It was pretty surreal for me to suddenly realize we were in Ann Arbor, Michigan on a Saturday evening in July, meeting with some guy who had no idea who any of us were, only to have him drive an hour to meet us for a photoshoot of his car.  This is a build I’ve been following for years on the NASIOC forum.  While planning our Subiefest Midwest trip, I realized Joey was from Michigan… and we would be just below him in Indiana…  I HAD to get in touch with him somehow and try to set something up.  Thankfully, Joey was an awesome dude willing to give us a shot and agreed to meet up while we were in the region.

I attempted to make plans about a month before the actual trip, not quite knowing our official timeframe, but it all happened to work out nicely.  We got to Indiana, hung out around the city with friends, drove up to our hotel in Valparaiso (just south of the Michigan border), and shot two features in one day on different sides of the state.  Truly one of our most productive days – we were in total work mode.  After shooting with Mike (one of our previous Limelights) on the western edge of Michigan in the morning, we drove three hours east to Ann Arbor, a cool little college town, home to the University of Michigan.  Joey met us in a tiny gas station parking lot downtown.

It was a long day and we were getting tired from the tight schedules and long hours in the car, but we all lit up the second we pulled into the parking lot and saw this gorgeous wagon sitting there waiting for us.  We parked and eagerly jumped out of the car to introduce ourselves and get to talking with Joey.  Right away, he struck me as the most interesting and knowledgeable Subaru enthusiast we’ve come across thus far.  Seriously, I have never met anyone that has this much random information about Subaru or even just cars in general.  He’s from Detroit, so I guess it comes naturally.  Joey’s also hilarious and a great time to be around, which definitely helped make the feature more entertaining.

Our first shoot location was under a highway overpass along a river.  After several different shots and confused passersby, we headed out to get some rollers on a nice winding road lined with trees.  These were some great rolling shots thanks to the scenery – and obviously the subject.  CJ was laying halfway out the back of our rental Nissan Rouge while holding his camera a foot above the ground.

The story with this one starts in the Spring of 2013.  Joey traveled to Columbus, OH to pick up this 2003 WRX Wagon with 106k miles.  It had minimal modifications like struts and exhaust, and it made for his perfect daily driver for the following two years.  Joey has collected a wide array of parts for his car and has created a masterpiece over the years – would ya just look at it?

The main attraction I have for this car is probably (definitely) the sedan widebody conversion.  Joey’s wagon is one of my biggest inspirations for my own wagon and studying it in person really reassured me of my goals.  The sedan widebody conversion is a huge and expensive project.  Wagon owners go to these lengths to do this conversion because if you haven’t ever noticed before, the wagons don’t have the same “flared” fenders like the sedans do.  This widebody conversion consists of putting sedan front fenders, front bumper, rear doors, swapping rear door glass (the wagons and sedans have slightly different sized rear windows), and most significantly, a quarter panel transplant.  Most wagon people who attempt to widen their cars just do the front end because it’s easy.  Few have done the full conversion, and when they do, it looks incredible.  In my opinion, it’s the perfect “widebody” option for these cars.  Nice, subtle and OEM-styled, just how I like it.

Another quite impressive project Joey has taken on with his wagon would be his EJ207 swap.  It was an S204 engine with only 11,000 miles at the time that was purchased to replace his original EJ205 at around 150,000 miles.  Joey said the main reason for the engine swap was the fact that it was the best stock engine he could get his hands on.  He said it was definitely a bonus that it was out of an S204.  “It’s extremely smooth and has a lot of torque for a two-liter.  Equal length headers change how the car feels.  It’s just a wide powerband.”  After hearing his car while driving behind him, I’m pretty attracted to the equal length noises too.

What really makes me happy about this car is the fact that it is used as intended.  Joey frequents Gingerman Raceway in southwest Michigan and has tons of photos over the years to prove it.  When talking to him, I could tell he cares about results when modifying the car, and how it will perform during track driving.  He built his car for a mixture of track and daily duty, and every part he throws on has a lot of thought put into it.

That brings us to the wheel setup, one of the most prominent pieces of any build.  During the photoshoot, Joey had some gloss white GDB STi RA-R wheels on.  They’re great looking wheels too, which is why he doesn’t use them on the track – his track setup is a set of 17” Mach V Awesomes in gold.  Behind those wheels are some STi Brembos, centric premium rotors and PFC Z-compound brake pads.

Exterior-wise, the most obvious thing about this WRX is the WRC-style livery.  It adds so much flair to the car and looks so exciting racing around the track.  To add to the rally car styling, Joey has a Prodrive front bumper and grille, and a Spec C roof vent too.  He’s done a roof rail delete too, one of the best mods you can do to a WRX wagon, and of course that sedan widebody I mentioned earlier.  What a great looking bugeye, right?

Inside the car, Joey has kept it nice and tame – good for daily driving if needed. He added Evo VIII Recaro seats, an STi shift knob, a Prodrive gauge cluster and a couple Defi gauges.

The next and final shoot spots were outside the University of Michigan.  We positioned the car on the center of this horribly pothole-ridden road lined with trees and got some great shots.  Joey’s wagon is very photogenic, and the livery really pops against his World Rally Blue paint.  We moved the car to a couple other places near the road and rushed to get some final shots in as we quickly lost daylight.  We decided we had enough photos and started planning on where to get some food before our three-hour trek home that night.  Luckily, Joey knew of some good places to go.

