Justin Chapman bought his Tangerine Orange Pearl 2013 Crosstrek 4 years ago with approximately 32,000 miles on it. With racking the odometer up to just over 100,000 miles now; the car has seen some drastic changes in its time. At first, Justin explained to me that he enjoyed being able to go off-road with the car, but ultimately it was not what he wanted to do with it. Starting out on WRX struts and lowering springs along with white Rota SVN-Rs, the car stayed fairly subtle for a bit. It was a clean, put-together car but not over-the-top bold… yet. A couple months passed and the orange Crosstrek started to really stand out from the crowd of normal Subarus. Like the way of many enthusiasts, lowering springs were switched out for coilovers, one set of wheels were switched out for another set and more subtle changes appeared over time. At the same time this was all happening, Justin was in the middle of another large project. By implementing his original hexagon flow pattern down the side of the car to give it some fun and interesting visuals, this layout helped set the tone for Justin’s newly established brand that would assist bringing custom vinyl layouts (some even DIY) to local enthusiasts – Atypical Designs. After this is where the Crosstrek would take hold of the idea and concept of being atypical. 

Justin has never been a stranger to going outside the box with modifying cars. If you’ve seen his past car, a San Remo Red 2004 WRX, he and with the help of some friends developed a custom rear diffuser, along with doing what was presumed to be the first center-exit exhaust done on a GD Chassis Impreza. Years ago, and a close friend had created a car group called “Atypical”, and the phrase and name has stayed close to him ever since. It was a simple word that represents the idea of embracing originality, no matter what form that came it. “No matter what people think or say, at the end of the day, you can’t be afraid to be different.” He told me. This mindset is what has made Justin’s Crosstrek so unique and original from many other builds. It wasn’t the idea of pleasing anyone, it was doing what he wanted to do regardless of any other outside influence. With that in mind, projects on the orange Subaru took off. 

From both a second perspective and Justin’s, the Crosstrek gives off the vibe of “Time Attack Racecar” meets “stance and show.” Somewhere in the middle of those two completely different categories is where this car resides. He knew what he wanted the car to look like, but one of the biggest challenges he had came from the lack of aftermarket support for the newer Impreza chassis cars, so Justin had to get creative with many of the pieces and modifications. Starting with putting together a new center-exit exhaust to give the car a bit more volume out of the stock FA20, more and more custom pieces appeared. Sporting a newer 2016 front bumper, an aero kit was fabricated that consists of front splitters, side skirts and a large rear diffuser. This takes care of the lower portion of the car, but it is impossible to overlook the massive chassis-mount wing made by Battle Aero planted out back. Through cross-referencing and matching up part numbers, it was figured out that an 08-14 Impreza chassis-mount wing would bolt right up to the car. Most would think “Well, there is no way you can open the hatch now.” WRONG! Although it may seem like there isn’t any way to open the rear hatch fully, the wing will actually tilt back away from the car, giving the rear hatch access to fully open.

The trunk area is where the air tank and compressors for his Airlift V3 air suspension system resides that the Crosstrek now currently rides on. Along with the air system allowing the car to drop all the way to the ground, bright white Enkei RPF1s on 275/35R18 Continental tires tuck nice and neatly up in the wheel wells. Over time, the intricate vinyl layouts have been changed over to a special-designed lower side banner incorporating the Atypical Designs logo has been added. For upgraded lighting, dual-beam projectors were fitted into the stock headlights in addition to an upgraded C-Light system to give the car a more aggressive light setup, while the stock rear tail lights have been switched out with more modern Helix tail lights. Inside the Crosstrek, the basic stock seats have been pulled for a pair of black leather BRAUM racing adjustable bucket seats that have a nice orange stitching to match the car’s bright orange exterior. Adding to that, updated 2016 interior bits have been included in the revamp. Other interior modifications consist of upgraded speakers along with an upgraded Pioneer touchscreen head unit and subwoofer in the trunk area, white painted accent trim to match the white Enkeis and a digital controller for the bags mounted to the left of the steering wheel.  

These are just some of the details that make the orange Crosstrek unique. One of Justin’s favorite things about the car he said had to be the wing, due to the fact it catches so many eyes. “Some people love it, some people hate it. It’s fun seeing the reactions people have, there isn’t very much of a middle ground.” As far as I am concerned, I believe the chassis-mount wing helps amplify the persona this Crosstrek has taken on of having the styling cues of a Time Attack Racecar. I remember a fair share of times visiting him at home and seeing in his garage a multitude of photos of different car concepts that showed their design roots in big, large and aggressive aerodynamic schemes. Having all the inspiration around him while building the car up to what it has become now has had a definitive influence in the car’s changes and will continue to in the future. 

What is next for this loud n’ proud Subaru? Justin and I had discussed a few of the things that he plans to change on the Crosstrek and to put it simply – you will just have to wait and see. However, I guarantee the wait will be worth it! The amount of effort and detail that has gone into this build thus far is amazing. Putting together something that beyond all measure, it is something he can look at and appreciate every single day knowing it was put together by him, for him. Despite his choices not being some people’s cup of tea, that does not matter in the end. I certainly believe Justin and his Crosstrek are a strong, yet humble reminder that there is nothing wrong with being a little bit atypical.

By Anthony Yastrum – @stiish_tony

Justin’s full build list:

Exterior
2016 Crosstrek Front bumper swap
Custom aero endplates
Custom side skirt extensions
Custom rear diffuser
2012 Impreza front lip
Battle Aero chassis mount wing
Bi-Xenon Projector Retrofit w/LED C lights
Roof rail delete
Gloss black roof wrap
Subaru OEM sport mesh grill
Subaru OEM rain guards
ATYPICAL Designs Side Banners
Helix Taillights
Perrin stubby antenna
15% window tint
De-badged
Hella Supertone horns
GrimmSpeed bro-tie bracket

Engine
Center exit shotgun blast pipes
GrimmSpeed Alternator cover
GrimmSpeed battery Tie-down
GrimmSpeed lightweight crank pulley

Suspension/Wheels
Airlift Performance 3P
Adjustable LCAs (PC’d metallic purple)
Enkei RPF1 18×9.5 +38
Continental Control Contacts (275/35/18)
Muteki black locking lug nuts (12×1.25)

Interior/Sound
Braum Racing ELITE front seats
Planted Technology Seat Brackets
Full 2016 Crosstrek interior swap
Alpine ilx-007 head unit
Infinity speakers
Alpine amp
JBL 10″ sub/box
White painted center console/dash trim pieces
Hardwood laminate trunk flooring

Lighting
5000k HID low beam
5000k LED fog lights
Interior LED replacement bulbs
Multicolor wireless underglow kit

Brakes
R1 Concepts Slotted and drilled rotors with Ceramic Pads

The post Embracing Originality – Justin Chapman’s XV Crosstrek appeared first on MFortyFive.

Although the styling and overall body of the VA chassis did not win people over when it was first unveiled, it has definitely grown in popularity since then.  Subaru finally updated the technology and interior greatly, resulting in a much higher quality and more modern WRX than what we’ve been used to.  Once people started buying them and slowly getting into modifying them, even the more hesitant Subaru fans came to accept the new cars.  It was a nice, fresh, blank canvas that the Subaru scene needed.  Now, they’re everywhere, and as more and more people mod them, we get to see some of the crazy and unique builds and some of the more subtle and polished builds that come as a result.  Bruno’s car is the latter.

