I have been getting a lot of inquiries about my Type RA and what all I have done to the car. So, I figured it was about time to make a write up to catch everyone up. This write up isn't going to included every little thing I have done but it will be pretty close. I bought the car May 5, 2018 from Marin Subaru from a good friend of mine Alejandro which made getting my hands on the car way easier. Big shout out to him for making sure everything went smooth at the dealership. From there it was a waiting game on support from COBB Tuning to update the software so I could access the ECU and start doing some tuning. Once I had the update to AccessTuner I was off and running on building a custom tune for the car. I was able to smooth out the power band and make sure the car was running safely on the crappy 91 ACN fuel we have here in Cali. The stage 1 tune was completed, but it didn't stay that way for long. I pretty much ripped the top of the engine apart and slapped on a FP Blue Turbo, COBB Flex Fuel, COBB Fuel Rails w/ custom fuel lines with Speedflow fittings, ID1300, Turbosmart FPR2000, AEM 320, and the list goes on. But I ended up with 428/441 at 24psi and it was a lot of fun at the track. But of course I wanted to go a bit more crazier with the build and opted to put a rotated turbo kit on it so more to come on that. Next I turned to SuperPro USA for some awesome suspension goodies and installed a set of Ohlins Road & Track Coilovers. I also swapped out the wheels and tires to better fit the setup I wanted to run for Global Time Attack in Enthusiast AWD. I went with a set of Titan 7 T-R10 in Machine Black wrapped with 255/35ZR-18 Michelin Pilot Sport PS2. Lastly, I installed a PST Carbon Fiber Drive Shaft in the car as well to get rid of more rotational weight. As I stated above I decided to install a rotated turbo kit on the car because who doesn't like a rotated turbo? I reached out to IAG Performance to get my hands on their top secret turbo kit. I will now be running a Garrett GTX3076r Gen II with a Tail V-band .63 to achieve the quickest spool up with regards to this setup. With the bigger turbo going on, I needed to bump up the fuel system to support it. So I swapped out the ID1300's with ID1700's and also installed a Radium Engineering Dual Fuel Pump Hanger with two AEM 340 pumps. For the fuel plumbing I used -6 fitting and -6 line from Speedflow to supply and return the fuel from the tank. To control the fuel pumps in the Radium Hanger I used the iWire Fuel Pump Controller Hardwire Kit. This kit runs the single pump during normal driving using the factory fuel pump controller while the second pump is triggered from a pressure switch based on boost pressure. This fuel system was installed by the magic fingers of Brandon from M45 Automotive. Some of the last parts to go with this kit would be the COBB FMIC and COBB Titanium Catback. Here is the updated dyno graph with the rotated setup I installed on the Type RA. You can also check out our Instagram or Facebook Page to get more up to date info on this build. I also have an Instagram Story Highlights about the Type RA as well. Check out the mod list below with some links to info about the mods. For any questions or inquiries on order the parts we used on this build please email [email protected] Til next time, ~Travis P.S. Yes it's still on the stock engine. MOD LIST: Engine:
COBB Flex Fuel and Fuel Pressure Sensor Kit COBB Titanium Catback COBB Fuel Rails w/ custom fuel lines with Speedflow fittings COBB EBCS CSF Radiator IAG Rotated Turbo Kit IAG Comp AOS IAG Transmission, Engine, & Pitch Mounts Garrett GTX3076R Gen II Turbosmart Raceport, FPR2000, Gen-V WG45 Hypergate45 ID F750 Fuel Filter ID 1700x Radium Engineering Fuel Pump Hanger with Dual AEM 340 iWire Fuel Pump Controller Hardwire Kit for Radium Hangers - Double Pump GrimmSpeed Lightweight Battery Mount Kit Antigravity ATX-12 Tuned by Snail Performance with COBB Tuning Accessport Suspension: Ohlins Road & Track Coilovers 9K Front / 7K Rear SuperPro Front Alloy Control Arm Kit w/ DuroBall Caster Increase SuperPro Front Roll Center Adjustment Kit SuperPro Rear Control Arm Kit SuperPro 26mm Front Adjustable and 24mm Rear Adjustable Sway Bars SuperPro Toe Control Arm Kit - Adjustable Drivetrain: PST Carbon Fiber Driveshaft Wheels & Tires: Titan 7 T-R10 Machine Black 255/35ZR-18 Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 Brakes: GoodRidge G-Stop Stainless Steel Brake Lines Front / Rear Exterior: JDM R1300 Convexed Side Mirrors JDM STI Bumper Canard JDM Rear Fog Light STI RA-R Front Fog Light Covers STI Side Skirts