We easily spent over an hour, maybe even almost two, just hanging out and talking.  This is usually our ritual after Limelight shoots – it’s nice to hang out and get to know the people we shoot with.  Joey told us all about the local Subaru scene in Michigan and convinced us that we need to get back up there sometime in the future, especially for Gridlife, where Joey puts his wagon to work.

I asked Joey what his inspiration was for his car and the modifications he chose.  It kind of sounded like a snowball effect – pretty much what happens to any enthusiast.  “After putting over 35,000 miles on it in one year I decided that instead of replacing the clutch, I would do a six-speed swap.  That was in the Spring of 2014.  You develop an emotional attachment to it.  It would have been far cheaper to just get a new shell but I fixed it up.  Building the car was to also kinda prove a point – you don’t need stupid low offset wheels, crappy coilovers or eBay aero parts to enjoy a car.”  Although Joey has driven in over twenty track days throughout the years with this wagon, it’s not a serious track car and he doesn’t intend for it to be.  His goal is to keep it a daily-friendly street car that can handle track abuse every now and then.

There are car enthusiasts, and then there are Subaru enthusiasts.  Joey is a true Subaru enthusiast.  He knows more about these cars than anyone I’ve ever met, and sure knows how to build a good one too.  This feature was a great experience for all of us, and it was great to meet Joey as well.  He’s a good guy and an even better source of Subaru knowledge.  His wagon is one of my favorites out there, and I loved getting a chance to see it in person.  Just another reason why we do this whole thing – putting faces to cars we’ve seen online for years and building connections with others like us.

To see more of Joey’s car, build history, updates, and photos of him throwing it around a racetrack, I urge you to check out his blog www.jngarage.com, his extensive NASIOC build thread https://goo.gl/LsY5JA, and of course his Instagram account @jn_garage.  Thank you, Joey, for meeting up with us for this feature, it was an honor!  Check out his current full build list below:

Joey’s 2003 Subaru WRX Wagon Full Build List

Engine/Drivetrain:

• S204 EJ207
• 3 Port EBCS
• Tomikoa downpipe
• Greddy TI-C catback exhaust
• CSF Racing Radiator
• Samco hose kit
• Spec C oil cooler
• Group N Bushings
• Exedy twin plate clutch
• Version 7 R180 suretrac LSD
• Version 7 Limited STi Transmission

Suspension/Brakes:

• Version 7 STi Brembo calipers
• Brembo Rotors
• PFC Z compound street pads
• PFC01 Track pads
• Centric premium blank rotors
• 21mm Front and Rear STi S204/ RA-R Sway bars
• STi Pink trailing arms
• Version 7 STi lateral links
• Ohlins PCV coilovers 7k/5k spring rates
• MSI Front camber plates

Wheels/Tires:

• 18×8.5+53 STi RA-R wheels (street)
• 245/40/r18 Dunlop SP sportmaxx tires (street)
• Mach V Awesome 17×9 +42 (track)
• 255/40/r17 Falken R615K+ (track)

Exterior:

• Sedan widebody conversion
• Prodrive front bumper
• Prodrive grille
• JDM Spec C roof vent
• Cusco tow hook

Interior:

• Custom Evo VIII Recaro seats
• Sti shift knob
• Prodrive gauge cluster
• Defi ZD clubsport
• Defi NS boost gauge
• Valentine 1 radar detector

Words by Ethan Pfab – @supwagon

*some photos taken from Joey’s build thread/website and are used with his permission.

The post It Doesn’t Get Much Better Than This – Joey Navarre’s Glorious EJ207-Powered “Troll Wagon” appeared first on MFortyFive.

I met Jake through mutual friends, probably back in mid-2014.  We lived in neighboring towns on the north side of Indianapolis, and I would see his car at meets frequently.  I remember when he first got this hatch too.  It was silver and slammed on Rotas and had a ton of performance mods that I didn’t understand at the time.  I would watch him three-wheel the car while pulling into the meets and see everyone turn and stare at it.  I didn’t know him well, but I could tell his hatch was pretty serious.

A couple years passed, and I found myself living in south Florida.  Jake lived in the Jacksonville area and I assumed I would eventually run into him at a show somewhere.  I did.  Seeing the car again after it was wrapped and had some more work done was pretty cool, since I remember what it looked like in the beginning, before the wrap and most of the major modifications.

I’ll admit I was very excited to meet up with Jake in Indiana to finally shoot his car for the blog.  He was always a good option in the back of my mind since we started the blog, but ended up moving away before we got a chance to shoot.  It ended up working out nicely for this photoshoot though!  We met up in his area and followed him to a nice shoot location under a bridge next to a river.  It was our first full day in town, and we were all loving the Midwestern climate much more than the miserable heat and humidity of a south Florida summer day.  During the shoot, Zach and I talked to Jake and got some closer looks of his wild WRX.