At the Florida Subaru Mega Meet back in December, CJ met and got to talking with Bruno.  His car wasn’t there, but later on we ended up finding him and the car on social media.  After some prowling around on Instagram, we realized he lives only about an hour away from us, meaning we could meet up with him for a feature sometime in the future – and we did!  We met with Bruno at a park near us.  It was nice to shoot a feature locally instead of having to travel for once.  Intermittent rain all weekend really worried us about the shoot working out, but when a break in the weather came that Sunday afternoon we took advantage of it and met up with him.

The wet roads made all of the photos look even better, but also meant Bruno had to wipe down his car every time he moved it.  It was very clean for a car that drove through rain all day to a photoshoot.  Bruno and I got to talking right away as CJ ran around with the camera, and I quickly learned how passionate Bruno is about his WRX.

Bruno has been a rally fan since the Colin McRae days when he drove for Subaru in the iconic 555 Impreza.  He says seeing all the Subaru rally cars as a kid sparked his interest for the WRX and STi.  He always loved and wanted them, and the signature blue and gold paint scheme really stuck out to him as well.  When he got into video games, he would always choose the WRX’s or STi’s in racing games.  Bruno says the WRX is his dream car and has been since he was a kid, and he finally was able to get his hands on a brand new one in 2015.

Bruno’s car is a 2016 WRX Limited, meaning it has that nice, fancy leather interior and a touchscreen radio display.  Looks a little nicer than before, doesn’t it?  Subaru always seems to be behind on technology when compared with other brands, but I personally think they did a pretty good job with the VA chassis.  This is not only Bruno’s first Subaru, but his first modified car.  He came from a stock Mazda 3 hatch that he had while living up in Minnesota.  During the winters he wished he had AWD so he could get around easily and go play in the snow.  He had a friend with a WRX and watched him build it over the years, which inspired Bruno to go out and buy one for himself.  Since he didn’t know much about Subarus, he wanted to start with simple exterior mods while he learned, plus to make sure he kept the factory warranty.  That brings us to his wheels.

One of the first things I notice when looking at cars are the wheels.  Wheels can have such a huge impact on appearance and are usually one of the first places people’s eyes are drawn to.  Bruno made an excellent choice with his 18” x 9.5” +38 Rays 57 Transcend wheels in Super Dark Gunmetal.  He says that the wheels are definitely one of his favorite modifications he’s done to the car.  “They’re flush with the car, they don’t poke too much, and I did research to find the right specs because I didn’t want to roll the fenders.  I wanted a more aggressive look and wanted to lower car tiny bit too.  The combination of the wheels and suspension make the biggest difference to me.”  Bruno’s car is lowered on RCE Yellows lowering springs which he enjoys because they’re nothing extreme and keep the comfortable ride.

Small appearance modifications can make a big difference when looking at Bruno’s WRX.  He’s got the JDM front grille, Subispeed tail lights, APR carbon fiber license plate backing piece, and he got his lip kit and STi spoiler painted to match the factory Crystal White Pearl paint.  On top of that, the roof is wrapped gloss black and Bruno applied some gloss black door stripes and some different colored emblems.  Bruno told me his absolute favorite mod on the car would be his headlights – Diode Dynamics C-Lights.  “I had to open the headlights to install them [C-lights], drill some holes, route the cables and seal them up to prevent condensation.  I also painted the chrome housing and side markers black.  It was by far the most complex modification I’ve done to a car.”

Although Bruno wanted to start with exterior mods, the very first thing he did to the car was install an Invidia R400 catback exhaust.  He loves the sound and the noise level is perfect for his taste.  Other performance goodies he’s added are: a Grimmspeed TMIC, chargepipe and EBCS, an Invidia catless downpipe, IAG TGV and EGR deletes and a Cobb SF box cold air intake.  Due to his limited knowledge of the car, he wanted to have some of the work done professionally, so he took the car to RevWorks in Orlando in early 2018, and it now makes 298 WHP and 309 ft/lbs torque on a protune by Mike Adkins.

In the future, Bruno plans to install some coilovers for better ride height, wheel fitment, and handling.  He also would love to do the “F1-style” brake light that is offered for this generation, as well as some OLM wide angle convex side mirrors to see a little better out of them.  As for power, Bruno is quite happy with the car as it is.  He said the next move would be to go to a flex fuel kit and other supporting mods, but doesn’t feel the need to for at least the next year or two.

It was nice to shoot our first VA chassis WRX, and it was great to meet Bruno and get to know him a bit.  After the shoot, we all went out to dinner together and just hung out and talked – a tradition that sort of started on its own.  Being able to do this with the people we meet up with for shoots makes it that much more fun for us, and makes us want to continue going out and meeting more people to write more articles about.  So thank you, Bruno, for letting us feature your WRX and for taking the time to meet up with us!

By Ethan Pfab – @supwagon

Bruno’s Full Mod List:

Engine:

Grimmspeed TMIC

Grimmspeed chargepipe

Invidia R400 catback

Invidia catless downpipe

Grimmspeed EBCS

IAG Performance TGV deletes

IAG Performance EGR deletes

Cobb SF Box Cold Air intake

Cobb V3 AccessPort

Protuned by Mike Adkins

Suspension & Wheels:

Rays 57 Transcend Super Dark Gunmetal 18×9.5 +38

Bridgestone Potenza 265/35/R18

RCA Lowering Springs

Exterior:

CWP paint-matched STi spoiler, front lip and side skits

Diode Dynamics C-lights and fog lights

LED headlight conversion

Subispeed tail lights

JDM front grille

Roof and front grille wrapped gloss black

Door stripes

APR Carbon fiber license plate backing and emblem

60% window tint

The post Obtaining A Dream Car – Bruno Rivera’s 2016 WRX Limited appeared first on MFortyFive.

Jacob got his BRZ in the spring of 2016, after coming from an Acura TSX. He wanted a rear-wheel-drive, manual, white Scion FR-S at first. “When the cars first came out and all the praise they got for their handling, I knew I needed something rear-wheel-drive and manual next, because I only had ever had front-wheel-drive automatics my whole life.” Jacob says, “I’ve always had silver cars, I think it shows off the body lines better than any other color.” He ended up with the stock form of what you see today. He was attracted by the OEM styling of the BRZ a little more than the FR-S when it came down to it, though. His love for the 86 chassis began from the Need For Speed video games – games that also drew me into the passion for cars much more.

The BRZ screams body lines, especially in the Ice Silver Metallic – which looks amazing in any lighting. What initially attracted to me to his car was the pure “hot boi” style, which I simply just thought was cool – super low, two different sets of wheels on the front/rear, and a 326 Power wing to roughly sum it up. Now, Jacob has swapped trunks for a ViS Racing AMS carbon trunk that actually works incredibly well with those famous coupe body lines I mentioned.

He also has a set of the Japan-originated Gramlights series wheels from Rays. The 57DR model in Gun Blue is an awesome wheel – basically “baby” TE37’s.

Jacob told me he is actually running a set of 5×114.3’s up front to my surprise, and the presumed factory 5×100 bolt pattern in the rear. The reason for this is he wanted a more aggressive set of wheels for the front. Those are 18×9.5 +12 with a 25mm adapter/spacer. The rear is also an 18×9.5, but only comes in a +38 for the 5×100 variation. You may notice Jacob is running a lot of front camber, -5.5 degrees to be exact, with 0 degrees of toe I might add – getting 0 degrees of toe can actually be quite challenging in the more negative degrees of camber. The camber conversation is one that some either hate or love. I love “extreme” camber in certain applications – it really sets the mood for the car, but I wouldn’t even call this “extreme” camber necessarily.