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![]() Snail Performance was excited to become part of the CSF Racing team earlier this year. With a great history in the racing community, CSF manufacturers products for a wide array of applications which made them a perfect fit for solving our cooling needs. Over the past few events we have been testing their 2008+ Subaru WRX / STI single row radiator and the results have been nothing short of amazing! The first application for testing was the Snail Performance 2009 Subaru WRX SHOWKAR. After a short summer break, a number of changes have been made to this Time Attack Vehicle including a brand new turbo kit and other engine modifications. As any high horsepower Subaru owner will tell you, cooling quickly becomes an issue, especially in race scenarios. Based out of Arizona, we see temperatures on track over 90 degrees early in the year and atmospheres do not cool down until late October. With temperatures this high, we have fought cooling issues all year with water temps quickly rising to 220 degrees plus in no time! It was clear the competitors extra wide triple row unit was not cutting it and was pulled for CSF part number 7028. This unit is a single row core which may lead you to believe the loss of capacity and surface area could never improve cooling issues. Fortunately for us, the team at CSF knows how to manufacture a quality and efficient core that easily beats the competition. With a fresh 550hp on tap, we took our SHOWKAR to both Inde Motorsports Ranch with NASA AZ and Willow Springs Raceway with Shift S3ctor Global Time Attack for recent testing. The results were phenomenal. With nothing more than a simple drop in of the CSF unit, we saw an immediate peak temperate drop of over 30 degrees! Despite our best efforts to heat the car up, coolant temperatures never rose passed 190. Keep in mind, this is all on the CSF single row street application drop in radiator without any ducting or additional cooling modifications all while an intercooler and oil cooler blocked direct airflow to 3/4 of the physical radiator core. As with any company, Snail Performance is adamant on testing the products it recommends and we have no hesitation in recommending the CSF brand for any application. We look forward to continued testing of future CSF Racing specific units at the season finale Super Lap Battle following our participation at the 2013 SEMA show as a CSF feature vehicle.
For questions on pricing and applications please contact us at [email protected] and look for the full line of CSF products on our upcoming online store! ![]() Snail Performance "Snail Racer" shuts down the Kart track at Speed Factory in Roseville. Here are some sneak peek photos from last nights shoot with Shelby Irey and the Snail Performance "Snail Racer" that I took with my phone. Jay Canter from Jay Canter Photography is working hard on all the photos he took last night and we can't wait to see them. Also if you like the shirt's Shelby was wearing check out Rehv Clothing. Linkage: Jay Canter: www.HighRevPhotos.com / www.jaycanter.com Shelby Irey: www.facebook.com/shelbyGT3 Speed Factory: www.speedfactorybyampm.com ![]() Where to begin? Let’s go back to the beginning of May. It was like any other NASA event pre-party. Travis flew in to spend his week on the dyno while I finished making another splitter for his car. Road Atlanta was in our sights and we knew down force was going to be a major factor on the track. With a few new design ideas and yet another sheet of material, we finished up the car and headed out for Inde Motorsports Ranch. This would be the 6th Round for NASA AZ and with Inde being a high speed track; it was perfect for final testing before Atlanta. It was a full house over the weekend with not only the three Snail Cars, but also a number of our friends packed into the corner of the paddock. For Travis, he was all about the testing side of things, saving the car for Atlanta and not pushing too hard for fear of damaging anything before his 3000 mile round trip. For Markos and me, it was just another NASA AZ event, time to run as fast as we can and earn some more season points. Saturday was a blast and we each got faster throughout the end of the day. With a 1:43.724, I snagged 1st Place TT2 for the day. Sunday everyone seemed a bit off. Travis’ was still having under boosting issues not being able to make more than 21lbs of boost. When competing against other 600+ hp cars this just doesn’t cut it. I went out for my first session having trouble making a solid right turn. Come to find out, there was a screw in my front left tire which scared me as turn 3 off the runway is a right hand turn at over 100mph. Markos decided to give Hoosiers a try and found a few extra seconds. Travis took 2nd place TT-U despite being considerably underpowered. I took 1st place TT2 and Markos was a few tenths from knocking the local Inde hot-shoe off of a podium position. ![]() At this point we knew Travis’ car was not 100%, leaving it hard to justify a trip to Road Atlanta. We brought the car back to the shop that night and started working on it. We found a number of small boost leaks, but it still was not perfect. We worked into the night and in the morning until we had the little Garrett GTX3076 screaming over 600whp. Now the car was ready. Travis loaded up and left for his first stop in Texas. There he picked up Dale “Boss of the Sauce” Barnes who joined us for the race in Atlanta. Wednesday night I flew in and met up with them to get ready for the next few days. Thursday was a setup day and Friday the racing started. Taking his usual cruise laps, Travis went out and began learning the track, quickly finding that