Clearly this hatch has a lot going on.  When looking at cars though, my attention is always drawn to wheels first.  Jake’s car rolls around on some new 18×10.5” -10 BC Forged LE10’s, with some nice 265/35 Nitto Invo tires.  To ease the headaches of fitting such wide, low offset wheels, Jake has a set of HT Autos fender flares – probably my favorite style flares out there for the GR.  Hiding behind those wheels are some STi Brembos with DBA 5000 Series 2-piece drilled/slotted front rotors and DBA 4000 Series drilled/slotted rear rotors, ready to handle any intense braking after some quick pulls.  Jake has a sponsorship with BC Racing and proudly runs the BR Series coilovers from them as well as those gorgeous BC Forged wheels.

Under the hood is where things get serious.  This WRX has an extensive list of mods as you can tell.  IAG Performance Stage 4 Extreme block, ETS Rotated Turbo Kit, Precision 6266 Gen2 Turbo, and the Johnson Tuning flex-fuel kit, to name a few.  He even made use of the factory hood scoop after switching to a front-mount intercooler setup by mounting the oil cooler up top.  Just barely poking out of the hood you’ll see the external wastegate dump pipe he fabricated himself, surrounded by a precisely cut piece of carbon fiber.  The car was tuned by Corbin Johnson at Johnson Tuning, a well-known name out of the Midwest.  Thanks to him, the car makes an astounding 700 AWHP/597 AWTQ at 38 psi on E85, and 545 AWHP/471 AWTQ at 24 psi on 93 octane fuel.  Insane.  Getting to this point was not a very easy task from what Jake told me.  In fact, he hit some pretty big hold ups along the way.

“I bought this car January 2nd of 2014 as a full-bolt-on car with a Blouch 2.5 on E85.  I was not very happy with a few items when I purchased the car, such as the tune.  After doing my research, I had Corbin Johnson tune my car.  After we were done tuning, the car made 430 AWHP and 430 AWTQ.  After getting the car running correctly and at a power level I was content with, I decided to sell the Rota wheels that came on the car and purchase a set of Rays Gramlights 57Xtremes.  This changed the whole look of the car.  I then continued to powdercoat my engine bay components, add a lip kit and make other changes.  Later that year in August due to oil consumption issues, I cracked two ringlands on cylinder two.  After a lot of consulting with my tuner, Corbin (Johnson Tuning), I pulled the trigger on my goal of 650 AWHP.  I went with a closed-deck block and rotated Precision 6266 Gen 2 turbo.  After about a year of anticipation I drove the car home from Six Star Motorsports, whom assembled the car.  After break-in we got the car on the dyno, and after lots of help from Corbin and Fathouse Fabrications working out small kinks and numerous adjustments, the car made 700 AWHP and 597 AWTQ with target boost set at 40 psi.  I was very stoked to have slightly surpassed the goal I wanted to reach, and I have many more plans for this car in the future.”

Obviously Jake could never sustain that power level with the factory 5-speed transmission, which is why the ever-popular ‘08+ STi 6-speed was swapped in.  Jake also threw in the ‘08+ STi R180 rear differential, a custom aluminum driveshaft, a Competition Clutch Stage 4 clutch and lightweight flywheel for a huge upgrade from stock.  The list of mods goes on forever it seems, but you’ll find that at the end of this feature.

The exterior of the car has an aggressive tone and gives off a vibe that says it will put bus lengths on you if you try to line up.  To name a few style mods, he’s got some Downwind Customs side skirt splitter extensions and rear spats, a Liberal Aero Carbon Fiber Front Lip, Bayson R Carbon Fiber side skirt extensions, a Blacktop Aero rear Carbon Fiber diffuser, and a painted Seibon Carbon Fiber hood.  Inside the car are some Sparco Fighter fixed-back seats, some AEM gauges and a GT Spec D-shaped steering wheel, to name a few things.  Another thing I noticed while checking out the car during the shoot was the front splitter.  Jake custom-made it himself and welded it to the chassis to ensure it would never get ripped off or bent.  Having the skills to do your own fabrication work is definitely a good advantage when it comes to modifying a car.

After the still shots were taken care of, we headed over to a quiet road in a business park for some rollers.  Luckily for us, we had a rental Nissan Rogue with plenty of room for CJ to hang out of the cargo area, dangling the camera inches above the road.  Jake’s car looks pretty menacing from the front, and you can definitely hear it coming.  After several passes, we parked and ended up talking for at least half an hour.  That’s one of the things I love about these features – meeting and hanging out with different/new people with each photoshoot.

This feature was a lot of fun for us.  I got to show CJ and Zach around my hometown and shoot with a few friends and some new people as well.  Despite Jake’s car running a little rough and burning oil that day, he eagerly came out to meet us for a photoshoot and led us to a few cool spots he knew.  It was nice to meet up in Indiana this time instead of Florida, and it was cool to see the car out on the street, since I have only seen it parked at shows the past couple years.  We appreciate it, Jake – and thanks for letting us feature your car!  To see more of Jake’s wild WRX hatch, check him out on Instagram @jakefromvaded.

