Went out to RFR today... the motor break-in is going well... too bad I can't say the same for the suspension.
I was braking into the horseshoe today when the left-front control arm failed. Left front tire immediately turned 90deg right and slammed into the fender locking it up. I went of in a straight line right up and off the turn. Had to hitch a ride back to Reno from a nice guy named Dimitri with a nice EVO to pick up the truck and trailer (figures the one time I don't trailer to the track, the car breaks). MikeK came back out with me to winch the car up off the track where Danny had dragged it with the ATV. It was a hassle, but we got it back to Reno.
So, the damage: it looks like the stamped steel control arm that comes on the WRX (as opposed to the lighter aluminum ones the STi's have) failed... tore straight in half (probably along the weld?). The front swaybar and LF endlink are toast. And worst of all, I'll bet the LF strut is probably busted, which is probably going to be a nightmare to find a replacement for under $1500 since those Tein SuperRace coilover were oh-so-unpopular.
The LF fender is mangled, but it was the one with all the fence damage on it already, so no big loss there. And I'm sure there are several other bits and pieces that are kaput (like the tie-rods and maybe the ball joint... and who knows how well the bearings will handle the sudden force of the tire jamming against the fender). At least the brakes seem okay, and the wheel is undamaged, though the rubbing on the tire may have rendered it untrackable, but it was a 2 year old 615.
But more importantly, here's what I learned: Earlier in the day in the 1st session out, I noticed the car seemed to pull to the right under hard braking at the end of the front straight. I even mentioned it to Jim Kunze who was out there today. So I pulled off immediately and put the car up on jack stands to inspect everything under there. I couldn't find anything wrong with the inspection, and the steering rack and everything related seemed fine and tight. And before heading back out, I took a few laps around the paddock and really tossed the steering back and forth and things all seemed okay. Then on the second session, I didn't really feel anything weird, but I wasn't braking as hard since I was just trying to settle into a rhythm to putt around putting miles on the car, but that session was cut short when a boost hose popped off at all of about 10psi of boost.
Then in the third session, without warning and under light braking, kerblammo. I can only guess there was a crack in the control arm that was allowing it to flex and causing the bump steer I was noticing under braking... then after coming over the bumpy part of the track leading to the horseshoe, it finally cracked enough that the light braking I did finished the job. But what I learned was: when something feels out of place, figure it out... don't get back in the car until you're sure you sorted it out. I was very lucky the failure happened at relatively low speed on a race track with run-off instead of at 80mph on the freeway on the way home.
Anyway, MikeK brought his camera out to document my misery... he'll probably post up some picks of the carnage. My question is (most to Cory since I'm sure he's dealt with cars at his show that come in during the winter after hitting curbs), how the hell do you move these things!? Mike and I just dragged the car up onto my trailer w/ the winch, but I'm not sure I know how to get it off, let alone up my driveway and into the garage so I can work on it. I guess I need some sort of wheel dolly... where do I get one? Summit? Harbor Freight?
Any suggestions you guys have, I'm all ears.