With two consecutive years of wins at the Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC), the Motor Image Rally Team is not resting on its laurels. Achieving the manufacturers’ title and the driver’s championship in both 2007 and 2008, it is charging into this year’s APRC season with a new Assembled in Singapore car and an exciting new driver.
The first female driver to compete in the APRC series, 29-year old Emma Gilmour will be starting with her first leg in Rally Queensland, Australia. Returning champion Cody Crocker, who continues to be the man to beat, will be the first driver to win the APRC championship four times in a row if he scores another championship this year. Both cars will compete under a new team name – Motor Image Racing Team (MIRT).
“I’m confident our star driver, Cody Crocker, with the new car will once again clinch the championship. Our new car has been tuned to the maximum to best exploit Subaru’s capabilities in the maneuvering of the rough courses in the APRC series,” said Mr Glenn Tan, Team Principal of Motor Image Racing Team. “With the change in our team’s name, we’ll be looking to explore more than just rallying in the future.”
MIRT will be using the new MY09 Subaru Impreza WRX STI model for the 2009 APRC season. The MY09 is a different car than the MY07 used by the team in the last two years. It sports a new hatch body and a more sophisticated multi-link rear suspension, with a computer-controlled inlet and exhaust camshafts. In preparation for the diverse terrains of the APRC, MIRT engineers have extensively tested the new rally car in Malaysia.
Gilmour, who hails from New Zealand, will be driving for MIRT together with her female co-driver, Tarryn Cox. Her debut in the 2002 Targa Bambina Rally, New Zealand, showed that she was a talent to watch. With her father as her co-driver, she came in sixth overall from a total of 98 entries. She has clocked impressive runs in numerous rallies including the New Zealand Rally Championship and was even invited to compete in the Bettega Memorial Trophy in 2006. Gilmour was also the winner of the Rally Founders Trophy in 2006 for performing with distinction and demonstrating a sportsman-like attitude worthy of an ambassador for the sport.
“Speed is in my blood and I have always grown up around cars, so rallying is a sport I relish. I’m charged up and can’t wait to get behind the wheel to do some serious rallying,” says Gilmour excitedly. “It’s such a privilege to be working with an excellent team with great expertise. I am looking forward to competing with Cody Crocker and hope to eventually one day snatch the championship title from him.”
Rally car racing is considered the extreme sport of automobile racing as drivers and their co-drivers push their modified road cars to the limit as they achieve blistering speeds over the courses of gravel and dirt roads, which explains why top rally drivers are considered some of the best car control experts in the world.
SPECIFICATIONS OF PRODUCTION RALLY CAR
MODEL: MY09 SUBARU IMPREZA WRX STI RALLY CAR
BODY & CHASIS
• FIA Homologated ROLL CAGE with chassis strengthening
COCKPIT
• Driver & Co-Driver Seat
• 3” 6 Point Seat Belt set
• Rally Co-Driver Computer
• Intercom System
• Front/Rear Door Panels.
• Footrest (Driver/Co-Driver)
• Steering Wheel & Quick Release Boss Kit
SAFETY
• Fire Extinguisher Hand Held 2.4kg
• Plumbed Fire Extinguisher 4kg
• Safety Cut Off Switch
ENGINE & TRANSMISSION
• 4 cylinder boxer engine (1994cc)
• Motec ECU system for Motorsport
• Motec Centre Differential Control Computer
• IHI Turbo with 32mm Turbo Restrictor
• STI Intake Duct
• STI Radiator Hose Kit
• Hi –flow Stainless steel exhaust system
• 65L std fuel tank
• Braided Fuel Line kit
• 5 Speed manual dog transmission
• STI Front mechanical LSD
• Center Differential DCCD with LSD
SUSPENSION/WHEELS/BRAKES
• 15”X7” Gravel Rims
• 15” Gravel Tyres
• McPherson strut front suspension & multi link rear suspension
• Braided brake line
• STI Gravel Brake System (4 pot front and 2 pot rear)
• Gravel Brake Pad
• STI hand brake system
• Wheel Scraper Guards
KEY FEATURES OF MIRT’s NEW RALLY CAR
Model: MY09 Subaru Impreza WRX STI Rally Car
Motor Image Racing with Possum Bourne Motorsport have prepared this car according to the FIA1 regulations for Production Rally cars to challenge for a third consecutive win in the Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC). The MY09 is a much different car to the MY07 car used by Motor Image Rally Team in 2007 and 2008. From the new hatch body, the more sophisticated multi link rear suspension design, computer controlled inlet and exhaust camshafts and improved centre differential control system being the big changes in the new Impreza.