By Ethan Pfab – @supwagon

Jake’s Full Build List:

Sponsors – BC Racing, BC Forged, Johnson Tuning

SUSPENSION/DRIVETRAIN:
BC Racing coilovers
Noname Adjustable Lower Control Arms
Whiteline Toe Arms
Whiteline Front and Rear Sway Bars
SPT Strut Tower Brace
SPT Sub Frame Brace
Whiteline Rear Lateral Braces
Whiteline Rear Diff Cradle Bushings
Perrin Spherical Rear End Links
’08+ STI 6 Speed Transmission
’08+ STI R180 Rear Differential
DCCDPro Center Diff Controller
Custom Made Aluminum Drive Shaft
Competition Clutch Lightweight Flywheel
Competition Clutch Stage 4 Clutch
Torque Solutions Solid Pitch Stop
Perrin Motor Mounts
Cusco Transmission Mount
Whiteline Steering Rack Bushings

WHEELS/BRAKES:
BC Forged LE10 18×10.5 -10
Nitto Invo Tires 265/35/18
Project Kics R40 Iconix Lugs
STi Brembo Calipers
DBA 5000 Series 2 Piece Drilled/Slotted Front Rotors
DBA 4000 Series Drilled/Slotted Rear Rotors
Project Mu NS400 Front Pads
Project Mu NS400 Rear Pads
Goodridge Stainless Brake Lines
Grimmspeed Master Cylinder Brace

MOTOR:
IAG Performance Stage 4 Extreme block
Outfront Porting, Polishing, and Bowl Blending
Supertech Dual Spring Valve Kit
Supertech +1mm Inconel Exhaust Valves
Supertech +1mm SS Nitride Intake Valves
GSC S2 Cams
ARP Custom 14mm Head Studs
OEM 11mm Oil Pump
Mishimoto Oil Cooler
Mishimoto Thermostatic Oil Sandwhich Plate
SixStar Motorsports Custom Top Mount Oil Cooler Bracket
Koyorad Radiator
Radium Engineering Catch Can
Aluminum Overflow Tank
Killer B Oil Pan Baffle
Killer B Oil Pickup

TURBO KIT/EXHAUST:
ETS Rotated Turbo Kit
Precision 6266 Gen2 Turbo
ETS Front Mount Intercooler Kit with 4 Inch Core
Tial MV-R 44mm Waste Gate
Custom hood dump fabbed by me
Tial Q Blow Off Valve
Grimmspeed 3 Port Boost Controller
Nameless Performance Catback 5″ mufflers/4″staggered double wall tips

FUEL SYSTEM:
Custom Return Style Fuel system
Radium Fuel Pump Hanger Assembly
Walbro 255 Fuel Pump in Radium Assembly
Radium Engineering Internal Pump Surge Tank
Twin Walbro 450 Surge Tank Pumps Each On a Separate Breaker
-8 Feed Fuel Line
-6 Return Fuel Line
IAG Fuel Rails
Injector Dynamics ID2000 Injectors
Dual Fuelab 6-Micron Fuel Filters
Aeromotive Fuel Pressure Regulator

TUNING:
Cobb V3 Accessport Tuned on Speed Density
Johnson Tuning flexfuel kit
Tuning Done by Corbin Johnson/Johnson Tuning
Tuned On The Fathouse Fabrications AWD Dynojet Dyno
700 AWHP/597 AWTQ @38 psi E85
545 AWHP/471 AWTQ @24 psi 93 Octane

EXTERIOR MODIFICATIONS:
Downwind Customs side skirt splitter extensions
Downwind Customs rear spats
Liberal Aero Carbon Fiber Front Lip
Bayson R Carbon Fiber Side skirt Extensions
Blacktop Aero Rear Carbon Fiber Diffuser
Seibon Carbon Fiber Hood Painted
Taillight Red Overlays
Perrin Wing Risers
AVS sleek Rain Visors
Tinted Windows 5% Rear Windows and 15% Driver and Passenger Windows
Matte Black Roof Wrap by B Wrapped
Arlon Matte Navy Midnight Metallic by B Wrapped
Carbon Creations License Plate Surround
Rolled and Pulled Fenders
Engine Bay Powder Coating Done by Shane Marshall @ PCT Coating
Password JDM Fuse Box Cover
Password JDM Alternator Cover
C-light headlights LED
Carbon fiber headlight eyebrows
HID lows, highs, and fogs
Carbon Fiber Front Bumper Side Vents
HTAutos Grill Painted
HTAutos ’08-’14 flares
Aeroflow Dynamics V4 canards
Verus engineering ’15+ STi splitter
Custom chassis mount splitter fabbed by me.
Verus engineering splitter rods

INTERIOR:
Sparco Fighter Seats
Sparco Seat Mount Brackets
AEM 50 psi Boost Gauge
AEM Wideband Gauge
AEM Oil Pressure Gauge
GT Spec D-spec Steering Wheel
Pioneer AVH3500BT Head Unit
SMY Gauge Pod Cobb Mount
Alpine Type X Subwoofer
Kenwood Amp
Pioneer Door Speakers
Custom Leather E-Brake Boot
Custom Leather Wrapped Cluster Surround
Suede shift boot
LED Interior Lighting
Viper Alarm with Tilt Sensor, GPS Locating, iPhone Controls
Downwind Customs shift knob
ATI Center Gauge Pod

The post Going All Out – Jake Fisher’s 2011 WRX Limited Hatch appeared first on MFortyFive.

