RT Spec Fast 4's Road Test 
 
 
 
 
 

 

"the fastest car ever recorded by our Correvit, pulled 1g in acceleration off the line, quicker than a $300K F355 Ferrari!" 

Motor Magazine  

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Copped its fair share of criticism from punters, potential buyers, past owners and critics alike, has the now generation WRX.  The much-lauded ‘bug eye’ MY01-model has been branded paunchy, amongst other things, with the hard-core following deeming it underdone in terms of the precedent set by the original ram raider.  Clearly, there’s some room for improvement.

The mere mention of a new incarnation of the model a few years ago had Australian turbo specialists APS (APS Engineering) scrambling to the local dealer to place an order, deposit in hand.  An incredibly effective marketing tool, is a specially-souped current model WRX, and there are few better vehicles to promote cutting edge engine performance technology than the most easily recognizable hi-po, all bells-and-whistles Japanese cult car of the era.

But as the story often goes with concepts conceived south of the border, the APS WRX’s intentions are not outwardly open.  On the contrary, the unassuming, introverted approach to exterior enhancement affords the owner the anonymity he oft’ desires.  With the “oi-check-me-out” mentality uncultured in most Melbournites, the emphasis is left to performance.  Here here!  Thus apart from the tell-tale front mounted intercooler, discreetly disguised in black, a set of coil overs and OZ Prodrive 18 x 7 ½ inch gun-metal grey alloys wrapped in 235/40/18 P Zeros serve as the only indication there is much more to this Rex than meets the retina.

The subject mule pictured received the comprehensively-developed and recently released APS RT-Spec MYO1 turbo kit.  It comes complete with the components necessary for the induction system overhaul, and is fitted and individually mapped and dyno-tuned to suit the particular vehicle with 48-hour drive in/drive out service.

The RT-Spec kit consists a 250kW ball-bearing turbo, broad R-series front-mount intercooler in alloy or incognito (black), high-flow air intake system, high-flow turbine outlet and high output 3-inch to 2 ½ inch exhaust system.  A Unichip engine management piggy-backs the Suby ECU, assisted by a Unichip boost mapping module and a high-vol dual vent APS blow-off valve, giving the modded Rex some audible street cred.  APS tunes-in the system at each interval in the rev range, therefore tailoring maximum output to each individual engine’s characteristics and supplies before and after power graphs to demonstrate the level of improvement.
 

 
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