Mike Makowski was introduced to cars at a very early age. Ever since he can remember he has been speed obsessed and an auto fanatic. He started saving for his first car when he got his first job. He bought his first car his freshman year in high school. That first car was a 93 Subaru SVX with a Legacy 5spd swap. After driving the car for about 6 months he traded it for a 73 Gremlin X with a 392. When he got restless with a RWD daily driver in Colorado, he then sold it and bought a 92 Mitsubishi Gallant VR4 that was converted to a SCCA Club Open Class Car and fell in love with Rally. Mike kept the Gallant for a year and toyed with competing with it but didn’t have the funds to. So the fully stripped and caged Gallant was his daily driver for a year.
In early 2005, Mike got a job at Logic Imports, which was a Dyno Dynamics AWD tuning facility, and he worked and soaked up as much knowledge as he could during his 2 years there. During his time working there he was able to use the shop space and work on his own car, and he also got to know Jon Cooley over at Flatirons Tuning.
His car at the time and currant car is a 98 Subaru Impreza Wagon. He bought it with a full 02 WRX swap. When he was at Logic he ended up doing a 2.5L swap in to the car. He took a STI short block and mated it up to his WRX 2.0L heads, installed a 16G turbo, a large top mount intercooler with all the supporting mods and when the tuning was done, the car put down 287 AWHP @ 15psi.
When Logic Imports moved the shop to Florida, Mike stayed in Colorado, and came to work at Flatirons Tuning. He has been at Flatirons for over two and a half years now. After going over the products that Flatirons caries and installing a part here and there his car has become what it is today. Some of the majors changes to his set-up are, a 20G turbo, front mount intercool, Kelford race cams, Cobb Access Port, and a STi RA gear set. It is now putting down 320 AWHP @ 15psi on 91 octane and 338awhp @ 16psi on E85. He went with the upgraded cams because with most 2.0L-2.5L hybrid set ups the heads will start to run out of efficiency in the higher rpms. He went with the RA gear set because the 02-03 WRX’s have been known for weaker transmissions. The RA gear set is also has shorter gear ratios, and are great for track applications.
Mike really enjoys working with the Flatirons Tuning team, even though every paycheck just ends up in his cars. While he has been at Flatirons his love for racing has grown. Flatirons Tuning has always been involved with the Rally America running in the Production GT class, and has put on many Subaru track events. The Flatirons Tuning track days have been at the Golden State patrol track and now the new High Plains Race Way and run by the Go 4 It Racing School.
In the future Mike would really like to get into some kind of racing. He is planning on prepping his Impreza as a strictly road racing car, and his 96 Legacy with a WRX swap for some rally cross events or maybe even some Rally America events some day. With the Flatirons Tuning Team’s knowledge base, and as a source for performance and OEM parts, Mike is here to keep your car modifying and racing addiction going!
