2012-4-21

Buttonwillow Raceway, California

On a scorching summer-like day in the California Desert, Apollo Performance and their team set out to break the street tire record and came within 1 second of doing so on their first outing!  With triple digit temperatures, they watched as many of their pro-built huge budget competitors motors' let go.  Meanwhile, driven by Clint, Apollo's WRX got faster and faster throughout the day, and on a lap almost promising to bring home the record, they lost an axle/diff which ended their day.  It was a big success, though, for the FSR Tuned Apollo Performance WRX, as they come away with an easy win and have their sites set on rearranging many of the lap titles for local tracks.  The greatest part?  As a collaboration of local shops, Apollo proves that on a reasonable budget you can go compete with the big boys... and win.  Congratulations to Apollo and thanks for the opportunity to let FSR participate in the tuning/management aspect of your race car project! Want FSR to tune your Subaru?  Click HERE.

We often get questions about how long an engine rebuild is going to take.  There are many things to take into account when estimating both time and costs for a job like this, especially since we work in the specialty industry.  Here are some of the things that can affect the job, both time wise and cost wise:

• Why is the engine being rebuilt?  If it is being rebuilt to be upgraded, such as getting forged internals, we can order and have parts ready before removing the motor, since we can be reasonably sure of piston size.  We can also get a very close estimate on parts.  If the engine is being rebuilt due to a failure, such as a loss of compression, head gasket, or bearing failure, we generally do not recommend ordering parts until the motor is out and inspected.  There can be a variety of things damaged; for example a broken ring land can destroy a cylinder head.  A spun bearing can seize on a crank and render the crank useless.  The cost of parts would be very difficult to impossible to estimate in this case, unless you wanted to estimate replacing everything.  We can do that, but it is not the best use of our time since we can know the right answers by taking the motor apart.
• What is the goal for the motor?  A basic rebuilt gets basic parts.  Every motor built by FSR gets blueprinted and a full spec sheet.  However, 800+ horsepower motors get extra time and more exacting tolerances for ring gap, oil clearance, etc.  Balancing the motor requires an assembly of parts to be delivered to the machine shop.  Balancing the bob weight of the rotating assembly when changing piston and rod combos is generally recommended. Click here to read more!