In combination with the aggressive front end, the Todoroki KMO front fenders give Jacob’s BRZ the extra bit of edge to accompany all the front camber. The fenders give him 30mm more of width to add to the aggressive curves of the car. The rest of the exterior he has kept pretty simple. He’s added a painted 326 style STi front lip, Rocket Bunny V1 style rear diffuser, and some LED’s for the headlights and tail lights that do some cool funky blinky things as well.

The suspension has not been ignored, as you could imagine. To name a few parts, he’s got BC Racing BR Extreme Low series coilovers, Out of System SLANTSERIES top hats (front only), Voodoo13 lower control arms, SPL adjustable toe arms, Whiteline rear sway bar, Whiteline camber bolts, and some RacerX front lower control arms that were sitting at his house, waiting to go on the car. Jacob has put in a lot of time researching suspension modifications that won’t disrupt the cars performance and improve everything, while still maintaining the look he wants. I’ve been pushing Jacob to take his car up north with us to get it on some mountain roads, especially with all of his fresh suspension goodies. I got to ride around in Jacob’s car from the photoshoot spot, to dinner, and to another photoshoot spot. It amazed me at how similar it is to my car. Between the sounds, the feel (as passenger), and just the overall vibe of the car – it basically feels like a more modern Impreza 2.5RS, but rear-wheel-drive, ha. I never really got to hear the car cruising outside since I was riding in it, but CJ and Ethan were saying how similar his car and my car’s sound. All he has are Tomei unequal-length headers that run to a pretty much stock exhaust, minus the custom blast pipes – it sounds great. As we were cruising to the next photoshoot location, I noticed he had a pretty significant looking signature on his dash in front of me. I asked out of curiosity trying to figure out who’s name that was: Akinobu Satsukawa.

Some of you may know who that is without me even telling you. If you’re into the Japanese drift culture it’s probably a no-brainer. It took me a second to recall who Jacob was telling me about before it came to me. Akinobu is the team leader of A-BO-MOON – an R32 Skyline-only drift team which had a signature style, in terms of all cars being the same blue-colored four-door sedans. It’s pretty cool that Jacob actually got to meet him. My favorite interior bit of his though, would be the Vertex 7-Star steering wheel. I don’t know too many locals who have a Vertex wheel, so I am glad to know Jacob loves his. Just another thing I’m tempted to pull the trigger on down the road.

As we got to our last location of the night around 10:30 PM, I asked Jacob what his future plans are with the car, as far as aesthetic appeal and performance. He told me he really wants to run a wider tire set up at a 255/35 and go lower with -7.5 degrees of camber up front and -3 degrees in the rear. Jacob has also been thinking about swapping out his OEM BRZ bumper for an FR-S bumper, which apparently is a semi-popular thing to do in the world of 86’s.

He’s also been playing with the idea of throwing on his Ganador-style KDC mirrors. I actually owned a set of those but the fitment was mediocre, which I kind of expected with a replica part. I’ve heard the fitment is way better for the 86 chassis though, so hopefully he has no problems like I did – we both will probably buy real Ganadors someday. The TOMS clear taillights are in his future as well to finish off the exterior, but let’s be honest, nothing is ever finished. He does have plans for a JDL turbo kit and a Delicious Tuning E85 Flex Fuel kit – all it took was a ride in a friends boosted BRZ to change his opinion on these chassis when boost is added.

Looking forward, I can’t wait to see where Jacob goes with this car in the future. I wish him all the best with his BRZ and I hope we can do some touge runs in the Great Smoky Mountains sometime in the near future. To see more, check out his Subaru BRZ and photography on Instagram at @jvcb.j. Thanks Jacob for taking the time hang out with us!

By Zach Osborne – @momentum.rs

Jacob’s Full Build List:

Exterior:
STi Style Front Lip, Painted 326 Style
KMO Todoroki Front Fenders
ViS Racing AMS Carbon Trunk
RBV1 Rear Diffuser

Interior:
Vertex 7-Star Steering Wheel w/ NRG Hub
Raceseng Rondure Weighted Shift Knob
Authentic Tsurikawa

Wheels/Tires:

Rays Gramlights 57DR in Gun Blue – Front: 5×114.3 +12 w/ 25mm spacer, effective et. -13 Rear: 5×100 +38
235/40/18 Nitto Neo Gens

Suspension:
BC Racing BR Extreme Low Coilovers (8k/8k)
OutOfSystem SLANTSERIES Top Hats
Whiteline Adjustable Rear Swaybar
Whiteline Camber Bolts
Voodoo13 RLCA

Exhaust:
Tomei UEL Headers
Custom Blast Pipes and Muffler Delete

The post Where Function & Form Come Together – Jacob Jewell’s 2016 BRZ appeared first on MFortyFive.

This is TJ’s first car, and he’s had and cherished it for the past three and a half years.  I’m sure a lot of you cherished/still cherish your first WRX as well – I know I do.  TJ even stated he “will have it as long as physically possible.”  I asked why he chose this particular car as his first car, and he told me: “Honestly I can’t think of any car I would have gotten besides a Subaru.  My parents wanted me to get something safe, I wanted to get into the local car scene, and I needed AWD for winter driving.  Nothing else really fits all those categories for less than $7,000.  Plus, the first time I heard the ‘Subie rumble’ I knew I wasn’t going to settle for anything less.”  His mileage may come as a surprise based off how good it looks; he’s got 234k miles on the original EJ205 engine.  He’s put about 40,000 miles on it during his ownership, and he’s done several mods as you can see.

If you haven’t noticed, the car is lowered.  TJ is on some Broadway Static coilovers with 14k spring rates on all four corners, and with some Fortune Auto rear camber plates.  The wheels seem to be the main focus of the car – they catch your attention right away.  TJ says his Work VSKF’s might just be his favorite modification on the car.  “It really brought the car together, in my opinion”, he told me.  His wheels were re-lipped by VR Wheels and are 18″ x 9.5″+20 with 215/35/18 federal 595 tires.  Aside from the wheels, he says his other favorite mod might be his Tial 38mm external wastegate.  More noise is always more fun, am I right?  Other significant mods include: a Crawford AOS, a Cobb turboback exhaust, Perrin short ram intake, Tomei inlet pipe, STi TMIC, Steamspeed EBCS, Mishimoto radiator, Perrin brake master cylinder brace, and some Cobb front and rear sway bars.

“My future plans are to enjoy the car.  I’ve spent a long time to get it where it is now, and I finally feel like I can calm down and give my bank account a break.”  I can 100% relate to this statement.  Stopping the build temporarily to enjoy what you’ve already accomplished is a great feeling and is healthy for us car people to do every once in a while.  TJ goes on to say “As with any car enthusiast, the build isn’t ever finished.  I still plan to add underglow for ‘max fast and furious rice’ and to redo little things that I rushed, like my interior.  Other than that, I’m just saving all my pennies for the day my 234k mile EJ205 decides to retire.”  Let’s hope that day doesn’t come anytime soon!

When asked what his favorite thing about the car is, TJ told me: “The way it looks while rolling is one of my favorite things in the world, but trolling distracted drivers with my external wastegate is a close second though.”  I personally love the look of lowered and stanced Subarus, in fact, mine used to be one of them.  All of the exterior mods TJ has done with his wagon work well with each other, and like I said before, the wheels just grab your attention right away.  Something about that timeless styling of the VSKF’s – they look good on every car.  I can tell TJ loves his WRX just from talking to him, just like many other enthusiasts I’ve met.  His car is set up the way he likes it – he says most of his driving is in the city and he thinks it’s fun to cruise around in it and break necks.  Instead of thinking of it as a show car, TJ describes his car as an extension of his personality, and that’s something a lot of us car enthusiasts can relate to.

