Noble Star Rally
#853
1998 Subaru Impreza 2.5RS Coupe
Original color: Gloss BlackRacing Sanction: Rally America (stage rally) & Detroit Region SCCA (rally-x & TSD)



Welcome to my rally car thread. A build that seems to be never ending There is always room for improvements, and well... if the car is not happy... neither is the driver! We are a MI based grassroots rally team. I have been fortunate enough to be blessed with awesome crew who are each skilled in various aspects. The car was built with money I saved up over the years, financial and part donations from various individuals and at the hands of myself and my team. It is definitely a "budget" rally car, and if there is any advice I can give or any questions you may have feel free to ask!



Noble Star Rally Team:
Driver: Amanda "RalyGrl" Skelly
Co-Driver: Derrick Rudisel
Manager: Kayla Fryatt
Crew Chief: Dan Fryatt
Crew:
Ben Vallerand
Matt Peterson
Joshua Pembleton
Travis Rudd
Photographer:
Derrick Rudisel/Eric Delaney/Kayla Fryatt
Marketing/Design:
Derrick Rudisel - Ainove Inc.
(Special thanks to Jacob Bryant, Derek Vandenbroek, Ronnie Allor, Jeff Reamer & Matthew Maciejewski for all of their time, dedication and help during the original rally car build and for crewing at various events in 2012!)


BUILD TIMELINE
August 2011: Gut car and prep for cage
September 2011: Cage install. Body work, paint and graphics

October 2011 thru January 2012: Finish complete build (suspension, brakes, engine install, wiring, light bar, clear engine bay of things such as A/C & ABS, safety equipment etc etc... to be updated over time)

January 2012: Debut at Sno*Drift
April 2012: Attended Magnum Opus Rally in MI. The engine spun a bearing.

April thru May 2012: Engine pulled and New engine installed.

June 2012: Attended STPR. Finished the rough stages of day 1. On SS6, first stage of day 2, the new engine blew up... Valve snapped and shot through the piston. Re-evaluating engines and sponsors.

August thru September 2012: 2.2L purchased, ECU/Harnesses purchased. Rerouting the wiring, installing the new engine, breaking in. Updating safety - reorganizing. Installing yellow window tint. Redoing underglows. Installing roof scoop. Painting steelies. Reorganizing sponsor decals. Applying for financial assistance to attend Olympus 2012 in honor of Matthew Marker.
September 2012- car will be involved in the Guinness World Record Attempt in honor of our former SubaRoots teammate Matthew Marker on September 16th. We will be traveling 2400+ miles to WA state to compete in the Olympus Rally in honor of Matthew September 22-23.

THE RALLY CAR!
CAGE:
Installed and fabricated by Thompson Racing Fabrication.


ENGINE & TRANSMISSION:
Transmission: 4:11 Forester transmission replaced the blown motor and disturbed 5 speed originally used in the rally car. Donated by 31 Motorsports.


Engine #1: A 2.5L mysterious engine, which had a spun bearing from the beginning (see previous press releases for the teams rally experiences!). The original ECU was removed and replaced with that of a 200 Forester. Matching wiring harness was merged with the rally car's original harness.


Engine #2: a naturally aspirated 2.5L DOHC engine from a 1996 legacy wagon mated with their 2.5L SOHC Impreza heads. What we think may have been caused by a part failure... the new engine blew with less than 1,000 miles on it... Valve shot through the piston, causing catastrophioc failures. Many various factors to consider in regards to the damages: too high compression, ping, heads shaved too much, part failure etc... POR!


Engine #3: 3rd time is a charm...?? We have decided to convert the rally car into a 2.2RS for reliability. I have purchase a 2.2L (phase 1 unfortunately) engine with a 6 month warranty - GREATLY needed with my luck lol! I have also purchased a wiring harness and ECU from a 97OBS that will be adapted to merge with the 2.5L chassis.

SUSPENSION:
Suspension from a 2002 WRX was mated to the 98’s original suspension.



BRAKES:
Hawk HPS Pads
Centric Rotors
Stock Calipers painted blue


TIRES:
Hankook Gravels (used) Hoping to purchase Pirelli or DMacks in the future

EXHAUST:
2 ½ inch stainless steel exhaust and high flow catalytic converter serves as the muffler. Crew chief inserted 2 baffles to help with air flow as we were not getting enough back pressure.


EXTRA FUN!
Awesome green and blue mud flaps from IKEA cutting boards. DIY
Primitive Rally roof scoop
Humming bird welded to dash


INTERIOR:
Drivers Seat: OMP TRS
Co-Drivers Seat: Sparco Sprint 5
Harnesses: G-Force
Customized hydraulic handbrake
Yellow window tint (in remembrance of Matt Marker)
(lots of fun customization coming to be revealed in 2013!)

PAINT/BODY WORK:
Paint and graphics were done by crew member Matt Peterson. (design originated from Amanda's ideas and drawn and brought to life by Matt).





2012 SPONSORS:
Ainove Inc.
Ken’s Body Shop
31 Motorsports
SafeDrives.com
SubaRoots Rally Racing
Japanese-Creations.com
TIM (Team Illuminata Motorsports)
TRF (Thompson Racing Fabrication)
Discoveryparts.com
Impression Center

My crew and I have poured our own blood, sweat and tears into the rally car, and in just 3 ½ months, the car and our team debuted at Sno Drift 2012. Was such a HUGE accomplishment for us all! Passing tech the first time was something I will never forget!