WRECKAGE LESSONS; Twisted sheetmetal speaks to State Farm researchers.(News)(Column)

Byline: BOB GRITZINGER As the story goes, the 2004 Subaru WRX STi was northbound on Interstate 55 near Springfield, Illinois, when the driver took an exit, tried to stop on wet pavement, and hammered the white-winged rally car into a light pole at the top of the ramp. A total wreck, the Subie was junkyard-bound when Earl Hyser stepped in to detour the heap of twisted metal a few miles up the road to the State Farm Insurance Vehicle Research Facility in Bloomington.

"I want to put the wing on our Prius,'' jokes Hyser, whose mischievous grin belies the seriousness of the ...

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