Sneak Peek: Snail Performance Time Attack WRX SHOWKAR
Khiem Dinh is an engineer for Honeywell Turbo Technologies at the time of this writing. All statements and opinions expressed by Khiem Dinh are solely those of Khiem Dinh and not reflective of Honeywell Turbo Technologies.
I think it’s amazing how far the tuner aftermarket industry has come.You can buy bona fide track-ready components to bolt onto your street car transforming the car into a legitimate track vehicle. Snail Performance did just this starting with an Impreza WRX and building it up into a time attack competitor.
What’s the most important system on any track car? No, it’s not the engine. It’s not the suspension. It’s the brakes! Brake failure while trying to slow down from 130+mph speeds for a corner at the end of a straight can ruin your day in a really really bad way. Do not mess around here on a track car. The guys at Snail Performance know this and upgraded the small WRX brakes by bolting on StopTech’s 355mmx32mm kit on the front with 2-piece slotted rotors. The extra thermal capacity of the larger brake system along with the cooling of the StopTech Aerorotor provides exceptional fade resistance. Even though the car is called the SHOWKAR, the guys at Snail Performance know cross-drilled rotors are just for looks. Slotted rotors are the way to go for a track car to prevent cracked rotors.
The rear brake system is a StopTech 345mmx28mm kit also using 2-piece slotted rotors.
Using a variation of an old motorcycle saying, “there are two types of racers: those who have crashed and those who are going to crash”. If you are racing and pushing as hard as you can, there WILL be that time you push too hard and will crash. When you do crash, you’ll probably want some protection. Snail Performance installed an Autopower roll bar setup that also provides a bar to anchor the Sparco harness straps.
A Sparco Pro ADV seat is bolted in with a Sparco harness keeping the driver secure in the event of a crash or roll-over. The seat and harness are HANS compatible. Of course, the Autopower roll bar prevents the roof from collapsing in the event of a rollover crash.