I’ve been looking forward to the day I get to write about my own car.  I know it’s incredibly cliché, but it’s a love/hate relationship.  I’ll just say a lot has happened to it and with it these past three and a half years.  Dozens of road trips; Indiana to Florida, Florida to Maryland (a few times), South Carolina, Virginia, a few trips to North Carolina/Tennessee (for the Tail of the Dragon, of course) and all throughout Florida for car shows.  I’m quite proud of it, especially in the current state.  It’s taken a lot of time and effort to get it where it is now, and I’m glad I can finally get the wagon some attention and show it off.

My wagon’s predecessor was an Obsidian Black Pearl 2007 Impreza 2.5i sedan that I still miss dearly.  It was my first car that I drove, abused, worked on, rallied, stanced and enjoyed, and I would certainly not have my WRX without owning that Impreza first.  That car is what sucked me into the Subaru world and culture.  The funny thing is, selling it hadn’t even crossed my mind until the night I saw my WRX for sale on Craigslist.  Less than three weeks before I got the wagon, I bought a 1981 Volvo 242 as a project car due to boredom with the Impreza, so I had absolutely no plans to get another car.

My old 2.5i in its prime, Fall 2014.

I frequently go on Craigslist just to see what’s out there – it’s just fun for me.  I like looking at cars.  I remember very clearly how it all went from the night I found the ad for the WRX to the night I drove it home about a week later.  It was early January 2015, and I was living in Fishers, Indiana at the time.  In the back of my mind, I was interested in owning a WRX wagon for a while – which led to me searching every now and then to see if any popped up.  On that fateful night I found this mint 2006 Impreza WRX Limited Wagon with only 82,000 miles that was posted just hours before I found it.  I still wish I had the screenshots from the ad, but the car looked great.  Bone stock of course, black leather interior, sunroof, cold weather package, and basically every single other option you could get from the dealer back then.  I texted the owner on impulse, excited to see where this would go.

The night I drove the wagon home.  This was the very first fuel fill-up.

We ended up meeting the next morning at a Starbucks on my side of town.  It was a very cold morning with snow and ice still on the ground, and I headed out of the house with a smile on my face.  It turns out the owner of the car was an older gentleman who bought it for his wife brand new back in late 2005 from a dealer in Chicago.  I test drove the car and looked over every inch of it before we parted ways.  I was in love, and I knew it was the one.  After our meetup, I scheduled an appointment to have a dealer do a mechanical inspection, since my knowledge at the time was very limited.  During the inspection, the owner handed me a folder that had to be at least two inches thick, full of maintenance records and information.  I love old people owned cars – this guy had record of every single oil change the car had ever had, among other more significant things as well.  The inspection went well, and there was nothing at all wrong or needing attention.  That sealed the deal, it was time to bring my dream car home.

What a fun commuter car!  Parked safely in a corner at my school’s parking garage, downtown Indianapolis, IN.

I left the car stock and untouched for about a month.  After a few days though I ripped off those protective hard plastic strips around the edges of the doors and fenders, if that counts as “touching” it.  Basically, the first month or so of driving the car around I learned what a manual, turbo, AWD car felt like.  I learned how to shift it properly, what RPM range was the most fun, how it handled snow (amazingly), and just spent the time enjoying such a drastically different car than my last.

My unstoppable winter setup – beefy snow tires on ’04-’05 WRX wheels.

I remember my first modification on it was my SPT intake, a part my good friend Drew recommended.  I was new to the turbo life, and he was the only friend I had with a turbo Subaru, (a blobeye wagon actually) so we became better friends pretty quickly.  After that, I remember I had some ‘04-‘05 WRX wheels with some beefy snow tires on them in my garage, so I plastidipped them black and put them on the wagon.  It was such a blast in snow, I really miss those days.  Next up, I put the coilovers I had on my Impreza onto the wagon and attempted to do the front brakes.  Things were starting to happen!  I had a set of 3SDM 0.06’s that were ready to go on the wagon from the Impreza as well, and I ended up keeping this setup for over a year.

Aired out on my Rotiform SPF’s at H2oi 2016, Ocean City, MD.  Photo by Eli Mullen – @elijah.mullen

Aired out at the Florida Subaru Mega Meet, December 2017.

Our second trip to the Tail of the Dragon, photo from the TougeFest article, November 2017.

Throughout the years, I’ve had probably five sets of wheels on the car, three sets of coilovers and an air suspension kit, three exhausts and several different exterior modifications.  Currently, my favorite exterior modification would probably be my rear flares with my roof rail delete being a close second.  I give CJ credit for the reason I even got these flares.  He showed me them online and it got me thinking.  I eventually saw a WRX sedan with them and my mind was set.  I had the typical quarter panel rust on both sides, so I figured it would be a good time to get that cut out and replaced with fresh metal with the flares molded on top.  A local body shop did all the work and did an outstanding job molding them and color-matching them.  It’s a shame I’ll end up cutting out the quarters again for the sedan widebody conversion though… More on that later!

Other notable exterior mods of mine include my APR carbon fiber exhaust heat shield, my HT Autos side skirt extensions and rear valences, my JDM tail lights (although it bothers the hell out of me that the rear fog light is on the wrong side for a LHD car), and my bright white Work CR Kiwami’s.