Forza does not do it any justice. Cresting turn 2 in his first session he found himself mowing the grass for the first time that weekend. In session 2, Travis began to pick up more speed with each lap. Now with a solid idea of the lines of the track, we looked forward to the following sessions to gain more time. In session 3, Travis was determined to get a low 1:30, if not under that. He was launched as the first car in the second half of the B group and began his warm-up lap. Apparently this wasn’t a fast enough warm up lap as another driver passed him. Coming around the back straight, the same driver who just couldn’t wait became a moving road block, wasting the lap for Travis. This would end the day as after Travis made the pass and went for another hot lap, all power was lost from what we would later find out was the teeth of 4th gear exploding. Discouraged, we parked the car for a while. After some debate, Dale jumped under the car and I joined in to help. Each CV axle was fine, differentials seemed to be ok, but pulling the transmission pan, we found the teeth of 4th gear, along with the 3/4 shift fork. We spent the rest of the night cleaning out the gear box of metal shavings, gears, and contaminated oil. Travis decided to go Honey Badger and run with a 1,2,5,6 gear box. If we weren’t going to win, we were going to make the rest of competitors work for their check. The first session on Sunday with only a usable 5th and 6th gear, Travis shaved 3 seconds from his time with his fastest of the weekend at a 1:32.6. It was here the weekend ended as in the next session, Travis tested the splitter as a lawn dart and failed miserably. That splitter has since been donated to Road Atlanta corner workers as we never saw it again. In the end, we finished 3rd Place Unlimited AWD. We have to thank Global Time Attack for throwing such a great event as always. Also thank you to all of our sponsors for making this trip possible. From here, we look forward to the upcoming NASA events as well as Global Time Attack Pro Am in June. Yes June, two weeks from now. We should probably get started putting these cars back together. Written by: Taylor “Dr. Koby D.” Wilson
Big Thanks all of our 2013 Sponsors: Turbosmart USA, Whiteline US, Turbo by Garrett, LIC Motorsports, Wheeldude.com, Turbos Direct, Continental Tire, and Mothers Facebook.com/SnailPerformance Follow us on Twitter – @Tayloratsnail, @SnailPer4mance, @Markos_mylonas Instagram – @Snailperformancetaylor, @PoweredbySnail, @Markos_mylonas ![]() Barbeque at Willow Ranch and Global Time Attack’s new Pro-Am Time Attack Series in conjunction with Shift-S3ctor at Buttonwillow Raceway sounds like a great way to spend a Saturday. As most of you know I, “Travis”, moved up to northern California due to my wife Meghan getting orders to Beale AFB. After getting settled in, we decided to make the trip back down the I-5 to attend the first ever GTA Pro-Am event with Shift-S3ctor at Buttonwillow Raceway. Not having my normal Time Attack Wrx I decided to go with “Plan B” and run my 2012 Subaru Sti. I had a good feel for the car as I just ran it at Firebird West in the rain so I figured additional seat time at Buttonwillow would be a great idea. First session of the day didn’t count and was meant to get times for everyone to get a grid position. I thought it would be a great time to give Paul Kuzma a ride along so he could check the track out. We took to the track and ended up with a 2:05.154, which was not too bad for just getting started. Second run of the day I went out for few hot laps and a quick swing into the hot pits to pick up Ulrik Szirka for a few laps around the track. I was able to shave 2.3xx seconds off my time running a 2.02.784, putting me in 3rd place in limited AWD with my little street car. ![]() During lunch, I reviewed the track in my head and after talking to Jeff Westphal I knew I could find more time in the car. The third session of the day came and I took the Sti out putting down a 2.01.945. knowing that I made a few mistakes on that run I couldn’t wait to get back out there in the next run group. Fourth session of the day came and I hit the track like a mad man giving it all I could in the little Sti. This session was my best all day! I was able to find my groove on track and laid down an impressive 2:00.743. A little story about my car and why I was happy with this time. The Sti is 85% all stock. lol Power is only around 330whp with a 20g-8cm turbo controlled by a Turbosmart IWG. Suspension is stock struts, Swift Spec-R Springs, Whiteline Front and Rear 22mm Adj Swaybars with Endlinks, and Whitelines H-Brace, while rolling on Wheeldude Rota T2R’s with Hankook RS-3 Tires. So needless to say I was pretty happy with the car for the day. Of course, after looking at the results I saw that I was only .072 off of 2nd place. I had to go back out for the final session of the day to see if I could find more time. On the warm up lap I was plotting my course in hope of shaving some time when I hit the Esses it was game time. Pushing the Sti as hard as I could, I made it to Cotton Corners without flaw and just as I was about to make the right