Flatirons Syndicate Motorsports Podcast

The Loam Ranger, aka Ryan Kelly, is our guest on this episode of the Flatirons Syndicate Podcast.Ryan fell in love with Rally Racing at almost the same time as he found Mountain Biking. Because Mountain Biking was much easier to get involved with, that is where he started, but he always dreamed of trying his hand at Rally... Now that Dream is turning into a RealityRyan had already started down the road of building a top tier Rally Driving sim rig when he stumbled across a Barn Find Rally car that he couldn't pass up. He went through his Turbo Impreza L Rally car to get it competition ready, and has already completed 2 full Stage Rallys!We talk about this process, and what it was like going from racing Mountain Bikes to a Rally Car, and what some of his next steps might be to find more speed and handling in this chassis.Be sure to check out Ryan's Road to Rally on Youtube!Thanks for listening and Stay Tuned!In this episode:00:00 Introduction to the Podcast and Guest01:46 Transition from Mountain Biking to Rally Racing04:42 Experiences in Rally Racing and Car Modifications07:32 The Canadian Rally Community and Its Growth10:17 Rally Car Performance and Challenges13:06 Future Plans and Engine Modifications15:49 Standalone ECUs and Tuning Options19:00 Understanding Engine Monitoring and Safety Features21:54 Tuning and Performance Enhancements for Rally Cars25:46 The Importance of Drivetrain and Differential Upgrades33:59 Evaluating Transmission Options for Rally Performance40:41 Rally Car Evolution and Decision Making43:16 Building a Rally Car from Scratch44:50 Driving Dynamics: All-Wheel Drive vs. Front-Wheel Drive46:37 The Importance of Reliability in Rally49:32 Learning and Adapting in Rally51:44 Measuring Success in Rally and Content Creation55:22 The Role of Sim Racing in Rally Training

We love our 2024 WRX shop car. The more that we live with this car, it is clear that this is the best WRX that we have ever had on offer, but could this be the end for the WRX?No one is buying WRX's now after Subaru had to adjust pricing due to Tariffs...With sales numbers sinking to BRZ levels, can Subaru continue to make the WRX? Can they make a small change to get enthusiasts excited about it again?Or should Subaru just bring back the STI?We dive into what is going on with the WRX and give Subaru our suggestions about what they need to do to save it in this video.Thanks for watching and Stay Tuned!

Now that we have the WRX TR Brembo brakes and Cusco Zero 3-G Gravel suspension on our VB WRX, we needed to get our Subaru out onto its natural habitat... A dirt road. Carter and Jon take the car out to shake it down, and talk about first impressions of the car with these parts installed. If you would like more information about the brakes, here is a link to them on the Flatirons Tuning web site. https://www.flatironstuning.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=flatirons%20tuning%20wrx%20tr%206-pot Once we are ready to release the Cusco Zero 3-G suspension we will put a link here as well. Thanks for watching and Stay Tuned!

When it was announced that the WRX TR would be getting 6-Piston Brembo brakes, it sparked two questions. First was how easy it would be to put these on a standard WRX? Second, are these Brembos the same as what came on the 2019 - 2021 STI? We were curious too, and we decided to make this the first modification to our 2024 WRX project car. The install went very smoothly, and the performance upgrade that this offers for the price really can't be beat! Here is a link to the kits up on www.FlatironsTuning.com to do this same swap as well! https://www.flatironstuning.com/flatirons-tuning-wrx-tr-6-pot-2-pot-brake-upgrade-kit-2022-wrx We go into all the details about what it takes to fit these brakes to the VB WRX, what parts you need, and what wheels fit these brakes as well. This install was really easy, and we can't wait to take the car out to test out the new Brembos! Thanks for watching and Stay Tuned!

