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After Tulsa was hit three times with major ice storms last year, I decided to be prepared this year!

I picked up a set of Blizzak REVO 1 snow and ice tires for the Subaru. The way I look at it, if I get to have fun with them only once this winter they will be worth it. But summer tires are not recommended for use under 45 degrees and it gets pretty cold here in the winter even when the roads are dry. And since our location in the jet stream usually gives us freezing rain and ice instead of snow, I wanted to be prepared.

I’m sure I’ll get some chuckles when I mount them up, but they were easily $40 a tire less than all seasons — and all seasons just didn’t make sense on my STI.

My 2007 Subaru STI has been a love/hate affair since I got it. The car is awesome, all-wheel drive, loads of power and well, let’s face it, it’s got flair on all four corners. But the new ’07 emission standards really put a damper on high-performance turbo cars. In fact, Mitsubishi chose to save face and not even release an ’07 Evo because of the strict emission laws. Subaru went ahead with the ’07 STI, and customers like me ended up with a gimped version of the STI compared to the previous model years.

Subaru is aware of the problem. They even issued a “fix” for the serious hesitation and drivability issues. But that fix didn’t help most of us, in fact, we don’t believe it helped anyone that has driven a prior year STI. I wasn’t really bothered by the issue too much at the start because it was winter and I wasn’t hammering the car until the sun started shining for more than a few hours a day. But once spring arrived, I knew something was wrong.

I immediately started visiting Enginuity to understand the tools used to monitor and tune the factory map for better performance. Once I had read endless posts by experts in the field, I realized I had no clue. Sure, I could log data and see the obvious problems that were being talked about on the forums, but I’m a complete idiot when it comes to forced-induction tuning. Cars just don’t have carburetor jets and fuel trim screws anymore (could it be all ball bearings?).

Fortunately, an active member on NASIOC with the moniker “Gabedude” seemed to have a plan. He was an active tuner with his previous car, an 06 WRX. After that car met the end, he picked up an 07 STI. He’s a regular on Enginuity as well, so I had read a lot of his posts. Gabedude, along with some of the very helpful people at Enginuity, had put in a lot of work to figure out the new ’07 ECU. And it was not all good news. The ROM was very different from previous years, so different in fact that it was a huge effort to map out all the new tables and functions that Subaru added to handle the new emission standards.

I spent a lot of time this spring with IDA Pro taking apart the ROM. Once I found a few entry points, the disassembly started pouring out. The amount of code and data was overwhelming and having not been active in assembly for over a decade I was longing to get back into something more comfortable. So I gave up and let time pass.

Gabedude has managed to release several early ROMs for the ’07 STI. The first efforts were minors changes to improve drivability and establish a solid base with which to tune. Those efforts were not very successful, but they helped a lot in understanding. After a huge amount of research (how much I cannot imagine) and several beta versions, a gold version of the new ROM is likely going to be released sometime this week. I’m currently running a revision of the beta and the difference compared to stock is amazing. Power is smooth, fast and strong. None of the jerkiness, hesitation, or stuttering of the stock map. In short, I absolutely love my STI now.

Check out the thread on OSECUROMS (hosted by XPT Tuning) and if you have an ’07 STI, grab a copy of the ROM and go for it once the gold version is released. The difference is amazing. If you like the results, Gabedude suggests a donation to the Enginuity project to keep things moving.

Well, I don’t have any pictures yet, but I spent the day at the fairgrounds in Tulsa participating in the first of a two-day autocross event. Today started off cloudy and wet, not a good sign for an asphalt course. Those of us in the AWD cars (Subarus mostly) were stoked as this is our domain. Of course, the sun eventually came out and dried up the landy-landy and all was level once again. There was a ton of dirt and dust on the course though, so the first heat was basically sweeping the track clean for round two.

The fast time of the day (raw) had to be Sean Grubb. I think he clicked off a 56.7xx in his little Miata go fast car. That CS monster seems to just jam without missing a beat. It helps that the guy can drive like nobody’s business. Even the EM cars couldn’t touch that time. I may have missed a quicker time, but I’m pretty sure he was the hot shoe again today. The results will likely come out next week, so we’ll see how that turns out.

Ryan also drives an STI, and he managed to swing a 58.xxx if I recall. He was flying, much faster than me. My best time was in the 62.xxx neighborhood, not exactly sure of the tenths. I tried to get faster, but I’m just not as good as some of these guys out there driving like they were part of the car itself. I had fun, I got to flog the car a bit, and I don’t think I hit a cone all day so that’s always a bonus. Maybe I just wasn’t trying hard enough.

In the end, good times and I hope to make another event this year. Tomorrow is another day of the same event, I believe they are going to run the course backwards — that should be interesting! If you want to have some good times in your car in a safe, learning environment, check out the details on Green Country Motorsports and come out and have a good time.

I went to an autocross this past Sunday by the NeOkla Region SCCA. It was a lot of fun and I did pretty decent for my first time out. A picture of me driving, along with a link to the entire album:

In considering the design for an audio system in the STI, I’ve come across of a couple of pretty slick items. Space is obviously a concern, since having a trunk means learning to use the trunk. Fiberglass is obviously a nice choice considering the reduced weight compared to wood. Audio Integrations makes a couple of really slick items for the car:

A 12″ Subwoofer Enclosure and an Amplifier Rack, both designed specifically for the car.

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I’ve added a few new links to the site, mostly those geared towards the Subaru WRX. I recently purchased a new 2007 Subaru WRX STI in World Rally Blue with the gold BBS wheels. It’s a blast to drive. I got it the day before the big ice storm hit Tulsa, so it’s been easy going on the roads with very little throttle. I can’t wait until the weather clears so I can open it up.

I’ve wanted a WRX since they were introduced in 2001. However, the road has been a patient one. My first test drive left me less than impressed, with a lackluster interior, poor braking and some hit-or-miss options. Since I already had a nice Toyota MR2 Spyder Convertible, I wasn’t really ready to take the hit on a new car so soon after getting the Spyder. So I waited.

Then I heard that the STI was coming to the US and got real excited. However, the first iteration with no stereo and limited options seemed to not fit what I wanted. Plus the body was the same as the WRX, which was a tad narrow here and there and wasn’t yet refined. So again, I waited.

Fast forward to present day. The 2007 model is the minor redesign and had a lot more options (including some really large wings), better seat comfort, automatic climate control, a decent stereo, and the right things added/removed to make it appealing. The power is a solid 294 HP (new S.A.E. method, which is over 300 in the old system), same all-wheel drive with RE070 summer tires, water spray for the intercooler (it’s 27 degrees outside, I have yet to use it), and a sweet dashboard.

I was sold after sitting inside. The drive was purely icing at that point. So far it’s been easy driving around our ice covered roads, but caution is always at the front of my mind. Imagine my shock when the insurance was less than my MR2 Spyder. So it took nearly six years, but I finally joined the Subaru family with a solid member of the Impreza family.