Yup. Your eyes are not fooling you. This is a rally machine based off the new Forester. It was a sad day when we heard Subaru was pulling out of WRC but it’s good to see them venturing into new projects. Expect to see more during the 2010 Dakar, as this beast piloted by Japanese drive Yoshiu Ikemachi and Argentinian driver Gabriel Pozzo, make its debut.

Subie Invasion is a great annual event that is held during the week of SEMA, by the Flat4LV Subaru Club. This event gets bigger and bigger every year featuring raffles, meets, and a drive, making this 3 days of Subaru filled fun. This year, we here at RallySportDirect.com had a chance to team up with Invidia USA to sponsor this great event and give back to Subaru community.

Thursday night after a long day at the SEMA show, our representative Kirill and a representative from Invidia USA rendevouzed at the In-n-Out meet. Showing up early, they were able to meet the organizers of this event and witnessed all the hard work and effort that was put into this event. Big ups from all of us!

As people and cars started showing up, so did many of the leading manufactures and shops from around the country. There was even a special appearance from Tarzan himself! An event like this allows us shops to hang out and mingle with fellow enthusiasts.

As the night got closer to the end, the long awaited raffle began. To start things off, shirts and key chains were being raffled off and eventually leading to the grand items that were provided by Invidia USA and RallySportDirect.com. 2 lucky winners each got a downpipe and another 2 received up-pipes!

To kick off Saturday, there was a huge meet, car show, and another give away. This event was held at Subaru Of Las Vegas, who were kind enough to shut down their normal operations to allow the swarm of Subaru owners to partake in this gathering. Making their debuts were the Subarus from the SEMA show, Time Attack cars, and privately owned monsters. The Las Vegas Humane Society also brought out some of its pups to come and play! Vendors brought their new products to show off and Subaru of America even brought some of their new rally cars.

Sunday, we wrapped up this weekend with a group drive that led the die-hards on a several hour cruise into the mounts near Las Vegas. This gave us all a chance to enjoy the company of other cars and enthusiasts, the clean air, and it was a great way to wind down from the crazy week of SEMA and Subaru Invasion events.

This year was great and went without a hitch. It was definitely great meeting everyone. If hanging out with people who share the same passion as you do and seeing in person the best Subies in the country tickles your fancy, than be sure to join us next year for an even greater experience!

[View with PicLens]

November 2, 2009 – Vista, CA – On the heels of Ken Block’s insane Gymkhana videos and the groundbreaking snowboarding/rally part to close out DC’s MTN.LAB 1.5 video, the DC Co-Founder and Rally Team Driver has joined with Subaru to make the world’s fastest cat track operation automobile for backcountry access for snowboarding. Dubbed the TRAX STI, a new teaser video from the test session for the highly-modified, snow-ready (to say the least) car is up on YouTube, and check out “0-60 Magazine’s” Web site for an interview with Block and photo gallery featuring the best photos from the session.

The TRAX STI is an experimental automobile that starts with Block’s competition-ready Subaru WRX STI before ditching the tires, adding snow cat tracks, and upgrading to some next-level suspension to create the ultimate backcountry shred car. Prepared by Vermont SportsCar, performance modifications include 400-hp and features Group N competition rally dampers made by EXE-TC and a KAPS 5-speed close-ratio dog-engagement gearbox. Under the hood sits a 2.5 liter, 4-cylinder, turbocharged and intercooled STI engine tuned with a MOTEC M800 ECU.

Completing the TRAX STI is a sleigh to be pulled behind the car, designed to hold four snowboarders, their snowboards, and all their gear. The sleigh’s body is 100 percent custom designed and constructed of hand-laid fiberglass-though the sleigh is not seen in this teaser video, look for it in future videos next year. Altogether, this is one car ready for backcountry access and snowboarding.

“The TRAX STI is a very fun project for me,” said Block. “It combines a two of my favorite things in life: driving a rally car in the snow and snowboarding in the powder in the backcountry. Having a house in Utah (the DC MTN.LAB), I get to enjoy lots of sliding around on the snow, but this project takes that to a whole new level as I can now hit up the backcountry in the fastest snow cat ever. It’s incredibly fun having the ability to push the high-power Subaru on the slopes and to backcountry spots that normal cars could never go!”

Though the project was top-secret, the TRAX STI got blown up online way before it was supposed to-it was first caught and posted on YouTube in April 2009 by a random fan with a low-quality video recorder. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0akfZWNp2E

But that was just the beginning. The new video posted this morning shows what went down in just one day of testing and driving the car. It shows the car in all it’s high definition glory, as Block puts it through its paces up snow-covered mountains, down them, and even around un-expecting snowmobilers filmed at the DC MTN.LAB and Guardsman Pass, both in Utah. Stay tuned for more video to emerge as the car gets used more and more.