If you have a WRX or and STI, and you have taken it to the track a few times, or have tuned it up to make more power, you may be at the point where you want or need to upgrade your brakes. There are a number of common upgrades, such as the Subaru 4-Pot and 2-Pot calipers from the 06-07 WRX, or the STI Brembos. And ever since the STI got the larger Brembo 6-piston calipers, those are becoming a more common upgrade as well for both WRXs and STIs. So when would you want to go with a set of OEM Plus calipers, and when would you want to look at a motorsport brake option from AP Racing or Alcon? We go through all of these options in this video and talk about the pros and cons of each. If you are interested in any of these kits, or would like to get more information about them, here are links to all of the brake kits discussed on our site: Subaru 4-Pot and 2-Pots https://www.flatironstuning.com/subaru-4-pot-2-pot-brake-upgrade STI Black Brembo Calipers https://www.flatironstuning.com/subaru-oem-black-brembo-calipers-front-pair-08-17-sti https://www.flatironstuning.com/brembo-rr-bk AP Racing 325mm Brake Kit https://www.flatironstuning.com/essex-designed-ap-racing-comp-big-brake-kit-04-17-sti AP Racing Rally Brake Kit https://www.flatironstuning.com/ap-racing-by-essex-rally-comp-brake-kit-front-cp8350-299mm-93-21-sti-wrx-2-5rs WRX TR Brembo 6-Piston Brake Kits https://www.flatironstuning.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=Flatirons%20Tunign%20WRX%20TR Roger Clark Alcon Brake Kits https://www.flatironstuning.com/rcm2836 https://www.flatironstuning.com/rcm2960 https://www.flatironstuning.com/rcm2837 AP Racing Radi-Cal Brake Kit for the STI https://www.flatironstuning.com/13-01-10067 Thanks for watching and Stay Tuned!

There is no question that car prices are the highest that they have ever been. This was the topic of our latest Podcast in fact. But that got us wondering what would happen if we looked at current Subaru prices another way. What if we looked at a 2024 WRX but with 2002 dollars? What if we took inflation out of the equation to compare the 2002 WRX with the 2024 WRX? Would the current car be a better or worse value? And how does the STI factor into that? We ran some comparisons and the results weren't what we were expecting. We go through all of these pricing comparisons in this video, and talk about what this means for the performance value of the 2024 WRX, and why this may well be part of the reason that Subaru stopped making the STI. Thanks for watching and Stay Tuned! If you want to play with the calculator we were using for this video, here is a link to what we were using: https://www.minneapolisfed.org/about-us/monetary-policy/inflation-calculator

On this episode of Hey, What's your Problem, Jon and DP do their best to answer more of your questions about: - Transmission grinds - P0270 and P0267 Injector Low Voltage after an Engine Swap - A 2011 WRX Not running right after a transmission swap - A 2004 Forester XT with a weird vibration from its 4EAT transmission - Boost Pressure falling off on a 2005 Legacy GT - And a weird rich idle issue on a 2004 WRX Automatic If you have any questions or problems that you want us to talk about, make sure that you submit them in the comments below. Thanks for watching and Stay Tuned!

Jon and DP try to help with swaybar fitment on a turbo swapped GC, a P0420 code on an aftermarket catted downpipe, pad knockback on a 2019 STI 6 piston caliper and possible relay issues on an Air Pump P2443 code.     If you have any problems you would like us to tackle please let us know in the comments. Thanks for listening and Stay Tuned!

The 2022 WRX is out now, and we are starting to get a pretty good sense about the performance potential that the new WRX platform has.  With the GR Corolla starting to turn up now too, the question is, how do these two cars stack up against each other?  We got the whole shop together to share our thoughts on the 2022 Subaru WRX vs the new GR Corolla. We talk about performance, modifications, every day use and which one we would all rather have. Thanks for listening and Stay Tuned!

Jon, DP and Dylan attempt to help a 03 Subaru WRX owner with some low boost issues and then find an unusual answer to the problem. Dylan then shares the recent issues with his 2011 Subaru STI and the strange issue with a coil pack we had not seen before. 00:00 Intro  00:44 Matt's 03 WRX Boost Issues 01:23 Diagnosing with no CEL   02:30 Issue with engine refresh?   03:40 Issue is found and not what we expected   04:30 Mouse Air Flow  06:50 Start with the simple stuff first   08:55 Dylan's 2011 STI issues   09:25 Rich idle   10:00 Smoke test and vacuum leaks   10:10 Stutter at WOT, backfiring, no CEL   11:20 Logging with Accessport   12:42 Finally a CEL   14:10 Delaminating coil pack 17:00 Computer thought everything is OK

DP and Jon tackle a 2010 Subaru WRX STI with a strange oil pressure issue and Donut Media's Engine failure in their HiLow WRX.  What might have gone wrong?  And are Subaru engines really that fragile?

