Air Attack

By Amassing a Stash of Time Attack Silverware,cody Miles’ Air-ride Equipped Track Impreza Isredefining What a ‘bagged’ Car Is Capable of 

- Luke Munnell

Forget everything you think you know about air suspension and its supposed performance limitations. Next, forget the same about Subarus and the various mechanical mishaps you may have heard they suffer when made into track cars. And finally, forget everything you know about Time Attack's Unlimited to Street class hierarchy and its presumed corresponding lengthening lap times. Cody Miles—owner and driver of this air-bagged, 500-whp, Time Attack record-breaker—has a few things to say about that.

Cody was just two years of age when he first started riding dirt bikes on his family's 17 acres of dusty, desert land in Agua Dulce, California. At 5, he started racing them, a fascination that lasted until his mid-teens. Then he realized that in order to be competitive, it required the involvement of sponsors and endorsements. When he turned 10, however, his need for speed began shifting from two wheels to four. "We had a few big, rear-wheel-drive boat cars, like Olds mobiles and Plymouths, just sitting around that my dad would let me drive around in the dirt," Cody explains. "At first it was just learning the basic controls, getting a feel for gas and brake... but before I knew it, that racing instinct took over and I was learning how to apply throttle in corners, over steer into straights, and correct counter-steer. Just basically throwing the car around in the dirt and figuring it out as I went along."

By 16, Cody had purchased his first vehicle, a Tacoma truck, which he gradually modified pre-runner style to better enjoy the Agua Dulce landscape. His years racing bikes and messing' with cars had always been about the driving; modifying the Tacoma was his first foray into learning mechanics and how to make improvements where needed. He naturally made friends along the way, but they were mostly into cruising nearby canyon roads in modified 240SXs, Subarus, and Mustangs.