Element Tuning Wins “Subiefest One” 2006 Time Attack

Element Tuning STi 2006 Subiefest Washington

In preparation for Subiefest 1 the 2006 Element Time Attack STi was sent to World One Performance in Seattle, Washington, the location of Subiefest 1, for a bit of a transformation. For prior Time Attack events, we went with a smaller GT52 turbocharger, but at Subiefest it was important for me to showcase our flagship turbo kit the Element Tuning GT65 Rotated Turbo Setup. Wayde and the technicians at World One outfitted our race car with the GT65 kit, new brake pads, flushed the brakes, changed all fluids, installed different rear springs, and a different front sway bar so that when I arrived in Seattle the car was ready to go.

Element Tuning GT65 Rotated Turbo Kit

Subiefest Time Attack began at Pacific Raceways in Seattle bright and early as the sun came up over the Pacific Northwest. After filling up with race gas and checking to make sure all was in order the car went out on the track for warm up hot laps.

The front straight at this race track was extremely long as it incorporated a full quarter mile drag strip and cool down section before hard braking into turn 2.  Turn two is a long left handed sweeper through which you can carry quite a bit of speed.  The set up changes made were designed to reduce the understeer exhibited when we switched to 275s.  Upon entering this turn I was greeted with loads and loads of oversteer which combined with the additional power of the GT65 made this car a real handful.

Which each lap the car got progressively quicker and quicker. I was still conservatively driving the center of the track trying to get used to the transitions. The exit of turn two on this track is a long downhill which features one of the largest elevation changes I have ever personally raced. At the end of this downhill is a tight right hander which transitions immediately into a tight downhill off camber left. My ambition got the best of me on this turn as the car over rotated and exited the track.  LOL!  A dirt embankment brought the car to a stop and cracked the Zero/Sports bumper in no less than four places. Whoops!

I quickly pulled back on the track and it appeared no harm had been done. After two more laps, warm up was over and I pulled into the paddock to repair the fiberglass front bumper which was now flapping in the wind.Immediately after pulling in the paddock, Garret from World One went to work to repair the front bumper. Duct tape is a racer’s best friend, and made for a quick fix of the front fascia.  Racer Ties (zip ties for some) secured the weakened structure of the front diffuser. Garret was quite pleased with his repair and asked it I could please make it last until the end of the day. Maybe, but no guarantees I said.

We were the first car out for time session one. Subiefest Time Attack was different from Primedia’s in that there was only one car allowed on the track at a time. Each car got a warm up lap followed by three timed laps with only the fastest counting. I planned on having three sessions that day so during timed session one I continued to take it easy driving in the middle of the track until I became comfortable with the car and track.  My fastest time for session one ended up being a 1:33 which was good enough to be the fastest time by over four seconds.

After session one the car was pulled back under the tent in the World One Performance booth and put on display until the start of session two. However, at the end of session one there was an accident on the track which ended up shutting the track down for the rest of the day. Although the car was a complete loss, the driver suffered only minor injuries.

Subiefest 1 Time Attack Champion Element Tuning STi 2006

There was plenty of time to be made in learning the track along with some setup changes but that would have to wait for the next event.  This ended Subiefest 1 with Element Tuning winning by over 4 seconds.

Element Tuning Hydra EMS
Element Tuning Hydramist Water/Meth Injection System
Element Tuning GT65 Turbo Kit
Element Tuning Competition Catch Can
Element Tuning Competition Fuel Surge Tank
Element Tuning JIC FLT-RS Coilovers
Element Tuning SS Brake Lines
Prodrive GC010 Wheels 18×9.5
6-Gun Ball Joint Extenders
RCE Brake Ducts
TurboSmart E-Boost 2
TurboSmart Megasonic BOV
Turbo-back Exhaust
Front and Rear Swaybars
Hawk DT70 and 60 brake pads
Seibon carbon fiber hood and trunk
Zero Sports Front Bumper
APR Splitter and GT200 Wing
Toyo RA1 Tires 275/35-18