For the optimist, every dark cloud has a silver lining. When the aches and pains of 15 years of motocross started to hang over Dusty Nabor like a dark cloud, it was time for him to look elsewhere to satisfy his need for speed. His original plan was to go rally racing, so a Subaru STI was purchased with the intent of being transformed into a competitive racecar. While drawing up this master plan, a friend had another suggestion-build a time-attack vehicle. That resulted in the silver lining of this experience; the pristine time-attack STI that looks to make waves in the RTA?Modified Class.

Matter of Time

With the cost of a full rally-racing effort being prohibitive, a time-attack endeavor began to make a great deal of sense. Since time-attack competition rarely results in any car-to-car damage, one rarely needs to deal with the problems created by other competitors. "With time attack, you can be as aggressive or tame as you like. If you want to push it you can. But if you want to relax and have fun, you can do that as well. Time Attack is the complete opposite of motocross. In motocross, aggression is required to physically move your competition out of the way," says Dusty.

Getting Wet

Transitioning from motocross to piloting a time-attack vehicle hasn't been trouble free. Before hooking up with Design Craft Fabrication (DCF), Dusty entered his first time-attack competition only to experience a downpour of bad luck. After a complete engine failure, it was time to put the complete project under the direction of DCF. In working with Gary and the crew at DCF, Dusty decided to leave the build decisions to DCF. "I told Dusty that there was a bunch of new stuff that we wanted to develop and he gave us the green light," says Gary. This would include the V-mount intercooler and radiator setup, the custom front bumper and the unique fuel system.

Wings and Things

Of course, no car owner can completely divorce himself from the buildup of his vehicle. When Dusty told Gary that he wanted to get the Prodrive WRC wing for the vehicle, Gary chuckled and responded, "Good luck." When Dusty showed up a week later with the wing, Gary was floored. While the price paid falls under the "don't ask" category, Dusty says it was worth every penny. Considering that this STI is the first to sport the wing on a U.S. track, you can bet that the car gets plenty of attention.

Producing Power

DCF began working on the STI at ground zero, the engine. The block was disassembled and sent to Engine Supply in Santa Ana, CA to be bored 0.020-inch in preparation for new pistons. A recently-developed set of billet JE Pistons now fill the cylinders. Capable of supporting 1,200 horsepower, these billet JE Piston prototypes are completely machined yet share visible characteristics of JE Piston's Forged Side Relief-style pistons. The smaller skirt and shorter wrist pin combined with internal and external bracing result in a stronger, stiffer and lighter piston compared to typical forged pieces. BC Brian Crower (BC) H-beam connecting rods join the billet slugs to the BC crankshaft. With the shortblock prepared, attention shifted to the cylinder heads. Seeking improved airflow, a pair of Cosworth-ported cylinder heads complete with Cosworth's full valvetrain were sealed and secured to the block by way of Cosworth head gaskets and ARP head studs.

Air, Fuel & Power

Boost pressure for the EJ257 engine comes from a Garrett GT3582R turbocharger. An equal-length DC Sports stainless-steel manifold channels the exhaust gasses into the turbine. Once the turbine extracts the enthalpy from the exhaust, the spent gasses flow through a custom DCF downpipe and GReddy Racing Ti-C exhaust. The GT35R compressor draws air through a DCF filter before forcing the air through the custom DCF V-mount intercooler.

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