Thank you, TJ for being our Driver of the Day, and a special thanks to his friend Malcomb, (@malcombb on Instagram) for providing these awesome photos of the car!  Keep up with TJ’s wagon’s progress on Instagram, (@_itstj__)!

By Ethan Pfab – @supwagon

The post Driver of the Day: TJ’s 2003 WRX Wagon appeared first on MFortyFive.

After acquiring the car, I started doing your “typical” Subaru modifications – Hella horns, Rally Armor mud flaps, and a few other small things. A couple months later, I ended up with some 11-14 WRX wheels that I loved. I ran those for a solid year, and eventually plasti-dipping them vintage gold (I regretted that). I still wasn’t sure on the direction I wanted to go with the car yet. I really enjoyed whipping it around dirt roads and going exploring, but I was getting eager and inspired to lower the car. A few of my 240SX friends had coilovers and kept pushing me to pull the trigger on some. Doing the suspension was, and probably still is, my favorite modification yet just because of the massive difference it had on the appearance and handling.

After the new year of 2017, I got my hands on a set of OEM gold 5×100 BBS STi wheels from a good friend of mine. I was really digging the OEM-plus look and started thinking that would be the direction I’d go – staying moderate and simple.

April rolls around and we have already launched MFortyFive and booked our stay in Fontana Village, NC for Boxer Takeover 2017 at the Tail of the Dragon. The rest is history… That trip last year made me realize where these naturally-aspirated Subarus thrive – mountain driving.

So here we are a little over a year later from the first trip with my car in the Great Smoky Mountains. What have I done to it since then? Well, I got a set of the lightweight Enkei RPF1 wheels, among other things. I have always wanted a set of these wheels but slowly started getting turned away by the popularity of them – I didn’t want to blend in with a lot of the Subarus on the internet. But one day, CJ (@tryhardsti) came across a guy on NASIOC a few hours away selling a set with tires in the SBC (Special Brilliant Coating) finish, which was a limited run and my favorite color they were offered in.

The wheel specs are 17×9 +45, and the tires are Firestone Firehawk Indy500’s in a 255/40 which ended up being perfect. After eagerly picking them up and test fitting them that evening, I was blown away at how good the SBC finish worked with Regal Blue Pearl. I could not be happier with the color combination, but we’ll see how long that lasts.

I’m currently running Ichibia 25mm hub-centric spacers up front with -3 degrees of camber. In the rear, I’m running 5mm spacers at -1.8 degrees. I wanted a somewhat more aggressive alignment for better turn in and max grip before this past trip to the mountains, (thanks Josh). As for the rest of the exterior of the car, I’ve kept it pretty simple so far.

My favorite exterior part I have done would be the paint matched “Cusco” front lip. I have wanted that lip for years until one day I stumbled across the replica company that was once making these lips, and it turns out they started making them again, praise the Lord! I also had my front license plate mount shaved along with the whole bumper repainted to clean up the front end. I even found some STi fog covers, which I think complement the Cusco lip best instead of the factory USDM fog lights.

Speaking of USDM, I was getting really tired of the factory headlights. I was searching for some JDM crystal headlights but really didn’t want to spend a lot of money for crappy old headlights that might show up worse. I resorted to the NASIOC thread of “how to clear my 04+ headlights” and the result was perfect. In addition to clearing them out, I got the headlights cleaned up and a Florida UV-protected coating applied, so hopefully the harsh Florida sun doesn’t ruin them again. This was by far my favorite free modification I have done.

To complement the lip, I got the front side skirt spats color-matched as well to add a little more flair to the side of the car. I’ve also added a vortex generator, which I’m still on the fence about keeping, but was more of a test to see if I’d like to get a legit one. Not much else to mention about the exterior besides my authentic tsurikawa hanging from my rear tow hook. I’m still hoarding some parts that I’m waiting to put on in addition to a few other things I want to do to the exterior.

For me, the interior is a place that gets overlooked a lot. I really wanted to do some interior bits, but it all had to serve a purpose. I ended up finding a TC Design Fabrication 4-point half cage on NASIOC. Most half cages you see in the Subaru community are Autopower, and this cage was custom built by TC Design Fab out of Campbell, California who does lots of fab work in the world of time attack-prepped E46 BMW’s.

After installing the cage, I noticed a tremendous amount of chassis rigidity which was something I wanted. My favorite interior upgrade I have done are my Recaro Speed seats, since my factory seats and position weren’t the most comfortable with the cage. I got to talking to a friend at a meet one night and he mentioned these stashed away in his garage for a few years and said, “come check them out, give me a price and they’re yours” – and that I did. My first choice for seats isn’t red, but it has definitely grown on me and adds a nice contrast, especially for them being real Recaro’s.

I’d really like to get some Bride’s or East Bear Prodrive’s next year, but who knows. To finish off the interior, I’ve added a custom rear division plate made by @con10der8, which will allow me to pass inspection for certain future track days and helps with the cabin noise. My Night Runner International shift knob with a 1320 racing adjustable extender is one of my favorite shifter combos so far. A CAE is definitely in my future someday.

Moving on to the engine/performance stuff. Well, let me be the first to tell you it’s not very exciting. As you may know my car has the factory EJ253 in it and you’re probably thinking by now, “Are going to swap it? Boost it? Supercharge it? Anything?” The answer is yes, and no.

I actually love this engine (please excuse how dirty it is right now, I promise it was clean before our trip). When I got the car it had 56k on the odometer. At around 85k on the clock of April 2017, right before our first Tail of the Dragon trip, my “local” Subaru shop (Meticulous Motors of Pinellas Park, FL) found metal shavings from my driveshaft in the rear differential fluid. So with that happening, I sourced another RS rear diff, got a new lightweight aluminum driveshaft, in addition to doing headgaskets, Gates water pump/timing belt, Exedy clutch, and a resurfaced flywheel to get it all done and out of the way. I honestly have no plans in the future for swapping this motor at the moment – it’s reliable, sounds good, gets decent gas mileage, and super fun in the mountains! I’ve got no turbo lag, and momentum is my best friend when touge-ing with Ethan (@supwagon) and CJ (@tryhardsti). For the exhaust, I currently have Tsudo UEL headers with a custom 2.5” straight pipe, Magnaflow high-flow resonator, and ASPEC blast pipes (which is about to be replaced with a turndown tip).

It’s loud but it’s the perfect sound for the EJ253 power plant. Suspension – my favorite. For coilovers, I have the Prime series by Fortune Auto, which are no longer in production. They have 8k spring rates all around with 24-way dampening adjustments. I love them, but I’m really itching for the new BC Racing DS series coilovers. I also have Whiteline sway bars with a non-adjustable 22mm front and 3-way adjustable 24mm rear. This was easily one of the best mods I have done, I know I say that a lot. I’ve also replaced some of the factory suspension bushings to the more durable polyurethane ones in addition to motor mounts, a transmission mount, and a pitch stop mount – poly everything.

To tighten up the chassis a little more, I threw on some front and rear strut tower braces to help with the notorious chassis flex in hard turns. For brakes, I have R1Concepts slotted zinc-coated rotors and their ceramic pads, which seem to be holding up very well. I also have StopTech stainless steel brake lines, ATE Type200 brake fluid, and a Cusco master cylinder brace to add a little more stiffness to the brake pedal.

