As usual I have to start with the preliminaries...

This thread is not about street racing, reckless driving on public roads, or other illegal behavior. We do not condone unsafe driving of any kind and discussion of it is not permitted here.

I've noticed that a fair number of computer programmer and game developer types are also big car people, and I'd like to make this thread a common place to discuss everything to do with modding cars and racing them at all levels. I'll start with my own ride, pictured when I first bought it in April:

2013 Subaru WRX hatchback, photographed in the five minutes it was still stock :D

After an incident, it's now in the shop for a total engine rebuild (paid for by insurance) and I'm having a few other things done to it while it's down and apart. It'll be coming back with Cosworth forged pistons, Eagle rods, an upgraded Exedy clutch, new turboback exhaust (Invidia DP/Corsa CBE), upgraded engine tuning and some new mounts and bushings and things. It's not going to make a ton of power yet but I'm hoping for something around +15% hp/+25% tq and a solid platform for more significant modifications down the line. Gonna put some upgraded coilovers on there too (Bilstein/RCE, non adjustable). I want to do some external aesthetic stuff but I'm not sure what yet, apart from rally armor mudflaps. Going to tackle that after it has an engine again and my wallet recovers from the auxiliaries that have been adding up.

I'd like to get into some racing, namely autocross and especially rallycross. Trouble is that the nearest autox event is an hour from me, rallyx is double that, and I'm not a morning person. Getting up at 5am to go drive really fast is difficult verging on physically impossible for me, so I'm still trying to figure out how to reconcile that. I'm also interested in HPDE type events but they're quite expensive and I'm not sure how the WRX will hold up as it's not really a "track car". Still might be worth trying once, perhaps with an extra set of tires and brake pads on hand.

Cosworth forged pistons

Did you raise the mechanical compression ratio any? or did you just go forged for N20 and general beefiness?

I suppose we should all start by introducing our cars:

1971 chevelle malibu convertible. tall deck 454, .030 over bore, 1/4" stoke, 489 CID, 8.0L v8. World heads, biggest valves, custom roller cam, Offenhauser individual runner intake (basically a tunnel ram with no plenum, just long straight runners), twin Holley 1150's. JB pistons w/ relocated wristpins (1/4" higher) and a mild dome, 10.28 to 1 compresion ratio, Crower long rods (0.100 longer), Crower crank, lightened, internally balanced, 1/4" stroke. seasoned notch relieved tall deck 454 block, sonic tested, no core shift, factory 4 bolt mains. balanced and blueprinted, 688 HP, 700-800+ ft-lbs torque. TCI torque converter and turbo 400 trans. 12 bolt with moroso posi, hotchkiss tubular a arms, herb adams swaybars front and rear, edelbrock boxed rear arms, eiback springs, koni shocks, 15x12 mags on all 4 corners, w p395-60R15's on all 4 corners. about 13" wide tires, with 11.5" wide tread contact. twin nascar radiators, every MSD gadget on the planet, 720 watts of ultra clean JBL and alpine gear. back seat is a sub box, 12" subs, 6x9's, 6" rounds, and satellite tweeters. twin nascar radiators, 6" fender flares, Ferrari f-40 wing. burns a gallon of gas every 5 minutes at idle. The first car i ever bought. purchased the summer before my senior year in High School.

1971 GMC 1500 stepside pickup. retired 1/4 mile dragster. narrowed and tubbed. 30 over 350, 10.25 to 1 compression, Isky roller cam, Brodix 11-x heads, biggest values, offy IR intake, twin 1150's. 511 HP, 600+ ft libs torque. TCI conveter and turbo 400. Narrowed single track 10 bolt. I also have a full size 12 bolt posi for it. 800 watt stereo with dual coil subs. The bass hit so hard it cracked the windshield!

1986 Porche 944. All stock. This all aluminum car with a straight 6 was my idea of getting a "commuter car". <g>.

1999 Z-28 camaro all stock except for alpine stereo. 4 speed automatic. only 60K miles on it! its just now due for its very first tune up ever. The only new car I ever bought. this is my "late model POS".

2014 Jonway YY-150T scooter. the lightest fastest 150cc scooter out there. 60+ MPH all day long.

Cosworth forged pistons

Did you raise the mechanical compression ratio any? or did you just go forged for N20 and general beefiness?

Nope, stock compression. You don't want to go to higher compression on an FI motor, they're happier running lower compression at high amounts of boost. The car was originally going to be rebuilt with a stock shortblock but I decided it was as good a time as any to go forged internals. The stock cast pistons are pretty sensitive to detonation, with a tendency to crack at the ringlands and fail. Even stock WRX engines have a reputation for it, pretty big screw up on their part. Remember, all these modern day small motors run lightweight internals for fuel efficiency and cost reasons. (And throttle response.) The new engine should be strong and reliable - Cosworth pistons aren't the cheapest but I'm told they don't suffer some of the longevity problems of other forged pistons in this application. The transmission will likely fail before this engine has a problem.

Trouble is that the nearest autox event is an hour from me, rallyx is double that, and I'm not a morning person. Getting up at 5am to go drive really fast is difficult verging on physically impossible for me

Just suck it up and do it once. Chances are pretty good you'll find a way to do it quite regularly.

I autocross 25-30 times a year. I'm only about 40 minutes away, but I run dedicated AutoX tires so I have to swap wheels/tires at the site after arriving and before leaving.

My car:

No power mods yet. Just suspension: Shocks, springs, swaybars, control arms, camber plates, torsen diff, 18x105 wheels and 315/30 tires

Power mods are planned for next spring. Essentially this: http://www.brenspeed.com/cj519.html only I'll piecemeal it together myself as I'm going to do something different for exhaust and local dyno tuning.

And a video from an Autocross run last year:

Go the night before and stay nearby?

I'm currently restoring a '78 Nova.

Just replaced the torque converter, and is able to be driven again. When I got it I had to replace the carb, v-belts, power-steering pump, high-pressure return hose, and a few other things.

It is drive able now. But it generally needs some coercing when starting from cold.

Here are some pics of it. Aesthetically it looks the same when I got it. Functionally it's doing a lot better after some TLC. Thinking about moving to the body next.

http://imgur.com/a/jU5CN

http://imgur.com/a/QJKtt

Edit: Huh, for some reason can't get my images to embed into the post :/ I've done it before.