The guys try to help out a fellow gearhead trying to balance family and cars, a 13 Subaru WRX with ethanol sensor problems on a Flex Fuel Build, a 04 Subaru WRX with boost control problems, a 04 Subaru Forester XT with engine swap questions, and finally a 2013 Subaru WRX with a wandering idle.  Jon and Mike aka Drifting Platypus aka DP got to talking and found that they both were regular listeners to the Car Talk radio show with Tom and Ray Magliozzi.  That inspired us to get a list of problems or issues that you all are having, and that is what we talk about here! In this episode, we talk about: A guy trying to balance family life with his car hobby  A 2013 Subaru WRX with a malfunctioning Ethanol sensor on a Flex-Fuel build  A 2004 Subaru WRX with boost control issues  A 2004 Subaru Forester XT with some engine swap questions  A 2013 Subaru WRX with a idling issues  If you have a problem or issue you would like us to discuss, be sure to leave it in the comments, or to send it to us through the Contact Us Link on the Flatirons Tuning web site. Thanks for listening and Stay Tuned!

This is the first episode of something new that we are calling "Hey, what's your problem?" Jon and Mike aka Drifting Platypus aka DP got to talking and found that they both were regular listeners to the Car Talk radio show with Tom and Ray Magliozzi.  That inspired us to get a list of problems or issues that you all are having, and that is what we talk about here! In this first episode, we talk about: A 2016 Subaru WRX with a P0420 Check Engine Light Code after putting in a built engine  A Subaru WRX with Tuning Issues  A Subaru WRX Hesitation and popping from the exhaust under partial throttle A Subaru Legacy with a JDM Swap that is having hesitation issues  A Subaru Forester with an Evap Leak, P0457 Check Engine Light Code Thanks very much for watching, and if you have a problem or issue you would like us to talk about, be sure to reach out to us through the Contact Us link on the Flatirons Tuning web site. Stay Tuned!

Ryan Douthit of Driving Sports TV is our guest for this episode of the Flatirons Syndicate Podcast.Ryan gets to drive most all of the new vehicles as Subaru releases them, so he has driving most all of the newest Subaru's, so he has a unique perspective on the direction that Subaru is moving in.In this episode, we talk about the newest Subaru EV's, including the Subaru Trailseeker, and Subaru Uncharted, and how they compare to their Combustion counterparts.We also talk about what he thinks about the STI returning to the US market, and the direction that Subaru is going in terms of Performance.If you haven't all ready, check out the Driving Sports TV review of the Trailseeker here:https://youtu.be/bDlvUUzaewM?si=PgkPGqFLz6w5epV6And their review of the Subaru Uncharted here:https://youtu.be/bDlvUUzaewM?si=PgkPGqFLz6w5epV6We also mention the Silver Bullet XV video testing the Trailseeker, and here are links to those videos as well:https://youtu.be/bDlvUUzaewM?si=PgkPGqFLz6w5epV6https://youtu.be/YUp2XQfFx4o?si=93HJbqPF828LCc2LThanks for watching and Stay Tuned!

For Episode #193 of the Flatirons Syndicate Podcast, we couldn't land on a single topic, so we covered just about everything that was on our minds.Were the days of Subaru Forums really the good old days?When was it the PEAK time to modify your Subaru?How does the BRZ fit in the Subaru lineup?Are Bugeyes easy to find these days? What about First Gen BRZs?And lots more.A big thanks to Art, Tanner, and Dewey for making time to chat again, and I hope that you enjoy the conversation.Thanks for watching and Stay Tuned!