Making the race/rally car
Motor Image Racing Team (MIRT) in Singapore has built 2 new MY09 Impreza WRX STI rally cars for Cody Crocker and Emma Gilmour to race in the Asia Pacific Rally Championship this year. Design and build of these cars feature some significant changes to the MY07 car used by Cody Crocker to win the APRC in 2007 and 2008. The big changes in the new Impreza WRX STI:
Roll Cage
The new hatch design MY09 Impreza required a completely new safety roll cage. The MIRT engineers took the chance to improve chassis rigidity and also improve safety with their new design. This new chrome-moly steel roll cage is designed to minimise chassis twist or flex during competition. This makes car handling much more precise and also helps prevent chassis fatigue when pounded over the rough rally roads of the APRC. This roll cage is also pushed to the maximum width inside the cabin giving our crew the best protection against side impact accidents during competition.
Chassis and suspension
The MY09 Impreza has 86mm longer wheelbase and 38mm wider track then the MY07 car. Also the new Impreza has a 5mm lower centre of gravity. These features improve car stability at speed and the wider track and lower centre of gravity will improve cornering performance. There is no weight change between these to generations of Impreza rally cars.
Our engineers have further lowered the centre of gravity of the new rally car by being careful to keep safety and other equipment such as circuit breakers and addition gauges mounted low inside the new WRX STI. This again improves handling for our new car. The MY09 Impreza has a McPherson strut front suspension and a multi link rear suspension compared with the MY07 car which had McPherson strut suspension both front and rear.
Early testing indicates that the new MIRT Impreza WRX STI rally car has improved grip and handling, specially the new rear suspension. However our engineers are now learning how to tune this new multi link suspension to gain the improved performance and yet ensure it can handle the very rough roads and extreme bumps these cars can encounter on the rally roads. This is a bigger challenge with a multi link
suspension system compared to the robust but less sophisticated McPherson strut system on the earlier Impreza.
Engine
Computer or ECU, controlled inlet and exhaust cam timing gives our engineers the chance to gain more power from the MY08/09 Impreza and also improve low rpm torque which is an advantage to the rally driver. The new standard MY09 Impreza is fitted with a CAN-bus2 network controlling all the sensors and gauges and linking to the ECU. Our engineers fit a Motec ECU which enables them to design custom maps for fuel, ignition, cam shaft advance and turbo boost for maximum torque and power. The Motec ECU is managed by our engineers also to control the new “fly by wire” throttle system on the new MY09 MIRT Impreza Rally car. The fitting of the Motec ECU and adapting it to work with this new CAN system and then designing the new program maps is a major part of the development of this new rally car
by our engineers. Also the new hatch Impreza WRX STI is fitted with a 10% bigger engine intercooler with improved air flow. Early testing shows this will enable cooler air into the engine improving power for our rally car.
Developing the MIRT MY09 Impreza Rally Car
Monday 16th February MIRT began a solid week of development and testing in Kota Tinggi, Malaysia of our new Impreza WRX STI rally car. Focus has been on chassis, suspension and engine tune.
Our engineers have modelled the new chassis and designed totally new springs and shock absorbers for rally use. Much of the test program was investigating different shock absorber tunes looking for the best traction which gives the driver a good feel of what the rally car is doing and also protecting the car from big bumps on the rally roads.
The rally test car is fitted with additional sensors on all wheels to measure suspension stroke and stage time. The specially fitted Computer Dash also monitors wheel speeds on each wheel, G- forces, plus all the data collected by the ECU giving our engineers masses of data to understand exactly how the car is behaving. This will help MIRT find the handling “sweet spot” for this new rally car.
During the chassis development testing additional sensors measuring engine performance will mean our technicians can continue improving engine tune on this MY08/09 rally car. In Malaysia we have the added advantage of setting an engine tune for hot and humid conditions, taking full advantage of the new intercooler design.
Our team is very encouraged with the early results form this testing. The MY09 MIRT rally car did over 250kms of testing on a very slippery rough APRC special stage. Cody Crocker and Emma Gilmour are very pleased with speed and handling. Specially the new MY09 rally car handled rough conditions very well. MIRT are looking forward with some confidence to the 2009 APRC.
