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In the latest edition of the Driven Media series exploring how to make a trackday weapon on the cheap, it’s finally time for the Subaru Impreza WRX Wagon slimming regime.
The natural enemy of performance, weight is a snowball of deteriorating performance characteristics. A heavier car means you need bigger brakes, heavier components and a bigger engine, all of which add more weight and only make the problem worse and worse.
So, of course, the tuner’s first attempt in the backyard should be to reduce the weight of their trackday car. According to the team at Driven Media, there are three ways to do that. First, you can spend a lot of money on carbon fiber components and exotic lightweight materials. Alternatively, you can spend a reasonable amount on less exotic materials.
Also read: How much lap time can semi-slicks offer an unfolded Subaru?
However, the option they choose is the free option, where the car is simply stripped of any comfort. And they get to work, ending up with a car that is impressively bare.
The results are impressive. Starting at a curb weight of 1,430kg (3,154lbs), by removing all seats (except the driver’s), the carpets, headliner and just about every soft material, the team manages to get the 135kg (297lb) car. After his efforts, the car ends up weighing 1,295 kg (2,854 lbs).
As their tame driver Scott Mansell points out, Formula 1 teams suggest that every 10 kg (22 lbs) saved is worth about 0.3 seconds per lap, so by that logic these upgrades should be worth about four seconds per lap.
Unfortunately, the test is ruined by the fact that it started to rain before the team could do its second lap in the floodlit car. However, the quality of this Impreza WRX as a track car is proven by the laps that Mansell drives in the rain.
Aided by its four-wheel drive and Mansell’s skill, the car manages to pass a Porsche 911 GT3 RS, a Ferrari 488 Pista and a Radical track car. He admits it’s hard to be sure how much the diet has improved the car given the circumstances, but it’s even harder to argue with the joy Mansell seems to feel from behind the wheel.
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