into Club Corner, the car lost power like a intercooler pipe blew off. So I just coasted for a second with the car at idle. I didn’t hear anything so I just decided to call it a day as I was coming up to Magic Mountain, I heard a noise coming from the engine so I shut the car off and coasted on to the drag strip. Knowing everyone would be looking for me I got my phone out and texted Tony Szirka to tell him what happened. “I’m pretty sure I will be fined for using my cell phone on track like some NASCAR drivers LOL” ![]() I ended the day being towed in and with no way to get home took 3rd place. Luckily my Time Attack family did everything they could to help us out. Jason from GTA got us hooked up on a place for the car to sleep until I got a truck and trailer to come and get it. Tony, Ulrik, and Paul took Meghan and I to get a rental car to get us back home. Noah and Adam at LIC Motorsports are letting us use their truck and trailer to pick the car up and bring it home. I am looking forward to attending more of the GTA / Shift-S3ctor Pro-Am events in the future with the Snail Racer and the rest of the team later this year. The turnout was great, many awesome cars we there, and guys at Shift-S3ctor are top notch! See all you guys at the GTA Pro Series event on March 16-17 at Firebird Raceway!! For more info on Global Time Attack and Shift-S3ctor check out the links below. www.GlobalTimeAttack.com www.Shift-S3ctor.com www.Facebook.com/GlobalTimeAttack www.Facebook.com/ShiftS3ctor Big Thanks all of our 2013 Sponsors: Turbosmart USA, Whiteline US, Turbo by Garrett, LIC Motorsports, Wheeldude.com, Turbos Direct, and Mothers Facebook.com/SnailPerformance Follow us on Twitter – @Tayloratsnail, @SnailPer4mance, @Markos_mylonas Instagram – @Snailperformancetaylor, @PoweredbySnail, @Markos_mylonas While staring at this blank screen for a while trying to figure out where to start when talking about the 2012 season for the team, so much comes to mind that it is hard to decide what to mention first. Between Global Time Attack, filling in months with NASA AZ events, and closing the year visiting the various trade shows around the country, we have certainly seen our own ups and downs as a team both emotionally and financially. I think it is safe to say, that in 2012, the Snail Performance team increased their brand recognition, and had a great time along the way. Having been committed NASA drivers for many years, we began the year just as gung ho as any year previous with goals of topping both the Time Trial and Ums Tuning Time Attack Series podiums at each event. As we pushed ourselves and our cars harder than ever before, it was clear to see this was not going to be as easy as it is said. Arizona as a region does not have the opportunity for open testing days which leaves only NASA weekends for testing. This proves difficult when combined with 15-20 sessions that are scrapped if one thing as simple as an intercooler coupler pops. With these frustrations aside, our first main event of the year came with the always popular NASA AZ Night Event and Modified Magazine Tuner Shootout at Firebird International Raceway. Little did we know at the time, this may have been the last year for the shootout or any event to be held in this venue. The event started out great with a solid start on the Dyno event and AutoX. As Time Attack practice went on times looked promising. Unfortunately a dying transponder failed to make it back onto the car before the official timed session. It wasn’t until we came off track we realized the mistake. Luckily they allowed us to rerun immediately, however hot Arizona ambient, underhood, and tire temps meant our best times were behind us. None the less, we went on to the last event, the drag races. With a new clutch in the car, we were unaware how it would respond to being launched. This would be our downfall, as nothing would provide a solid launch, including throwing our drag racing ringer in the car, Travis Barnes. In the end low points in the drag and emissions testing left us with a 3rd place overall finish. Not bad at all and our best finish in the shootout yet. With the shootout in the bag, we looked to the rest of the year and put our focus on Global Time Attack. The April Buttonwillow Raceway GTA event was hot to say the least, and the team finished with a 2nd place finish in both Unlimited AWD and Street AWD. As a team we were excited with our finish. Markos Mylonas, fed up with standing by decided this would be the last event he would miss and looked into making plans for the next team GTA event. Unable to make the immediate following events due to budget and distance, the team set their sights on Texas Motor Speedway. With family in the area, we couldn’t wait to get to Texas and enjoy the new venue. The travel time from Phoenix to Texas Motor Speedway is a 16 hour drive towing. The Wednesday before the event, we closed the shop and headed straight for Texas. We arrived the next day around lunch to an open infield and the GTA staff setting up. As promised, this would be our first event fielding 3 cars, and with the special guest Dale Barnes running his daily driven