Team Tarzan

On Nov. 12, 2008, at Buttonwillow Raceway, Team Tarzan Impreza hovered on air jackstands while a dozen mechanics ran around the machine in a scurry. A few big-named automotive figures in plain street clothes observed the frenzy as the project car prepared to make its American debut. The highly anticipated Impreza, built by a collaboration of numerous Japanese aftermarket parts manufacturers, was ready to strike-equipped with the tremendous mindset of breaking the HKS CT230R's record time of 1:43.523 on the Super Lap Battle's 13B configuration. But this wasn't just a battle between the top Japanese tuners. Above that, this was a timeless battle between two distinct all-wheel-drive tuning camps where Mitsubishis and Subarus were put up against each other again to settle a provisional quarrel. Up to this point, the Lancer Evolution had been by far the fastest time attack machine in Japan for many years, and has made quite an impression on the import scene on our shores. The reason the Impreza was chosen for this project was that Tomei Powered had already acquired multiple victories with their Tomei/Arise GDB Impreza in the past. Moreover, Eiji "Tarzan" Yamada is closely affiliated with Subaru, and the all-star team had enough confidence to make the Impreza a time attack king for a change.

From the industry's prospective, time attack may be defined simply as a competition for advancement and implementation of new automotive technology within the given regulations to set higher standards for the sport. The determined goal for the vehicle also requires careful allocation of the given budget granted by the participating sponsors of the team. Luckily for this project, Cusco, Tomei Powered, and Voltex represented the majority of the funding, combined with the generous support from Hankook and Cyber Evo. The American time attack scene is still relatively fresh, where during the previous year an HKS Evo VIII, piloted by Nobuteru Taniguchi, managed to smash our existing record and completely alter the par. This proved to the world the potential outcome of a veteran manufacturer putting serious effort into this sport. Much like drifting, the Japanese are still arguably the originators of this sport. They hold an upper hand in terms of experience, despite the United States having similar concepts like the NASA time trials and Pikes Peak Hill Climb. Nevertheless, it takes a stern amount of patience and a strive to build a machine and have it perform above the rest in a foreign country.

With a long list of trials and tribulations experienced with the project, the team frequently wondered if the machine would make it to the United States by the end of the year. There was no time to test and tune on American soil, thus several of the engineers at Cusco and Tomei were rumored to have flown abroad to inspect the course beforehand, right down to the last digit of course altitude change and road surface grit. The vehicle was planned to literally roll off its trailer onto the track and make its attack with no hesitation. All engine, suspension, and aerodynamic data were acquired at various circuits in Japan, but the engineers did not forget to take into account the different kind of environment the machine intended to be unleashed in. The red, white, and blue-schemed vehicle was built exclusively for the American racetracks, no pun intended. Cusco used much of their experience and knowledge gained from their involvement in the GT300 races to have the vehicle perform and endure to the level of a GT car.