PowerLabs Cars!

 Living the dream:

 At the end of the page you will also find links to some of my friend's cars. These are also very fast, highly modified vehicles that I think are worthy of being mentioned on this page. Enjoy!

 1999 Subaru Impreza 2.5 RS => STI Swap:

Powerplant: EJ207 (2 liter Boxer 4 cylinder, turbocharged)
Power: 350hp / 320ft-lbs torque
Curb Weight: >2800lbs
Performance: 0 - 60MPH in 3.8 seconds, 1/4 mile in 11.8 @ 118MPH
Top speed: 177MPH (Once. Cost me an engine. "Engine limited"? :).
Comments: This was my first car ever. Bought it with 40K miles, blew its engine at 80K, swapped a turbo motor, blew that at 100K, swapped a better motor with a bigger turbo, tuned it, blew it up at 110K, rebuilt it with all forged components, blew it up again at 120K, sold the car before it made me go broke. Still miss it to this day though; in between expensive parts failures, it was SUPER fast.

 Light, Powerful, Fast, All Wheel Drive, Unique.

 2005 Subaru Impreza WRX STI "Stage 3"

Powerplant: EJ257 (2.5 liter Boxer 4 cylinder, turbocharged)
Power: 350hp / 385ft-lbs torque
Curb Weight: 3240lbs
Performance: 0 - 60MPH in 4.3 seconds, 1/4 mile in 12.8 @ 108MPH
Top speed: 165MPH (drag limited).
Comments: My second car. Bought it with 9500 miles, was totaled by a woman running a stop sign when it had 22K miles. This was the car that my RS was meant to be; a fast turbo all wheel drive car, except this one, unlike the RS, was supposed to be reliable. It had incredible brakes, the best transmission I've ever operated and superb handling, but it always felt like it was lacking in power because it was a much heavier car.

 Easiest car to drive at the limit, ever. Predictable handling at any speed in any conditions and incredible brakes...

 2003 Chevrolet Corvette Z06, 50th Anniversary Edition

Powerplant: LS6 (5.7 Liter V8)
Power: 405hp / 400 ft-lbs torque
Curb Weight: 3118lbs
Performance: 0 - 60MPH in 3.9 seconds, 1/4 mile in 12.4 @ 116MPH
Top speed: 179MPH (gearing limited).
Comments: Bought it to replace the STI because I wanted something faster. I wanted the fastest car I could afford. It was, but the handling didn't inspire nearly as much confidence as my STI. Bought it with 18K miles, sold it at 22K.

 A legend in its own; one of the very fastest and most capable American built cars ever in its day. Sexy, and stupidly fast...

 2006 Chevrolet Corvette Z51 2LT

Powerplant: LS2 (6 Liter V8)
Power: 465hp / 450ft-lbs torque
Curb Weight: >3160lbs
Performance: 0 - 60MPH in 4 seconds, 1/4 mile in 11.9 @ 121MPH
Top speed: 191+MPH (drag limited).
Comments: The latest and the greatest Corvette. Also the newest and nicest vehicle I've ever owned, or driven for that matter. This is my current car, and it is what my Z06 should have been like. I bought it with 9K miles and haven't stopped smiling since.

 The fastest and the best car I've ever driven. Bar none.

 Friend's Cars:

 I do not own these vehicles, but I have been involved in a small part in their construction and feel that they are some of the finer examples of what can be achieved by modifying a stock power plant on a non shop budget.

 2002 Subaru Impreza WRX “Stage 5”

Powerplant: Built EJ207 (2.0Litre Boxer 4cylinder, turbocharged)
Power: 500+hp crank
Curbweight: <3000lbs
Performance: 0-60 < 4.0 seconds, ¼ mile: TBA (12.9@104.5 on stock engine/turbo)
Top speed: 185+MPH (drag limited speed yet to be determined)
Comments:  This is my second car.  Bought it with 60k miles, and installed the built motor at 110k.  My goal for this car was to do a high performance build on a budget.  The car is meant to be an all around performer, from extended track sessions on the road course, to the drag strip and is driven daily all year (even winter!).  The car handles extremely well and is a great platform demonstrating the prowess of a modified stock diameter WRX brake system.  The car makes some sacrifices in terms of comfort in a quest for peak performance in a budget built street car.