I originally bought these wheels when I was bagged with stretched tires.  It was for a new stance-y style, coming from Rotiform SPF’s.  I went from running a 215/40 tire on the 18” x 9.5” +30 wheels to a 265/35 tire – a massive difference.  How on Earth could I fit 265’s on a [kind of] stock-body wagon?  A LOT of camber and height adjustments.  I’m running about -4 degrees of camber up front and around -3 degrees in the rear.  I have camber plates on the coilovers, adjustable lateral links in the back and two sets of camber bolts up front to achieve this.  Yeah, the car flops all over the road with this much camber and tire, but it sure looks good.  One of the reasons I left air suspension for Fortune Auto 500 coilovers was to be able to run wider tires and have a more firm and stress-free suspension setup.  I love bags, don’t get me wrong, but it just makes more sense for coilovers with the direction I plan on going.

I didn’t really get into the performance side of modifying the car until early 2017.  At this point I had only gone as far as a Cobb OTS Stage 2 map with an exhaust, downpipe and intake.  The single insignificant event that led to a mountain of work and parts was my secondary air pump valves failing and throwing that pesky CEL.  (F.Y.I. my check engine light has probably been on more than off in the past year – just Subaru things.)  Since doing an air pump delete with block off plates seemed a bit more involved than I was prepared for, I took the car over to Circuit Motorsports in Orlando to get that taken care of, along with getting the car protuned.  While it was there, I learned my stock TD04 had bad shaft play.  Awesome – time to throw it out and do something cool.  I bought a round of parts consisting of a low mileage VF48, a Grimmspeed TMIC, ID1000’s, a Walbro 255 fuel pump, a new intake and a few other things and then got the car tuned.  With all these new parts, I’m at a nice, fun, and safe 320whp/330ft-lbs.  I haven’t done much else to increase power since then, but I do plan on doing flex fuel, equal-length headers and maybe even a front-mount intercooler setup someday in the future.

Whenever I would start getting bored with the car, I ordered a round of parts.  One of the most exciting rounds of parts to me would be all of the chassis-stiffening parts I’ve installed.  Whiteline sway bars front and rear, endlinks, strut bars, Cusco subframe brace, Megan racing H-brace, etc.  These parts really made a difference in the handling of the car, and paired with the new coilovers, it feels like it’s on rails.  I jokingly tell people I built my car for touge runs on the Tail of the Dragon, but honestly, it’s starting to seem like that’s true.  Each time I come back from that area, I know what needs improvement on the car, and I take care of these needs before the next trip and feel my hard work pay off.

Inside the car, I haven’t done anything drastic.  I’ve done a Whiteline rear strut bar, which definitely helped the chassis rigidity and makes the rear end much more tight in corners.  Perhaps my favorite interior piece is my very-hard-to-find Audio Integrations subwoofer enclosure.  Such a small detail to most, but for me it’s quite a big deal.  For nearly three years I drove the car around with a 10″ subwoofer and box falling all over my cargo area.  I finally got tired of it and used a bungee cord to strap it down.  It looked terrible but did the job.  One day, after quite a long time of searching, I came across someone selling their enclosure.  I texted him immediately and offered full asking price.  It’s a perfect fit and doesn’t move around one bit, even on the Tail of the Dragon.  It’s a shame Audio Integrations doesn’t make them anymore, but I am glad I was able to snag one.  Up front, I have a fire extinguisher bracket made to bolt to the front of the passenger seat rails.  This fine piece was made by Dakotah at Endless Horizon Fabrication out of Southern California.  I love my Limited interior too much to gut the car, but I have entertained the idea of getting black leather aftermarket seats at some point, as long as they look similar enough to the rest of the interior.

The title of trying to make it all work is a commonly used phrase of mine when talking about the car.  I learned firsthand that not all sedan things work on wagons.  It may not sound like a big deal to most, but when the parts you want aren’t made for your car it can be frustrating.  My flares and skirt extensions are sedan parts of course, but even when it comes to the OEM wagon parts I still struggle.  For example, trying to fit any wheel wider than 8.5” or 9” wide.  I managed to use as much camber as I could to get my wheels and tires to fit thankfully, but it’s not easy.  The fenders on the wagons are so narrow and boring compared to the sedans that come “flared” from the factory.  This is why I’ve decided to do not only the sedan front end conversion, a common swap among wagon owners, but also the rear quarter panel transplant.  It’s definitely a job for my local body shop, but I’m very eager to start this project.  I’ve always loved the sedans more than the wagons, so I feel like this conversion is a good middle ground.  Aggressive sedan styling with wagon functionality and uniqueness.

I’m starting to get an idea of the craziness the future holds for this car if it doesn’t blow up or get wrecked.  I bought a full STi drivetrain off a local friend along with his sedan quarter panels for my conversion.  ’06 STi transmission, Brembos, axles, knuckles, driveshaft, all of it.  This is it right here, the dream becoming the reality!  An STi Wagon!  In the next year I hope to have the drivetrain swap done and working properly, and the sedan widebody finished.  I’ve been thinking about finally taking it out on a track, too.  My current end goal I think would be to have a very fun, reliable street car I can take on road trips to the Tail of the Dragon and out onto racetracks on weekends.  My end goal often changes though, but this one is a pretty strong one.