This went up on YouTube today, but it is a good primer for the Podcast that will go up tomorrow. I decided to put it up here as well just in case any of you aren't following us on YouTube.Hope you enjoy this conversation, and Stay Tuned for the Podcast tomorrow!There has been a lot of discussion of late about the All Wheel Drive BRZ Rally Car that Subaru just unveiled, and for good reason.If there wasn't all ready enough to be excited about as a Subaru Enthusiast, this is just icing on the cake.Art and the folks over at Overtake USA have also been following all of the information coming out from Subaru lately, and they had a bit of a different take on what this all means.I decided to reach out to Art to have a discussion about what all this means.Check out their video on the Subaru Super Taikyu Motorsport announcement here: @OVERTAKEUSA  https://youtu.be/lr78aRpJQG0?si=5eK-RXAYqojekBLMAnd if you haven't watched the LoveCars TV video on this, be sure to check it out as well:https://youtu.be/iG2KvgHufpo?si=ro00G3SeO_VLmiNpThanks for watching and Stay Tuned!

There was a time in the early 2000's where Subaru Forums were the place to go to find information, parts, or to connect with the Subaru community in your area.There were a number of local forums but the central hub for many of us was NASIOC. The North American Subaru Impreza Owners Clubhttps://forums.nasioc.com/This was at one point the largest Subaru forum, and had tens of thousands of members from all over the globe. It was, and still is to an extent, a critical source for information about how to build or fix your Subaru.At some point though, people just stopped using forums. For this episode, we talk with Justin from Overtake USA, and the legendary Unabomber (one of the most prolific contributors to NASIOC) about what happened to forums with the rise of Social Media.Are we in a better place now than we used to be? A big thanks to Justin for putting this together, and definitely let us know what you think about this in the comments below.Thanks for watching and Stay Tuned!

Are Subaru's reliable? Do they really have as many issues as you read about on the Internet?It is time to have a real conversation about it, and on this episode, we have the perfect group to get to the bottom of this topic.SmeediaArt from Overtake USAAnd Dewey from IAGWhat is the truth about Head Gasket issues on WRX's, STI's, and Subaru's in general? What about Ring Lands and Rod Bearings?Part of the inspiration of this topic is Smeedia's video where he tries, and fails, to kill an STI here:https://youtu.be/lR7XrfCPz6s?si=NRxxqScLGHnUZ86qThanks for watching and Stay Tuned!

If you follow Rally, RallyX, or motorsport in general, there is a good chance that you have seen the Your Mom Races Rally Instagram page pop up on your feed. When Kelly decided to jump into Rally and RallyX, she decided to document her journey into the world of motorsport on her Instagram page. As it often does, things started out with a car and a few small changes here and there, and now Kelly is looking at welding in a cage and has here eyes set on competing in Stage Rally in the near future.For this episode, we talk with Kelly about how she found Rally, and how motorsport had a more profound impact on her life than she expected.Max Crouch, the co-Driver of our Flatirons Tuning Rally Team joins us on this podcast as well!If you are interested in reading Kelly's book, you can find it here:https://www.carrarabooks.com/store/p/your-mom-races-rallyThanks for watching and Stay Tuned!

If you are building up a track car or a race car, and you need to add power, where would you start? A bigger Turbo? Supercharger? Maybe building up the engine and tuning the ECU?What about making your race car a hybrid?I think I am safe in saying that most of us would not even consider turning a car that didn't start out life as a hybrid into one, much less making it a hybrid to improve the cars performance.But that is exactly what Sasha from Mountain Pass Performance did with his 350Z Time Attack car.In this episode, Sasha and I talk about everything that was involved to turn his 350Z Hybrid Time Attack car in to the monster that it is. We also talk about how this project relates to the work that Mountain Pass Performance does to improve the performance of EV's like the Tesla Model 3.If you want to see all the details about MPP's KELS build, and everything else that they are up to, take a look at their Youtube Channel here:https://www.youtube.com/@UCq47UcvRMn97rd_ams7dtfA Thanks for watching and Stay Tuned!