross
- Prodrive GC-010E Wheels (17x7.5" ET48) - street
- Summer tires TBD - (225/45-17) - street
- RS 6-Spoke Wheels (16x7" ET53) - winter
- Dunlop Wintersport 3D tires -(205/55-16) - winter

Interior-

- Prodrive P1 Gauge Cluster (160mph speedo, 8k redline)
- WRX Factory Gauge Set (Boost, Oil Temp, Volts)
- WRX 6-disc CD Changer
- WRX Pedal Kit
- GC Factory Gauge Pod
- Prodrive Shift Knob
- Prodrive Floor Mats

Exterior-

- JDM Taillights
- JDM STi V6 Grille
- JDM Clear Corner Lamps
- JDM Clear Sidemarkers
- Lower Bumper Vents painted flat black
- Osram Silverstar bulbs (headlamps and fogs)

[stoke]

PLANS:

The point of this project is simply to build the car we should have had here in the U.S. but weren't able to buy. Two of my favorite cars ever built are the iconic P1 and the JDM Ver. 5 STi Type R coupe. Both of these cars were real-world fast. Not track toys or trailer queens, and certainly not finicky supercars that couldn't handle rain. They were some of the fastest point-to-point cars on the planet over real-world roads. Because they were based on an economy car, they were efficient, comfortable and utilitarian, but had an evil alter ego and the guts to back up their aggressive looks.

I call the car "Blackbird" after two of my favorite machines of all time - the SR-71 Blackbird spyplane (originally called the RS-71, interestingly)...



and the Honda CBR1100XX Super Blackbird superbike.



Both were the fastest in the world for a long period of time, and were beautiful in an utterly functional way. I want my Impreza to be a machine that marries function and form in just such a way. Plus, it's black.

At present, I'm due for a tune (or a Prodrive PPP3 ECU, if I could ever find one). My power goal is about 280 at the crank, which shouldn't be difficult for a good tuner. I'm planning to go with Mat from 555 Motorsports here in Chicago. Following that will be an interior upgrade in the form of WRX Ver. 4 seats and matching fabric for the door cards. Then comes exterior stuff-- I have a few rare and unusual parts for this one, so I'll hold off on mentioning what they are until they're painted and ready for mounting. I also intend to rethink my wheel and tire choice. (If anyone's selling 17x7.5 Prodrive GC-06H's in British Black ET48, I'm interested...)

Once I'm happy with the status of the car, I plan to learn how to drive it fast. I'm sure at that point I'll become impatient for more power and better grip, so a bigger turbo and some Bilstein PSS9's or something similar will be in the works. I can see this becoming a more focused track car sometime in the future, with at least a partially stripped and caged interior. We'll see.

[stoke]

8/22/09 - Took her out for her first post-swap event today. Subaru Challenge at Subaru of Indiana Automotive in Lafayette, IN.


Wait for it... wait for it...



OMFG GOOOOOO!


See, I told you it was a spyplane. It needs a landing strip.



It was the first event I'd done in over four years, so I wasn't expecting much. I was pretty happy with the result, though. I finished 25th out of 30 in Street Mod, which is full of modded STi's. Not bad for an untuned EJ205 swap, no coilovers, 215's, street brake pads and no experience!

[stoke]

reserved for updates.

[Unkept]

So when are you going to post up that detailed DIY swap guide?

Awesome car! I can't wait to have some 4/2 pots as well.

I just used that Subaru USB Sleep thing they gave us for the tour.... it the coolest lazy button I've ever owned!

[stoke]

Originally Posted by Unkept

So when are you going to post up that detailed DIY swap guide?

Awesome car! I can't wait to have some 4/2 pots as well.

I just used that Subaru USB Sleep thing they gave us for the tour.... it the coolest lazy button I've ever owned!

As soon as I can go through all my pictures and figure out the order I did everything! Great to see you at the plant tour again this year, glad you could make it out.

Thanks also for the comment on the car. Just added some pics from the Subaru Challenge today. This thing is a lot more fun to drive in anger with an EJ205 whirring away under the hood.

[Magoozle]

I'm curious as to what exterior parts you have sitting around. I can never have enough rare parts, to break.

Thanks for the 4/2 pot write up, helped me a lot when I finally got around to piecing mine together.

[stoke]

Originally Posted by Magoozle

I'm curious as to what exterior parts you have sitting around. I can never have enough rare parts, to break.

Thanks for the 4/2 pot write up, helped me a lot when I finally got around to piecing mine together.

No problem, glad my thread could help. As for the exterior stuff, they're a few pieces I brought back from the UK a few years ago and haven't seen fit to paint/mount yet. The timing depends on whether I have to drive the car through the winter or maybe get another car.