Mustang GT, we ended with 2 enthusiast class cars, and of course the Street and Unlimited AWD cars. When the event was over, the 4 team entries finished with 4 podium finishes. Dale Barnes took 3rd place Enthusiast RWD. Markos Mylonas finished 2nd Place Enthusiast AWD. Taylor Wilson finished 1st place Street AWD. Travis Barnes finished 3rd place Unlimited AWD. On the way home from Texas, the 16 hour drive turned into an almost 22 hour drive. The team caravanned with their 3 rigs alongside Tony “Hawt Kawk” Szirka of UMS Tuning and Mike Warfield of GST Motorsports. Despite overheating trucks, pepper here and there, and a few hoses in places that will remain unspoken, the group managed to survive the drive back, some doing the whole stint fueled on Energy Drinks, Hawaiian BBQ, candy, and driving the last few hours with heads sticking out windows enjoying the midnight air. Global Time Attack Buttonwillow / Super Lap Battle was planned for the last event of the year. A last minute offer to have our unlimited class 2003 Subaru WRX as a featured vehicle in the Turbo by Garrett booth at the SEMA show cut the deadline to have the cars ready by 2 weeks. Already with big plans for the last event, the team hustled and spent the final weeks before the show at the shop day and night preparing. After many long nights, some self-taught welding, and sleep deprivation reminding us that plastic is not a great grounding contact, the car was finished on the dyno just in time to be pulled into the trailer and driven to Las Vegas. We made a number of great contacts and some new relationships for the 2013 season while at the show that are very exciting! With the hard parking out of the way, half of the team hustled back to Arizona to pick up the rest of the cars and make their way to Buttonwillow Raceway for the final event of the year. Markos Mylonas was especially excited as this would be his first experience on this amazing race track. The weather was perfect and each car ran flawlessly, just as they had all year long. There’s something to be said about returning from every event during the season only needing an oil change to prep for the next event. Markos learned the track very quickly holding down 3rd place Street AWD for the most of the day. It was only during the last session of the day his time was overtaken. Considering the mild modifications of the car, and significant underpowered disadvantage, we are excited to see very fast times from Markos next season. Taylor Wilson was able to hold onto 2nd place Street AWD for the day. With times only slightly quicker than past visits, some changes are in store for this car in the off season. Travis Barnes, testing his newly designed splitter, found 3 seconds over past visits which yielded him a 2nd Place Unlimited AWD finish. With such a successful year for a group of ultimately, privateers, we are very excited to see what next season has in store for us. We want to thank all of our sponsors who have helped us this year including Lic Motorsports, Whiteline US, Turbosmart USA, Turbos Direct, and Wheeldude.com. We are also excited to welcome Turbo by Garrett ( #TurboLife) to our family for the 2013 season. After such a great season filled with awesome memories, it saddens us to announce, our team will no longer reside in one state. Team Principal, Unlimited Driver, tuner, and most of all brother, Travis “Sauce Bauce” Barnes will be moving to the Northern California Area. Travis is the reason this team exists, and it will not be the same having him 800 miles away. We will do our best not to let the distance change anything that has become expected of our small family and still have a full schedule planned for 2013. While it does not seem like a great distance, and is only a quick Southwest flight away, he will be missed in his absence and we hope to one day have him home in Arizona again. If not, everyone’s selling their homes and we are just going to have to move to California. Don’t test us, we will do it!
Now with 2012 out of the way, we look toward 2013 with our first event at Chuckwalla Valley Raceway with NASA AZ. You can catch all of the coverage from this event as well as the rest of the team’s season at any of the outlets below. Keep up with the latest modifications, trials and tribulations, and team victories all year long! Be sure to keep up to date with the team! Snail Performance Facebook.com/SnailPerformance Photos By: Amanda Gift of Snaps Studio Photos By: AFL Photography Photos By: Forward Motion The Snail Performance team is proud to announce our partnership with Turbo By Garrett for the 2013 Season. We are very excited to have their support and look forward to representing with the best turbos on the market! #TurboLife
Be sure to keep up with all the updates this year through each of the links below. Snail Performance Facebook / Twitter / Instagram Turbo By Garrett Facebook / Twitter (#TurboLife) The Snail Performance Unlimited AWD Subaru WRX in the Turbo By Garrett Booth at SEMA 2012. Big thanks to Yukio Taira looking forward to the 2013 Time Attack Season with Turbo By Garrett.
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