Despite my audacious plans with the car, I’m very happy with how it sits now.  It has been reliable enough to drive daily the past few months and it always puts a smile on my face.  Sure, it’s unpleasant, loud and uncomfortable, but I don’t mind anymore.  It means a lot to me and deep down I don’t think I could ever let it go.  I’ve put about 51k miles (currently at 133k miles) on it since I brought it home in January 2015, spent countless long nights fixing and modifying things, and spent countless hours driving it all over the Southeast over the past few years, and I can say it’s been an awesome experience.  Without this car I literally would not have met CJ or Zach, and MFortyFive likely would have never been started.  A lot of people who have bought Subarus after coming from other cars agree when saying the Subaru community is different from any other, and some can even probably describe it as more of a “cult.”  I’m unsure of how this strong worldwide bond started, but it’s definitely responsible for some of my best friendships.  Lastly, a huge thank you to all of the friends who have helped me build up this car over the years to what it is now, especially CJ and Zach, who are always there to lend a hand.

By Ethan Pfab – @supwagon

Ethan’s Full Build List:

Engine/Performance:

VF48 turbo

ID 1000’s injectors

Walbro 255 fuel pump

TGV deletes

IAG block plates (related to air pump delete)

Air pump delete

Cobb SF Box intake

Cobb Post-MAF hose

Tomei turbo inlet

Grimmspeed thermal coated TMIC

SPT turbo heat shield

Cobb EBCS

Grimmspeed AOS

Fumoto oil drain valve

Invidia catless bellmouth downpipe

Tomei Expreme-Ti Titanium catback exhaust

PTP turbo blanket Lava

Grimmspeed alternator cover

Cobb V2 AccessPort

Protune from Circuit Motorsports @ 320whp/330ft-lbs

Suspension/Chassis

Fortune Auto 500 series coilovers w/ radial bearing mount upgrade

9k/7k Swift springs

Oswald Performance lightweight aluminum front bumper beam w/ tow hook

Whiteline 22mm adjustable front sway bar

Whiteline 24mm adjustable rear sway bar

Whiteline front sway bar endlinks

Truhart rear sway bar endlinks

Truhart rear lateral links

Cusco rear subframe brace

Whiteline front strut tower bar

Whiteline rear strut tower bar

Megan racing H brace

Whiteline front roll center kit

Megan racing motor mounts, rear pitch stop and transmission mount

Aftermarket poly shifter bushings

Brakes/Wheels:

R1 Concepts ceramic brake pads

R1 Concepts slotted rotors

Stainless steel brake lines

Grimmspeed master cylinder brace

Work CR Kiwami wheels, Gloss White, 18×9.5 +30

Hankook Ventus V12 tires, 265/35/r18

Muteki SR35 titanium lug nuts

Interior:

STi airbag

STi Momo 5-speed shift knob

STi floor mats

JDM red hazard button

ProSport dead pedal

Kartboy short throw shifter

Audio Integrations 10″ subwoofer box w/ 10″ Kicker subwoofer

Pioneer head unit

Endless Horizon Fab fire extinguisher mount bracket & fire extinguisher

Exterior:

OEM STi rear diffuser

Roof rail delete

APR carbon fiber exhaust tip heat shield

HT Autos side skirt extensions & rear valences

eBay front lip

JDM tail lights

20% window tint

Grimmspeed hood struts

STi front grille badge

STi rear badge

RPG body-molded custom rear flares

The post Trying to Make It All Work – Ethan Pfab’s 2006 WRX Limited Wagon appeared first on MFortyFive.

I first laid eyes on this beautiful example of an STi at the Florida Subaru Mega Meet back in December.  I saw CJ off in the distance taking photos of it and talking to Wigberto, the owner.  Back then the car was static and still was as attention-grabbing as ever.  After Mega Meet, I was hoping we’d meet up again with Wigberto for a full Limelight feature.  I loved his car and wanted to see more of it, so we drove over to Orlando recently to meet up!

When we go out to shoot features, it sort of feels more like we’re hanging out with the owners rather than showing up for a photoshoot and leaving when we’re done.  We often spend more time talking than actually shooting or interviewing.  This feature started off with us standing around in Wigberto’s driveway admiring his STi and his newly-acquired WRB 2008 Forester XT Sports.  It’s his daily, and what a perfect daily that would be.  He was nice enough to let us use it as the camera car for the shoot too!

Our shoot location this time was an unfinished neighborhood entrance.  The long straight road was lined with light posts and had little traffic, so it worked out nicely.  Wigberto parked and aired out right in the middle, and CJ got busy shooting.

Wigberto is no new-comer to Subarus – he’s owned nine other Subarus in the past.  In fact, our second Limelight feature last fall, Michael’s WRB STi hatch, was previously owned by Wigberto!  Despite all of the Subarus he’s owned over the years, this STi is his favorite.  “I chose this one because it’s my favorite year and favorite color, Satin White Pearl.”  He’s had the car for nearly two years now and has done a pretty good amount of work to it.  When he bought it, he mainly took care of the maintenance the car needed and eventually started on some appearance mods, like wheels and suspension.

