Less is More

ChumpCar has lots of rules. They are good rules. And they are in place to ensure that everyone, regardless of budget, can be competitive, and have a good time. A lot of those rules surround modifications. In short, you cant add any performance parts. So how do you make a car faster, and handle better? Well since I cant add horsepower or suspension, the next best solution is to save weight.

 The first, most common way to save weight is to remove the interior. This is a race car, afterall, and the interior just adds weight. So out comes the seats, carpet, center console, plastic trim pieces, seat belts, speakers, radio, spare tire, and anything else I dont need. In the case of this poor Impreza, that included a few dollars in change, pencils, hair ties, cigarette butts, and about 10 pounds of wet silt that was packed into various nooks and crannies of the trunk. Something tells me this car has had an illustrious past, which likely included a dip in some flood waters. That would explain the rust.

With the interior out, I moved on to the sound dampening. The Subaru Impreza was never destined to be a luxury car, but that didnt stop them from putting tons of sound dampening material on every interior panel of the car. This material is made out of asphalt-like tar. It is very heavy, and very sticky. In order to get it out, I have to wait for cool weather, and using a putty knife and a hammer to scrape, peel, and BASH it off of the sheet metal. This could take a while…

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