My future plans with this car are never ending. The biggest and most significant plan I have, as of right now, is doing a rear-wheel-drive conversion with an R200 rear differential. As to when this will happen, I have no clue. I’ve been doing a good bit of research and talking with some RWD Subaru owners, and it makes me giddy just thinking about all the fun I could have. A better power to weight ratio and some skids are in my future. I just want to have fun, and that is all!

By Zach Osborne – @momentum.rs

Zach’s Full Mod List:

Engine/Drivetrain:

K&N Air Filter

Custom 2.5” Straight Pipe Exhaust with Tsudo UEL headers, Magnaflow Hi-Flow Resonator and ASPEC Blast Pipes

Exedy Clutch

2-Piece Aluminum Driveshaft

Wheels/Suspension/Brakes:

17×9 Enkei RPF1 in SBC on Firestone Firehawk Indy500 255/40/17 Tires

Ichibia 25mm spacers (front), eBay 5mm (rear)

Fortune Auto Prime Coilovers, 24-way dampening

Whiteline Swaybars with Kartboy/Whiteline Endlinks (22mm front, 24mm rear)

Front and Rear Strut Tower Braces

Cusco Master Cylinder Brace

R1 Concepts Slotted Rotors/Ceramic Pads

StopTech Stainless Steel Lines

ATE Type200 Brake Fluid

Interior:

Custom TC Design Fabrication Half Cage

Authentic Recaro Speed Seats

Endless Horizon Fabrication Custom Fire Extinguisher Cage Mount

Broadway Mirror

Night Runner International Shift Knob

Custom @Con10der8 Division Plate

Cobb Short Shifter

Exterior:

OEM STi Fog Covers

S2 Auto Designs (Cusco Style) Front Lip (color matched) with shaved plate on bumper

Color Matched Side Spats

Muteki SR48 Open-Ended Lug Nuts

Vortex Generator

Custom Painted Hella Supertones

JDM Tsurikawa

JDM LED Taillight Mod

Cleared OEM Headlights

Thule Roof Rack/Yakima Carbonate SkyBox (sometimes)

The post Keeping the Momentum – Zach Osborne’s 2005 GDB Impreza RS appeared first on MFortyFive.

Marc picked up this Plasma Blue Pearl 2014 WRX brand new. It now sits with around 75,000 miles on it, although you would have no idea just judging by the appearance. Believe it or not, this is Marc’s daily. His only car. This show-quality car has been driven every day since he bought it and still looks this good. This was a fun photo shoot for us because of the location (some plain looking warehouses that made for a great backdrop, with tons of room for rolling shots), the colors on the car (just look at it!), meeting and talking with Marc, and towards the end a couple of his friends showed up. They also had nice Subarus. We got Chipotle, it was fun.

Look at those wheels… Pretty, aren’t they? They’re Marc’s dream wheels – Volk TE37Vs in gunmetal with a polished lip. These wheels are 18×11” with a -7 offset. Wrapped around these wide wheels are some wide tires as well – 285/30r18 to be exact. “But how does anyone fit wheels with those specs on these cars?” The answer is flares. Marc’s WRX has paint-matched and carefully-installed HT Autos flares. They could not have turned out any better! The addition of these helps him achieve that perfect fitment, and he only has to run about -1.8 degrees of camber in the back and -1.3 up front! If you couldn’t tell, Marc’s car is on bags. Airlift Performance’s V2 kit with a dual compressor setup, to be specific. He said he made the switch from coilovers to bags out of convenience and being able to get the fitment he wanted.

I also really admire the smaller, more subtle appearance parts he’s installed. (Excluding the BTA wing – I wouldn’t call that subtle, but it definitely looks good). One of the things I’m talking about are his APR brake ducts, which I’ve been wanting to do on my car for some time now. Not exactly a common part to see on these cars, but it’s a little something that adds to the front end and actually can be beneficial when driving.

Marc’s WRX is also equipped with a Varis carbon fiber diffuser and front lip, as well as Aeroflow Dynamics skirt extensions. These three things can be subtle but even have a huge visual effect on any car at the same time. It doesn’t exactly jump out at you, but Marc removed his grille. I didn’t really notice it until looking closer, but it actually looks pretty cool, considering you can see his Hella horns and oil cooler right behind there. What really deserves recognition though are his flares, and what it took to get them on. I asked about how that went, and he told me he actually did it all himself over three or four days. In the rear, about 2.5” of the quarter panels are cut to allow wheel and tire clearance when airing out.

Performance-wise, Marc has a handful of parts under the hood. He’s on the stock turbo, but has a huge Grimmspeed TMIC, an Invidia downpipe and a CNT catback exhaust to name a few. To make even more noise, he’s got a Grimmspeed up-pipe with a Tial EWG. Other engine bay mods include a Cobb SF box intake, a Grimmspeed EBCS, a protune by Corbin Johnson at Johnson Tuning, and a Crawford Air-Oil Separator, which Marc says was “probably the hardest thing I’ve ever installed.”

When asked about his future plans with the car, Marc told me he’s shooting for around 500hp with a rotated turbo setup, a flex fuel tune and the notorious STi 6-speed transmission. He would also like to throw in some nice racing seats with harnesses and a full roll cage eventually. The parts he has on the car not only set it apart from other builds, but work together for a high-quality execution. The wheels, the flares and miscellaneous appearance parts all show that Marc has good taste and knows what he’s doing.

He really does know what he’s doing – he does all of the work himself or with friends. This makes the car a bit more special, since he puts in all of his own time and effort on it, plus he knows every little detail about the car. He says he was inspired by others to start modding the car, and started only six months after buying it! Marc is a good guy with a great WRX, and we had a blast hanging out and shooting with him. Keep an eye out for his car at shows! You’ll be impressed when seeing it in person, I know I was.

Thanks Marc for letting us feature your WRX!

By Ethan Pfab – @supwagon

Marc’s full build list:

Engine:

Grimmspeed TMIC

Invidia downpipe

CNT catback exhaust

Grimmspeed uppipe

Tial external wastegate

Grimmspeed EBCS

Crawford AOS

Mishimoto Oil Cooler

Cobb SF Box intake

Cobb V3 AccessPort

Protune from Johnson Tuning

Exterior:

HT Autos fender flares

BTA rear wing

Varis carbon fiber rear diffuser

Varis carbon fiber front lip

Aeroflow dynamics side skirt extensions

Suspension & Wheels:

Airlift Performance air struts with V2 management

Megan Racing lower control arms

Megan Racing toe arms

Volk TE37V 18×11″ ET -7

285/30r18 tires

The post From Stock to Show Car – Marc Dagdagan’s 2014 WRX Hatch appeared first on MFortyFive.

This past year, we all were anticipating the 4th Annual 2017 Florida Subaru Mega Meet. It was a great opportunity for us, MFortyFive, to meet new faces and share the blog we’re all so passionate about. Since there wasn’t a 2016 event, we were very excited to finally have one marked on our calendars as something to look forward to. The day came fast as expected. We met up at a Thorntons gas station with our local Subaru group, 941Subarus, early Saturday morning to get everyone together in one place before heading out to the official pre-meet. After some shake of hands, chit-chat, sipping on Starbucks cold brew, and topping off gas tanks, we rolled out and hopped onto I-75 northbound towards Lakeland. Ethan, CJ, and myself always joke around saying “cruising with 941Subarus is never a cruise, it’s a race.” I’m sure several of you can relate, or participate in mobbing around town with your Subaru pals – just be safe, kids! What’s a Subaru “cruise” if one doesn’t break down though? Just that happened to our friend Mario in his heavily modified Launch Edition 2015 STi on I-75. Most of us were ahead of him while driving since he started slowing down but we didn’t think anything of it. We pulled off to the closest exit and waited for him at another Thorntons gas station (I guess we like Thorntons?)

