Subaru WRX STi - Four Days Of Stimulation

11:30 AMMy first run was more of a shakedown. I ended up with an 86.31 which is about mid pack. The best time posted was from a C6 Vette, which laid down a 79.44.

11:44 AMDuring my second lap I decided to push the car harder and I didn't realize at first that the car wanted to push out of the turns. The understeer was not as bad as the 2002 WRX, but it was a problem when I tried going fast. I crossed the traps at an 84.12, knocking 2.19 seconds off my time.

11:58 AMOn my final qualifying lap I decided to play with the DCCD again. Seeing how the car wanted to understeer, I figured dialing most of the power to the rear would solve the problem.

11:59 AMBingo! That fixed a lot of what was going on. Not only was I able to pull the car out of the turns faster, the entry speed felt much better. I crossed the traps at an 81.11.

12:00 PMI found out that the track is shut down for lunch and my next time to run would be at 3:30 PM. Screw that! Carlsbad Raceway is about a 30-minute drive from Qualcomm and the track opens at 12:00 PM. I'm going back to drag racing!

12:24 PMStop at Taco Bell for lunch.

1:13 PMI entered Carlsbad Raceway and pulled right up into the staging lanes. As I'm filling out the tech sheet and getting my car number, I'm waved in to line up. I hadn't even shut off the car since my last qualifying run at the autocross, but the car does come with an intercooler spray bar so I figured I was OK.

1:14 PM My first victim was a Ford Mustang. .573 light 13.31 at 101.5mph. When comparing my time slips from the night before it seems everything is better today. Qualcomm 1.846 60-foot to a 1.840, 8.502 e.t. to a 8.496 and 80.36 to an 81.02.

1:23 PM The track was pretty dead so I got a few more back-to-back runs in. Next run was up against a WRX.

1:24 PMI win again! 13.43 at 99.87 to a 14.02 at 97.30