“0-60 Magazine’s” interview has all the behind the scenes on the TRAX STI, including the exclusive photos of the car. It’s the place to learn more about the car, how it performs, and why Block had the darn thing built in the first place. View it here: http://www.0-60mag.com/online/?p=20459. The next issue of the magazine will have a two page spread featuring the car.

Coordinating with the launch of this new video, DC is releasing new items from Block’s TeamWorks Collection. Added to the already wide assortment of product inspired by Block and his rally racing endeavors, new items include a puffy jacket and a leather jacket. View the fresh goods now in the DC Online Store at store.dcshoes.com. http://store.dcshoes.com/family/index.jsp?categoryId=3631313.

This sexy machine belongs to one of our local customers who you might know as Ruthless617 on Nasioc. Rocking his brand new set of Enkei RPF-1’s, he is ready to mob the mean streets of Utah.

For those not looking to go for an agressive fitment, these RPF-1’s in 18×8 +45 with 235/40/18 tires are a perfect fit. No fender rolling is necessary! Look good and not rub, what more could you ask for?

This little neat video shows the manufacturing and assembly of Blouch’s newest bolt-on turbo line, the Dominator XTR. Blouch is known to make high quality turbos and this video shows just that.

RallySportDirect.com is proud to announce a collaboration with Invidia USA to sponsor the Raffle at The Subaru Invasion of Las Vegas during the SEMA 2009!

Come join us at the In-N-Out Burger on the evening of Thursday November 5th, starting at 7pm, for your chance to win some great prizes and to meet the enthusiasts and the manufactures who are part of this great industry!
Then come out to join us at Subaru of Las Vegas for the Saturday car show and meet, where you can show everyone why your Subaru deserves to be on top!

See you there and don’t forget to come by and say Hello!

ATI really took their sweet time on these 2 applications and you can tell just by looking at them. These babies almost look OEM when installed and will hold 3, 60mm gauges. Made from high quality ABS plastic, they will last a long while. If you’ve been waiting for a clean way to mount your gauges on the EVO X or 2008-2010 STi, than give us a call!

TOLL FREE 1-888-45-RALLY

LOCAL 801-748-4910

Also, please take advantage of our new business hours,

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“One of the most significant deals in rally history. That’s how news of Ken Block’s imminent move to the World Rally Championship is being touted in the motorsport press. And we couldn’t agree more.

Now don’t get us wrong. We enjoy watching Block’s famous antics behind the wheel of his purpose-built Gymkhana Subaru Impreza as much as the next guy. Probably more. But we can’t help but feel that the superstar’s otherworldly car control skills couldn’t be put to better use than pure showboating. And this deal could give him exactly that opportunity, graduating from the relatively low-visibility Rally America series to the top-tier WRC.

Since Subaru, for whom Block competes in the USA, pulled out of the WRC, Ken’s been hunting for another ride in the premier series, and reports now indicate that he – along with former Subaru driver Chris Atkinson – will be driving the 2009-spec Ford Focus WRC for the new Monster Energy Drink World Rally Team (which could, incidentally, go some way towards explaining what the two rally stars were doing behind the wheel of that old Ford Escort). Once the details are hammered out, both Block and Atkinson are expected to start next season in select rounds of the championship before challenging the full calendar the year after, presumably behind the wheel of the new rally-spec Fiesta.”

-Noah Joseph @ www.autoblog.com

PS – just in case you were wondering what video they are talking about…

LIC Motorsports 2004 Subaru STi @ SubieFest 2009 on 10.10.2009 at Willow Springs Raceway, Rosamond, CA. Running our modified class car in the unlimited Time Attack and clicking off a 1:22.591

We are just like our customers in more aspects then you might think.
When parts come in that we have never seen before, we are interested in what is included, how it looks, feels, and whats all involved with making it fit/work.

We here at RallySportDirect.com, are always thinking of new ideas of how we can pass along the information from what we see everyday to you our customers. Then the idea of “Whats in the Box?” came around.

The items are discussed in appearance, quality, fitment, and functionality. Allow you to get the best idea of what the item is, even before you have a chance to look at one in person. Some of the items will get followed up with a in-depth how to write up, so stay tuned for those. However our goal with this, is to allow you to get an idea of what the items are, why they are around, how they will benefit you and your needs.

Sit back enjoy several of the videos that we have done, and many-many more to come. So subscribe to our channel at www.youtube.com/rallysportdirect and follow us for new “Whats in the Box?”, exhaust , and track day videos!