A few others had stopped with him to diagnose and fix the problem.  Sure enough, twenty minutes later, we were back on the road and running late for the pre-meet. By the time we got there and got out of our cars, everyone was starting to leave. Everyone had to head out at the same time, since we had a scheduled police escort to the main event at Sun N’ Fun, just 15 minutes away.

The last Mega Meet event from a few years ago had an official pre-meet and a police escort as well. It’s pretty sweet being able to drive with dozens and dozens of Subarus while the police are turning on their lights at every intersection to block off traffic and letting us get to the main event together. The police escort ended and we pulled onto the Sun N’ Fun road, which connects to the main gates that lead to the airstrip. Oh yeah – Sun N’ Fun is a private airport, not a water park like we all thought for some reason. All of a sudden, just outside the main gates, another one of our local Subaru friends had some car problems as well. Unfortunately this wasn’t a quick fix on the fly.

The timing belt tensioner broke, so it wouldn’t be another quick twenty minute fix. He had a tow truck come and pick up the car, but he still stayed for the mega meet festivities. What felt like an eternity waiting in line (an hour), we finally made it to the main gates and were directed where to park the cars. It was hot outside. Thankfully they had the event in the winter (unlike most Florida car shows) but still felt like summer, minus the humidity and afternoon thunderstorms.

After pulling through the gate and getting our wristbands, the event staff had us park in a huge grassy field. After doing a quick-wax cleaning job on the cars, we were ready to start walking around and take in the overwhelming amount of all things Subaru.

CJ and my brother, Dan, grabbed their cameras, Ethan and myself grabbed some MFortyFive business cards and stickers to hand out, and off we went. It was 11 AM and we were already sweating – good thing they had FREE Monster Energy drinks to add to our case of water! I couldn’t forget my life-saving straw sombrero hat either. One thing that made this Florida Subaru Mega Meet a little extra special was the Subaru USA being an official sponsor. They brought out an authentic Impreza 22B STi, the new 2018 WRX STi Type RA, the 2011 Isle of Man WRX STi, and a few other noteworthy cars. The 4 of us were extremely excited to see those, so we made our way there first.

The 22B was glorious of course in all of its Japanese, rare goodness to see in person. The WRC-style bulging fenders, gold wheels, and World Rally Blue paint was noticeable 300 yards away. Even in a sea of blue cars everywhere, the 22B stood out from the crowd. Everything about this car was designed for one thing in mind – fun. If only I could drive one someday and experience all the magnificent things a 22B has to offer. CJ went off to take pictures while Ethan, my brother Dan, and myself walked around the grass field observing the staggering amount of Subarus. It was there we saw full on off-road/overland style builds, race cars, show cars, and everything in between.

A few hours later it became apparent to us that parking wasn’t being enforced when we saw owners moving their cars around to get photos of the surrounding areas. We had to participate in the photo shoot fun as well! CJ went and got some pictures of our friend Wigberto’s (IG: @stinkeyewrb) beautiful white hawkeye STi. I first saw Wigberto’s STi at Simply Clean 9 and fell in love ever since. (And so did Ethan)

A Limelight is in our future with this car, that’s for sure. I wish I could talk about every car that caught my attention at Mega Meet – but let’s talk about a few at least! One was Dirty Racing Products’ hawkeye STi Limited. The first thing I noticed on the car was the yellow headlight tint, giving off a GT-spec, racecar style appearance. While drooling over the car, the owner – Robert, walked over and introduced himself. Very nice guy and very outgoing! He talked to me and told me about the molded wide-body fenders, the extremely meaty fitment, the unique color, and several major bits and pieces that brought the car together.

I really, really loved this car. Another one that stood out to me was a newer generation Forester XT. The owner had ‘15+ STi seats, brakes, steering wheel, and whole lot more. The car won best Forester, which was well deserved! (IG: @geselandbirdie).

I also talked with him for a short period of time about eventually coordinating a shoot as well! While Ethan and I were walking around socializing, CJ was getting some photos of the exhaust competition that was going on.

Somehow Ethan ended up at the exhaust competition area as well, while my brother and I were talking to some familiar faces. I got a hold of my good friend Matt (IG: @mattshulmanbmx) and walked over to find him washing his car since he somehow found a hose next to a hangar. I called CJ to tell him to make his way over with the camera so he could do a full shoot of Matt’s WRX for a Limelight article. (it’s live on the blog, you should go read it!)

It was nearing the end of the 2017 Subaru Mega Meet and we were beat from being out in the heat all day. Thankfully, the sun was starting to go down and it was cooling off. We wanted take advantage of being on an airstrip, and it just so happened to be golden hour. CJ shot multiple cars including our own.

We were some of the last people to leave the Sun N’ Fun airstrip, which ended up being a really cool place for a car event! It made for some incredible pictures for sure. We milked our time by getting all the photos we could and enjoying hanging out while the sun was setting. It was 5:30 PM and we rolled out of the venue with smiles on our sun-burnt faces. We drove to the closest Buffalo Wild Wings to celebrate and end the day with some beer and wings – a fantastic way to close out an awesome day. Days like these are a huge reason why we do what we do and why we love the Subaru community. Before ending, I would like to say a huge thank you to Paul who organized the whole event – it was truly one to remember. But for now, time to get our cars ready for Boxer Takeover at the Tail of the Dragon in April. We can’t wait for the next Mega Meet!

By Zach Osborne – @momentum.rs

The post The 4th Annual 2017 Florida Subaru Mega Meet appeared first on MFortyFive.

The above statement is a joke.  Corey executes form and function in a perfect balance.  Believe it or not, there is actually more to his car than a side-mirror delete.  Probably the first thing anyone would notice are his beautiful and timeless Magnesium Blue Volk TE37s or his Cusco-style front lip with Kaminari fog light replacement brake ducts.  Just these three things set the overall tone of the car.  The brake ducts and lip pair together to give off a “rip around the track and down some curvy roads” attitude, and the TE37s tie in a very nice and neat Japanese street car vibe.

You may have noticed that the car has a Florida plate, yet there is snow on the ground.  This is because Corey is from Florida, but currently lives in Connecticut, as he serves in the Navy (thank you for your service).  The issue with wanting to feature his car is that we currently live in Florida.  Since he happens to be a fantastic photographer, I asked him if he’d be willing to have a little photo shoot of the car exclusively for this article.  This is our first “remote feature” and I hope this opens our options up to more awesome cars out there across the country.  Since the start of our blog, I was excited to eventually write about Corey’s STi because I’ve been a huge fan of it for a very long time.  I get tired of saying this, but he’s another one of those guys I found on the internet years ago.  We only recently started talking and became buddies, and I actually got a chance to meet him last summer in Orlando when we met up for lunch.  I was excited to meet him and see the car, since I would always drool over his Instagram photos from when he lived in the Pacific Northwest.  Subaru’s Platinum Silver Metallic happens to be very photogenic, especially when paired with a background consisting of gloomy weather and snowy mountains.  I met him in person when he was on his way back home to Florida to see his family before he transferred to Connecticut.  He actually drove this car from Washington to Florida without air conditioning or any complaints, literally days after completing a motor rebuild (more on this later).  Ballsy move, but it worked out!

