Area52 Autosport

Great video of the SimTek / Area 52 Autosport Impreza competing at the 2019 Keith Pattison Memorial Sprint at Blyton Park and ending up with a class win by 6 seconds. Couldn’t quite achieve fastest time of day though, that went to a carbon monocoque 1000hp per ton single seater!
When sprinting we are able to remove the 34mm FIA restrictor for a little more fun... this takes power up to circa 460hp from 360hp, torque stays the same at circa 750Nm/550lbft.

DoorSlammers 2019
With our entry confirmed for DoorSlammers 2019 we headed down to Santa Pod on the Friday for qualifying in the Webster Engineering 4 Cylinder Class. Format for the weekend was top 16 to qualify, then cars would be drawn out of a hat as to who faced who in the elimination shoot out rounds.
The only change to Dragshed from last year was fresh tyres and an oil change. Keep it simple lol.
... 1st run of the day resulted in a broken rear driveshaft, luckily we had a spare... a few minutes later we were ready to run again. After a few hours cueing Clive lined up... not the best launch but great shift into 2nd, not so clean shift into 3rd with a double ignition cut, decent into 4th but halfway through 4th accidentally caught the clutch pedal activating another cut... 9.1 @ 156mph. That was enough for us to qualify 2nd fastest. After what seemed like the cue of eternity we managed to get a 3rd run late on. Unfortunately on the shift to 3rd the car crabbed sideways and Clive hit 1st instead! Last time that happened we lost valves...when the ECU says 10293rpm the engine usually says no! Fortunately this time I think we got away with it...
So with qualifying done and only 0.03s off the fastest qualifying time we waited until the main event on the Sunday to see who Clive would be drawn against in the first round of the elimination shoot out.
Richie Webb. Arrg! Only the class favourite and Europe’s fastest Beatle that has run a 7.9! The saving grace was that we had seen him run on the Friday and he appeared to be having a few set up issues. So we devised a plan, not a particularly cunning plan it must be said but a plan all the same. Clive was to keep his foot in no matter what, and I was to turn it up to 11. Simples. After a few shenanigans during the staging the lights finally went green and we immediately break another driveshaft! (front one this time). Clive keeps his foot in but to no avail, Richie runs a 9.4 and Clive a (hugely impressive, all things considered) 10.3 @ 150mph.
So that was that, early bath time unfortunately. Great event though, some awesome machinery from all over Europe and we will certainly be there next year!
The video is from our 2nd qualifying run. Thanks for reading :)
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Hire Car Sorted 🇺🇲 Now off to find the little green men and say Hello...

Steve Simpson & Dave Jackson: SimTek/Area52Autosport B13 Impreza.
2019 Jack Neal Memorial Rally.
After the disappointment of the last Rally in which Steve Simpson & Dave Jackson in the SimTek/Area52Autosport B13 Impreza had lead all the way until the penultimate stage and then suffered clutch failure, we were hoping for a better result this time round. With a little bit of fine fettling to the suspension geometry (and a new clutch!) we knew we would be going out with a good ...opportunity for a possible win.
The competition was strong with last years winner Tom Morris/Colin Harkness in the Skoda Fabia S2500 and John Marshall/Scott Crawford in a TEG prepped B13 Impreza. We knew both were going to be quick.
After the 1st Stage we were joint 1st with Tom and John only 1 second behind. Another win on Stage 2 and our lead grew to 4 seconds.
Stage 3 turned into a mare with Steve pushing hard he locked the rears on entering one of the chicanes which pirouetted him off the circuit...
A few adjustments made to the electronic diff control to add a little more stability, Steve & Dave, now down in 3rd position, set off on Stage 4. Unfortunately in the rush at the line Steve accidentally switched off the diff control and ended up driving the whole stage with an unlocking centre diff! He obviously managed it well, only dropping a few seconds to both Tom & John who at this point were joint leaders with a 5 second advantage over Steve.
Steve battled back over the next 2 stages and by lunchtime was back in joint 1st with John. Tom falling at the wayside at this point, 9 seconds behind.
So, with 4 Stages left it was looking like a straight battle between the 2 Imprezas (funnily enough, both 2006 model years and both red with white graphics!)
John was quickest on Stage 7 by 1 second, Steve fought back on Stage 8 by 3 seconds, giving us a 2 second lead going into the final 2 Stages...
However, going into Stage 9 we knew we were up against it, we had been on the same set of tyres all day and they were pretty much perished at this point. With Stages 9 & 10 having some fast 5th/6th gear bends we knew we would be fighting some time scrubbing understeer and that bore out with Steve dropping 3 seconds on Stage 9.
So faced with a 1 second deficit with 1 Stage to go Steve made the decision to swap the front tyres to an older but less worn set. This proved to be a master stroke, with Stages 9 & 10 being the same layout he bettered his own Stage 9 time by a full 7 seconds! So for the next minute or 2 we twiddled our thumbs waiting to see what John could do... fortunately for us he couldn’t match Steve’s time, carding a 3.59 compared to Steves 3.57.
So victory to us by 1 second!
Video is taken from the final Stage, S10.
Big thanks to Adgespeed for crewing and thanks to John Marshall for keeping Steve honest!
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Wishing Everyone A Very Merry Christmas 🎄 🎅🤶 & Happy New Year 🍾🍾🍾
Thank you for your support and custom this year and we hope to see you all again in 2019.
We are now closed until Monday 7th January 2019 😁

