Bigger is not always better and to prove that statement we decided to try out CBRD’s new lightweight and very slim radiator. Made from a Delphi core (used in ALMS and Champ Car), the radiator was designed to be small, light, and provide maximum efficiency. Since the radiator was going in our project car, we wanted something that could be used on a daily basis as well as hold up on the track. The overall design of the radiator made our decision to install it a very simple one to make. Featuring a relocated upper neck that is positioned away from the manifold (which is a very good idea in our opinions), new silicone hoses, and a slimline fan, this radiator looked very promising.

First Impressions
One phrase that sums up our first impression is “excellent build quality”. The welds and overall craftsmanship of the product is amazing. A radiator doesn’t need to look this good but CBRD went the extra distance to make this thing nice. Our radiator came preassembled with the slimline fan, which made it easy to prep for install.

Once we pulled our old radiator out, we decided to weigh each to see what the overall weight difference was. The stock radiator with fan weighed in at 19 lbs while CBRD’s radiator weighed in at 9lbs with fan. 10lbs of total weight difference may not be too dramatic to most, but to us it was perfect. The other benefit was the amount of room this radiator opened up compared to the stock unit.

Installation
Installation was very easy. Basically drain out the coolant from the old radiator, unhook existing radiator hoses, and undo the harness to the fan. Pull out the old radiator and pop in the new one. That’s basically it. The radiator fits perfectly.

Street Impressions
There’s not too much to say about our street impressions. The radiator did it’s job keeping temps very cool. We did notice a 6 degree difference in temp, but it may not be a direct result from the radiator. With more street miles put down, we will know better if the radiator is actually cooling more then the stock unit during street driving.

Track Impressions
This is where the radiator was really put to work. Using a special blend of Water Wetter and distilled water (we used the same on our stock unit), we saw an immediate 16 degree cooler reading from the CBRD radiator compared to the stock unit after 15 very hard laps at VIR (Virginia International Raceway). This is very impressive coming from something so thin. We ran a total of 32 laps and temps stayed consistent throughout the day and we didn’t experience any leaks or drop in fluid levels.

Conclusion
This radiator works, bottom line. It has many benefits including better cooling efficiency then the stock unit and perfect fitment. A negative is the price, primarily because it’s more expensive then most aftermarket radiators, but in our opinions it’s worth the extra dough. Racers and street drivers diving in hot climates would really benefit from this part, especially those who race on tracks in the dessert. As more miles are put on the car, we will see how the radiator will hold up to different climates and conditions. We will post followups as we get them.

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A stock STI is a great package form the start. Starting the modification process with a stock car isn’t as easy as most will think. Any project needs an end goal in order to be successful. The main goal behind the 2006 I-Club Project STI is to have a capable street performer and to wreak havoc at weekend driving events (including time attack). With that in mind the best thing to do is to start simple.

Our first stop was with Buschur Racing. BR carries a strong reputation in the Evo & DSM world for building some of the fastest cars in the industry. Being new to the Subaru market, we wanted to give their products a try to see what kind of results we could get. Keeping things as simple as possible, we decided to start with Buschur’s 3-inch turbo back exhaust (with high flow cat), 2 ¼ inch up-pipe, and cold air intake. To keep things in perspective we wanted to run the car with the current setup on the dyno to start off with a base line. Then we installed each product (one at a time) and dyno’d the car to see what kind of power we could get out of each part.

Stock Dyno Graph:

Buschur Turbo Back Exhaust & Up-Pipe
The build quality is excellent (welds are perfect and bends are top notch) and most don’t compare to the overall build standards of the BR exhaust. One thing this exhaust is not is a polished dressed up visual perfection that you normally see under a car entered at a hot import night’s event. Making power is serious business and this exhaust doesn’t steer away from that concept. On paper the turbo back exhaust boasts a weight savings of about 39 pounds over the stock system, which is a great benefit when you have a double duty car that spends time on track. Installing the exhaust was fairly easy and didn’t take much time at all. We did have to trim back the rear black plastic diffuser to make sure we got enough clearance, which is the only issue we ran into. Other then that it was a perfect fit. Next we decided to add the up-pipe. In order to fit the entire test in one day we weren’t able to dyno the car with just exhaust separately from the up-pipe, so we had to install the up-pipe at the same time as the exhaust. Installation for the up-pipe took the most amount of time mainly because of its location. Once we got the exhaust and up-pipe on the car it was time to start it up and get it on the dyno.

Once the car was started, the exhaust tone belted out the meanest sound across the shop in a very good way. The BR exhaust accentuated the boxer motor sound.

Dyno Graph:

24 whp & 34 lb tq is a substantial gain for just a up-pipe and turbo back exhaust. So far so good and it was now time to get the intake installed.

Buschur Cold Air Intake
First impression of the intake build quality was very good. Since this was an item that could be seen it did help that the part looked more polished. Installation was very easy and took about 30-45 minutes to install. After the install we strapped the project STI back on the dyno to get some more numbers:

With the intake we were able to extract another 5whp but we did lose 5 lb tq at the wheels.

Conclusion
At the end of the day the results speak for themselves. A whopping 29whp gain over stock and 29 lb tq at the wheels without tuning. BR really has come up with the best combo to get the STI to produce substantial gains without having to dig too deep into your wallet. Getting the car on the road also proved even more impressive impressions. Throttle response was much more crisp and felt like the car was freer revving. The car picked up more lower end torque and had more juice up in the rpm range. With a custom tune we can expect higher numbers but for now this setup was much better then with what we started with.

Whenever the modding process is begun, always make sure to think through your plan before you get started. Simple may not sound exciting but with the power we gained, you can’t argue with the end result.

Video:

Gallery:

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