Corey, Zach (@momentum.rs), and myself met up in Orlando.  It was a very hot and humid south-Florida summer day, and my air conditioning was being temperamental.  Once in Orlando, I couldn’t seem to find the restaurant he wanted to meet at.  We circled around the block and then saw him sitting and waiting in a parking garage.  “Welllllll, look who it is!”, I said out my window as I pulled up to him.  We then followed him to a different spot to stop and get food and talk for a while.  I couldn’t help but stare at the car the whole time while following him just because it looks so good rolling.  He did a pull or two and the car made some beautiful noises, thanks to the Killer B equal length headers and Tomei Ti-Expreme cat-back exhaust.

Check out that paint-matched Do-Luck Carbon trunk!

We pulled up to a 4 Rivers Smokehouse right outside of Orlando and immediately got to talking.  We introduced ourselves, checked out each others’ cars, and went inside to get some barbecue and hang out.  Nearly the whole lunch consisted of Zach and I asking what the Pacific Northwest is like, if he knows so-and-so, and what so-and-so is like in person.  Basically we were being dumb fanboys but it’s okay, because Corey is a cool dude to talk to.  After the incredible pulled pork sandwich I had, we walked back outside to talk some more about his car.  Zach and I were walking laps around it, just admiring everything he’s done.  I recall that I first “met” Corey on Tumblr back in 2012 or 2013 – back when his car was nothing like it is now.  The main theme of Corey’s car is quality.  Look at the details and you’ll see.  This is not an “internet build,” like many other cars sporting these parts, but rather an STi built to his satisfaction.  No “in your face” aero parts, no flashy or obnoxious decals, no huge wing or stretched tires.  I think of a true Subaru enthusiast when thinking about this particular car.  I truly believe this is one of the more tasteful and modest builds I’ve been around in the Subaru world.

Like I stated earlier, the front end modifications fit the car very well and add aggressive styling with the lip and brake ducts.  Yes, those are true JDM headlights that he bought brand new without those ugly amber USDM reflectors.  Headlights really can make a massive difference in the appearance of a car (just ask Zach how he felt when he did his amber delete).  The brake ducts look awesome too, and the fact that they actually serve a purpose makes the mod much cooler (ha, cooler, get it?).  Corey’s lip is actually an S2 Designs lip rather than a Cusco, but they look almost exactly the same and make for a wonderful addition to any blobeye front end.  Before any of you “replica vs. real” part people freak out: you go try and find an authentic Cusco lip in decent shape for some non-ridiculous price.

Perhaps my favorite aspect of Corey’s car is his wheel choice.  The car currently sits on some 18″ x 9″, +40 offset Volk TE37s in the eye-catching  Magnesium Blue finish.  His tire of choice is the ever-popular Bridgestone Potenza RE760 in a 245/40r18 size.  He got these with the intent to have them for “track duty” as he puts it, but now just leaves them on for however long he pleases.  Mag Blue on Silver is one of the best color combos out there, I must say.

His other set of stylish and quality wheels are Desmond Regamasters.  These wheels literally look good on any car, and are amazingly strong and light.  Corey’s are 18″ x 8.5″ with a +35 offset, wrapped in 255/35r18 Michelin Pilot SuperSports.  He originally bought these with the intent to have them as daily driving wheels, but like I said before, he just leaves whatever set he wants on the car nowadays.

Corey keeps it simple and functional with the interior.  His car sports some Recaro Pole Position seats to hug him tight on the fun roads and some OEM Legacy STi gauges to monitor important engine data.  He swapped out the entire signature blue and black STi interior for the less flashy, all-black WRX interior that the seats look right at home in.  Other pieces of the interior include a Kartboy short throw shifter and an Anarchy Motive shift knob, weighing in at a whole 671 grams.  Another interesting thing about this car is the gutted trunk and relocated battery.  He moved the battery back to the trunk for a little better weight distribution, and by doing so, made the car a bit more unique.  In the trunk, he occasionally rolls around with one of the Regamasters as a full size spare too.

Did I mention he has the JDM Spec C roof vent?  No?  Well there it is, paint-matched and all.  If you’re able to find one of these, you have to seriously be committed.  You must have the courage to cut a hole in your roof for it for one, but you’d need to make sure it’s lined up right because it is permanent.  No pressure.  It looks so cool when open, and really reminds you of one of the rally cars.  Corey said that even without AC, this vent made the drive down south nice and pleasant.

Like most modified cars, there’s more to this than meets the eye.  Lift the hood, and you’re looking at multiple ARC parts, gold heat foil, some “go fast” parts, and the STi signature red intake manifold.  By “go fast” parts, I’m talking about his IAG Stage 2 Tuff Block and Blouch Dominator 1.5XTR turbo.  In addition, he has an IAG Street AOS, ID1050cc injectors, a Tial 38mm EWG, a Mishimoto X-Core aluminum radiator and Mishimoto oil cooler, an ETS top-mount intercooler, and much more.  Corey also has an ARC Super Induction box, an ARC alternator cover, and an ARC cooling plate.  If you aren’t familiar with ARC (Abbey Road Company), it was a higher-end Japanese aftermarket part company that went out of business some time ago, leaving their products very valuable and somewhat rare.

Going back to what I said towards the beginning of all of this, Corey rebuilt his engine in Winter/Spring 2017.  The reason for a rebuild was going too hard in some snow and ending up with a spun bearing.  Sh*t happens, I guess.  I asked how it all went down, and he gave me the full story.  “So the engine build was fun.  I really enjoyed working on the car apart from the engine though, too, while I waited for parts.  I installed a JDM front bumper beam, JDM headlights, relocated the battery, put in black carpet, wired up my oem legacy sti gauges, and cleaned everything up.  The engine had to get an IAG stage 2 Tuff Block because I wanted it to be able to handle a decent amount of power, but nothing over the top.  I was in a pinch, so everything was pretty much purchased brand new with the exception of TGV deletes and fuel lines.  There’s a lot of other things I replaced while I was building the motor too; bigger radiator, external oil cooler, stainless valves and guides/seals.  I wanted everything to remain fairly OEM as far as systems were concerned, so I tried to recycle or recirculate as much as I could, and clean everything up with an IAG Street AOS.  Still haven’t had the car dyno’d since I had a street tune done, but it’s performed very well in the 20k miles I put on it in about 6 months – from 0′ to 14,114′ of elevation.”

Corey’s STi parked at the top of Pikes Peak.

Corey has really driven this car across the entire country.  Twice, at least.  It’s been through 28 states, from Florida to Washington, to Connecticut and literally everywhere in between.  I really love that his car is still used as a car and not some garage queen.  It was only recently that he picked up a mid 2000’s Tacoma as a daily driver, so before that it was just the STi 24/7.  It takes dedication to drive so much in a car like this, especially with racing seats, but all those miles give the car character.  It’s a road trip machine, and he takes incredible photos of wherever it goes.  Seriously, look at some of these photos, they’re f***ing sweet.

Our cars hanging out in the parking lot while we stood around talking about them.

To end off this different approach of a Limelight feature, I have to say that this is one of my favorite blobeye builds out there.  Simple, functional, and quality all describe this car to a T.  I personally have a huge appreciation for things done right without cheaping out on parts, which is part of the reason why I love this car as much as I do.  Corey is a good dude with great taste, and in my eyes, a true enthusiast.  He uses the car for what it’s made for, modifies it the way he wants, and takes it on adventures all throughout the country.  I think it’s pretty cool how you can make friends on the internet just because of a car/brand of car you both drive, and if it weren’t for that, I probably wouldn’t be writing any of this.  Now, if anyone actually read this far, I urge you to follow him on Instagram @stiover and check out his Flickr here for some amazing photography of nature and his own cars surrounded by it.