The debut rally for Steve Simpson’s SimTek/Area52 Autosport B13 Rally Car. If you look back a few months on our timeline you will see a feature on this particular car .It generated a lot of interest due to the turbo positioning and custom fabrication involved. The remit for this car was to try and get as close to WRC performance as we could but with B13/GPN running costs. Well now was the time to see if it would actually do the business!
On a superbly British February morning...
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Merry Christmas everyone, we would like to thank you all for the support over the year and wish you all the best for 2018.
We are now closed until January 2nd. 🎄🎄🎄🍾🍾🍾🎅🎅🎅

It’s not every day you build one of these. This is a very rare Subaru EG33 Engine, effectively a 2.2 flat four with an extra pair of cylinders. Originally found in the Subaru SVX (Subaru Vehicle X) Coupe of the early 1990’s, these put out 231bhp in naturally aspirated from. This one has been fitted with the Closed Deck Insert and converted to run 14mm Head Studs. Blueprinted and assembled with Forged internals this one should make quite a bit more!

We took the Drag Shed to Santa Pod in late September, updates from last season included a fresh engine build, slightly different cam timing and an Accusump. We also changed over to straight Race fuel as opposed to the Race fuel/30% Ethanol mix we where running last year, mainly to allow for more injector head room.
The first couple of runs at low boost allowed us to dial the car in to the track conditions. One of the issues we had last year was oil surge throughout 1st gear. ...A quick check of the Data Logs and it was clear that the Accusump was doing its job!
After lunch we turned the boost up to 2.6 Bar/38psi, the first run looked pretty good however the time said no! A low to mid 9… looking at the 60 ft time it was clear Clive had crept on the line at the start. Next run resulted in an 8.91 - just a hundredth slower than his personal best. The Data Logs showed that we were now hitting the rev limiter before the finish line… bumping the limiter up to ~9600rpm would cure that!
Due to track stoppages we only managed one more run but it was a new personal best for Clive, 8.89 @ 161mph! Another scroll through the Data Logs only to find we had spent 0.3s on the limiter between 3rd & 4th gear… bugger! If only… (probably the most common phrase used in motorsport lol)
We also attended Santa Pod’s Flame & Thunder Event this past weekend… the aim, as ever, was to go faster. Unfortunately we had plug/coil/ignition problems and never completed a run. Big shame as there was a huge crowd in attendance… If only ;)
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Steve Simpson’s (SimTek Engine Management Systems) B13 34mm Group A Rally car.
The remit here from Steve was to develop an engine/powertrain package to rival a World Rally Car’s performance but without the WRC costs. Now that is a tall order!
Developed over many months, this particular Engine package features custom Pistons, Connecting Rods, Camshafts, Combustion Chambers and Turbocharger set up. The Turbos positioning allows for a much shorter Exhaust Manifold and Intercoole...r pipework arrangement. This cuts down on lag and vastly improves engine response. Lots of other ‘stuff’ going on which unfortunately we cannot divulge!
The end result is an engine that develops 364Bhp and a stunning 775Nm/575FtLb of Torque at only 3250rpm! This is achieved on the mandatory 34mm Restrictor and Carless DEV2 Fuel and delivered to the ground via a Modena 6 Speed Sequential gearbox. Hopefully one day we’ll get around to running it without the 34mm restrictor!
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Full Time Qualified Mechanic / Vehicle Technician
We are looking for an enthusiastic, hard working and motivated person to join our team working in our extremely busy automotive workshop in Kirkby-In-Ashfield, Nottingham.
We specialise in the modifying and repairing of performance (and non performance) vehicles, we have been specialising In the Subaru marque for over 15 years. We try to keep everything in house and therefore under our direct control. From engine design, engi...ne building and engine calibration/mapping to parts design and fabrication. Quality and control is key.
Duties are wide and varied and will include: General Servicing, Repairs and Diagnostics. Parts fitting including OEM and aftermarket products. More specialised work including the customising of engine bays, parts fabrication , Etc.
The ideal individual must be competent, practical, methodical, show initiative and be able to work to a high standard regardless of the task. Must have varied experience, own tools and Driving Licence.
To apply for this role please Email the following: Name / Address / Phone Number / Education / Grades / Training / Experience / Job History / Salary requirement / Why you would like to work here and any questions you may have, to cheryl@area52autosport.com
Please don’t contact us via Social Media regarding this role. Thank You
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Today is our Run What Ya Brung Dyno Day, still a few spaces available.