Budget built car pushing the limits of performance for a car driven year round in a northern climate.

Sam Says: I want to see it do 185 and not melt a piston like my RS did :) Other than that, this car has everything to be one of the fastest daily driven Subarus in the country!

 2000 Subaru Impreza 2.5RS-T

Powerplant: Built EJ257 with ported, polished, cammed EJ255 heads (2.5Litre Boxer 4cylinder, turbocharged)
Power: 460+Hp crank
Curbweight: <2800lbs
Performance: 0-60 ? ¼ mile: ?
Top speed: ? (Gear / Drag limited?)
Comments: This was also my first car ever.  I bought it brand new when I was 18, I think it had 6 or 7 miles on it.  I did the N/A (Naturally Aspirated) RS thing and it had a lot to be desired.  So I looked into turboing the RS and found some support.  I wanted to do it right and got the proper engine management and fueling.  It ran just fine for close to 40K miles until I wanted more power.  Now it has an EJ257 with mahle forged pistons, a GT3076R, a JDM 6-speed, and built RS heads.  I'm hoping for 400whp when it's finally tuned.
 

A turbo conversion done right.

Sam Says: Kelly's was the first turboed Subaru I ever rode in, and one of my motivations to do a swap. His latest round of modifications should make it absolutely insane.

 1987 BMW 325IS Turbo

Powerplant: (Built M20B25 engine, stroked to 2.9L, Ross coated pistons, custom exhaust manifold, T3/T04E Turbo, Inline 6)
Power: Over 400hp?
Curbweight: <2800lbs
Performance: 0-60 ? ¼ mile: ?
Top speed: 150mph? (Gear  limited)
Comments: I bought this car with 98K miles, and drove it N/A past 175thousand miles, although the odometer stopped working at 150K. Most modifications to this car were aimed towards improving handling, and to that effect the car proved very competitive at local autocross events.
 I decided to turbo the car because I was going to do an engine swap on it, and felt like I should end the motor's life with a bang. At $200 dollars off Ebay, the turbo I used was cheaper than a big shot of NItrous.
 

The sleeper. Looking at this car you'd never guess how fast it is.

Sam Says: A complete, one-of-a-kind turbo job on a lightweight rwd car!

 Why?

 If you have to ask, you probably wouldn't understand the answer. Cars are about the worse investment you can possibly make; perhaps marginally worse than alcohol and cigarettes: they cost money to buy, cost money to own, cost money to maintain and in the end all they really do is get you from point A to point B while wasting money on gas. And the more performance, the more money it will cost you; make it fast enough and it will break, costing you TONS of money. Plus fast cars are a great way to get expensive tickets and all kinds of expensive legal trouble.
 But there is just something about owning and driving a fast car that makes us car guys forget all about the practicalities of depreciation and maintenance cost and blow our money into high performance cars, and into making our cars faster. The way they look, sound, the way people look at me when I am driving it, and the way the car goes just brings a smile to my face every time I drive it. I know I bought the right car when no matter how tired I am in the morning, I want to get up early and go to work just so I can drive it. One quick jab of the throttle in 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4rth gear in my Corvette is all I need to be reminded of WHY I put up with the small trunk, the seating for 2, and all the other compromises associated with a pure sportscar. Most passengers get it too: Terrified or in awe, everyone has a strong reaction to riding in something that can take you from from a standing start, to moving at more than 3 miles a minute with just the push of a pedal.

 How?

 So you want a fast car? Or do you want to make your car faster? Check out my guide to buying and modifying cars for performance. (under construction)

 The Future?