Thank you Corey, for being up for this feature and for providing some awesome photos, hope to meet up with you again sometime soon!

By Ethan Pfab – @supwagon

Corey’s Full Build List:

Engine:

IAG Stage 2 Tuff Block

IAG TGV Deletes

IAG Street AOS

Bouch Dominator 1.5XTR

ID1050cc Injectors

IAG Fuel Rails

Custom -8AN fuel lines

Radium FPR

Killer B Oil Pan/Baffle/Pick Up/Headers

Tial 38mm EWG

Company23 Anti-Surge EBCS

ARC Super Induction Box

ARC Alternator Cover

ARC Cooling Plate

Zero Sports Intake Elbow

ETS Top Mount

Go Fast Bits BPV

Mishimoto X-Core Aluminum Radiator

Moroso Coolant Overflow Tank

Mishimoto Oil Cooler

OEM BE Legacy Snorkel

Perrin Divorced Wastegate Downpipe

Tomei Ti-Expreme Cat Back

Suspension/Wheels:

HKS Hipermax IV GT Coilovers,

Whiteline 24mm Adjustable Sway Bars F/R

Kartboy Endlinks

Whiteline ALK

Every Turn in Concepts Shifter/Linkage Bushings

Turn in Concepts Rear Diff Bushings

Turn in Concepts Rear Subframe Lock Bolts

Volk TE37 18 x 9 +40 Magnesium Blue

Bridgestone Potenza RE760 245/40/18

Desmond Regamasters 18 x 8.5 +35

Michelin Pilot SuperSports 255/35/18

Exterior:

OEM JDM Headlights

S2 Designs Front Lip

Kaminari Fog Light Brake Ducts

JDM Spec C Roof Vent

Custom Mirror Block Offs

Do-Luck Carbon Trunk (painted)

OEM STI Rear Diffuser

Interior:

Anarchy Motive Shift Knob

Recaro Pole Positions

Planted Sea Rails

Radio Din Block Off w/ Bluetooth receiver mounted behind

WRX Rear Seat

WRX Black Carpet

WRX Black Door Panels

Custom LED 3rd Brake Light

Relocated battery

OEM Legacy STI Gauges

All photos are taken and owned by Corey Stover and used with his permission.

The post A Well-Executed Example of the “Less is More” Mindset – Corey Stover’s 2005 STi appeared first on MFortyFive.

As some of you may or may not know, I love time attack.  Everything about this motorsport discipline greatly intrigues me.  I’ve been following along with several time attack prepped Subaru builds for quite some time.  One that has stood out to me is the STi Type-RA NBR.  I know it’s not a Global or Redline Time Attack competitor, but it was built to break its own record at the Nürburgring – hence the RA which stands for Record Attempt.  In my book, that qualifies as a time attack car.

If you are unfamiliar with the Nürburgring, it is an extremely famous and legendary 12.9 mile race track/road course in the Eifel Mountains of Germany.  Subaru has set records and tested there previously, but nothing like what happened in the summer of 2017 when they set a time of 6:57.5 with Le Mans driver Richie Stanaway behind the wheel.  To put that into perspective, the STi Type RA NBR was faster than the Lamborghini Avendator SV, and half a second slower than Porsche’s 918 Spyder hypercar.  All things considered, those are production cars and this was a one-off race car built for this track in mind.  But seriously, it’s kind of cool to say a Subaru whooped a Lamborghini’s time on the ‘ring.

This car was originally built for the Isle of Man challenge of 2016.  After Mark Higgins crushed that record, they stripped the car back down, and with the Nürburgring in mind as the next plan of attack – they started building an engine.  Prodrive is the lead builder and creator in this project of the record attempt car.  They came up with a WRC-Spec, 600 horsepower 2.0 liter Boxer engine which revs to an astonishing 8,500 rpm, but Prodrive says it’s probably capable of a 9,000 rpm redline.  That is unheard of in the world of Subaru Boxer engines.

After watching videos all about the car, it makes me appreciate the engineering and testing that went behind this once stock, stateside Subaru WRX STi that much more.  I’m not going to explain the majority of the crazy modifications on this car, since the list is just too long.  In the video, he explained the purpose and engineering of the hydraulically activated rear wing, which I found very fascinating.  It allows either the driver to raise it or lower it in milliseconds or allows the ECU, which gets determined by speed, brakes, steering angle, and the accelerator.

To make the car as efficient and as light as possible, modifications such as a relocated windshield wiper motor in the passenger footwell shows the extent they went to get everything as low as they could.  The majority of the body panels have been replaced with carbon-fiber panels, and the full FIA-Spec cage is what gives the car most of the structural rigidity.

Hours on hours have gone into this one-of-a-kind Subaru, which weighs in at 2,425 pounds.  So much of this car gives me inspiration for my own.  Not in terms of the car itself necessarily, but the way it’s been executed.  Everything done to the STi NBR has a purpose – it reminds me that some things matter more than others when all you’re trying to do is go fast.

By Zach Osborne – @momentum.rs

Image Sources:

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http://goo.gl/kJezJM

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http://goo.gl/yU9xRE

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The car caught CJ’s attention while shooting photos of other cars around the event, which led to CJ asking the owner, Miguel, if he would be down for a quick photo shoot of his WRX.  Ethan and I were chatting with someone else while this was going down, so we weren’t around to talk with Miguel about his car, unfortunately.  We reached out to him a few weeks later via social media and were able to ask him a few questions about the car to learn more.  This is Miguel’s second car, but his first jump into Subaru ownership.  He got the car about 2 years ago, originally wanting an ’08-’14 hatch but couldn’t find one he really liked.  “I’ve always been a fan of the brand.  One day I came across the car I have now.  The price and color are what really hooked me.”  I love the way the Dark Grey Metallic looked with the black wheels.  At the time, Miguel had Work Emotion Cr-Kai’s but has recently swapped them out for a set of MB Battles – some of my favorite wheels.  Ok, I have a lot of favorite wheels but I like them a lot, the struggle of being 5×100 is real.  With a push of a button, Miguel can tuck the rear wheels up into the wheel-wells as desired with the Airlift Performance V2 system, and shortly after our shoot he installed the front air struts to be able to do the same with the front wheels.

“What I really enjoy most about my Subie is mainly driving it.  I love everything about it honestly.”  Miguel’s current modifications consist of a Mishimoto intake, full Invidia cat-back exhaust, Cobb AccessPort with an OTS map, custom headlights with LEDs, Megan Racing control and toe arms, and aero pieces all around the car.

Just by talking over Instagram DM’s, I know he has some major plans for his WRX in the future.  He’s mentioned going wider in addition to some carbon goodies that could really change the whole appearance of the car.  Some three-piece wheels are planned, along with a wing, pro-tune, “go fast” parts, a color change, and he even considers doing a rear-wheel-drive conversion later in the year.  A RWD Subaru would be so fun – not a bad idea, my friend.  Mega Meet was definitely one for the books.  We appreciate Miguel greatly for letting CJ get some photos of the car and talking to me over social media.  Someday soon we will definitely have to meet up for some more car hangs and shenanigans.  To see more of Miguel’s ’15 WRX check out his Instagram @boofaru.  Thanks Miguel for letting us feature you as our Driver of the Day!

By Zach Osborne – @momentum.rs

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