Wigberto’s STi looks amazing in my opinion.  The wheel fitment with his Karlton flares is perfect.  To get this kind of fitment on a flared sedan, you need some pretty wide wheels.  Like 11” wide.  The car is on 18” x 11” +10 MST Suzuka wheels with 295/30r18 Pirelli P Zero tires.  Yes, 295s.  And I thought my 265s were wide.  The car is on air of course, sporting Airlift Performance’s V2 system with a wood floor trunk setup in the rear.  Wigberto wanted to switch to air after being convinced by Marc (one of our previous Limelight features) to pull the trigger on them.  He chose bags mainly because the car was his daily and he liked the fact that he can just raise it up on rough roads to drive over comfortably.

Wigberto told me that he bought the car with a blown headgasket.  While getting that repaired, he decided on getting the bottom end built and getting some Wiseco pistons, Manley turbo tuff rods, and ARP head studs as well.  Once rebuilt, the car was still having some issues and he even thought about doing a motor swap from something non-Subaru, but in the end he had it fixed up and kept the good old EJ257.  So far, he’s done the basic bolt ons, IAG TGV deletes, a V3 Cobb Accessport, Walbro 255 fuel pump, and a Cobb catback exhaust.  He said the last time he had the car on a dyno, it made 290whp, but he plans on someday building it up to be a 600 hp monster.  For now though, he has been thinking about taking it out on the track as long as he can keep it looking good.

Perhaps Wigberto’s favorite, and the most prominent modification on the car would be his Karlton flares.  These are probably the most popular flares out there for these cars, and for good reason.  He said when he bought the car, the previous owner had hacked up the fenders a little bit and he wanted to fix them.  Wigberto started looking around at flares and fell in love with the Karltons soon after.  He purchased some and found the courage to cut into his fenders for installation.  As you can tell, it all worked out nicely.  Some other exterior mods he’s done are the HT Autos side skirt extensions, rear valences and front lip, along with the Perrin wing stabilizers, and of course, his Vipmotoz C-lights up front.

Inside the car there are some comfy Corbeau seats, suede-wrapped trim pieces, and a nice black headliner that was swapped in.  To complete the all-black interior look, he also swapped in ’05 WRX rear seats.  Once CJ was done with stationary shots, we jumped in the FXT and spent the next 15 minutes going back and forth down that same road for rolling shots.

Like I mentioned earlier, these shoots feel more like meeting up and hanging out with the owners of these cars.  We went out to get some burritos at a spot Wigberto took us to and spent easily an hour and a half sitting around and talking, then standing in front of the cars after eating and talking as well.  His friend with an R32 GTR also came with us, so we spent a good amount of time admiring it and asking questions about that as well.

Part of the reason we love doing what we do is the connections we make.  We’ve made several friends just from reaching out and asking if they want a photoshoot and article written about them.  A photoshoot turns into going out to eat and hanging out, telling stories and talking about cars and car parts.  It’s amazing what can happen by just sharing the same interest in a car, after all, it’s how we got our start.

Thank you to Wigberto for meeting up with us!  Check out more of his car on Instagram @stinkeyewrb!

By Ethan Pfab – @supwagon

Wigberto’s Full Build List

Engine/Performance:

Cobb intake

Cobb downpipe

Cobb catback exhaust

Manley turbo tuff rods

Wiseco pistons

ARP head studs

IAG TGV deletes

Exedy stage 1 clutch

Cobb AccessPort V3

Walbro 255 fuel pump

Protune by Mike Botti @290whp/290 ft/lbs

Wheels/Suspension:

MST Suzuka 18” x 11” +10

Pirelli P Zero tires 295/30r18

Airlift Performance air struts w/ V2 management

Exterior:

Karlton fender flares

HT Autos side skirt extensions, rear valences and front lip

Perrin wing stabilizers

Vipmotoz headlights

Interior:

Corbeau seats

’05 WRX rear seats

Black headliner

Suede-wrapped trim pieces

HKS turbo timer

Kartboy short throw shifter

Wood floor trunk

The post Dedication to the Brand – Wigberto Figueroa’s 2007 STi appeared first on MFortyFive.

I don’t think I’ve posted about this thing yet so here it is, my Oswald Performance aluminum lightweight bumper beam. I installed this right before our Tail of the Dragon trip last month to shave some weight off the front of the car and to replace my heavy and rusty original crash beam. Installing this aluminum bumper beam was very straightforward and they even include a fancy red tow hook! I left mine on for added racecar points. This bumper beam only weighs 6 lbs compared to the original one, weighing just under 28 lbs. That’s 21 lbs removed off the very front of the car, which improves handling and makes the car feel slightly more nimble in corners. I didn’t get to feel the full effect of these changes since I had just installed about 5 other things at the same time, but I truly believe this piece makes a difference. Plus it looks cool! I got mine after reading good things about it online and seeing @tryhardsti with his made me want it even more. I love doing the little mods that make an impact on handling!

Ethan Pfab – @supwagon

The post MFortyFive Journal Entry – Ethan appeared first on MFortyFive.

To start off a new approach to MFortyFive, here’s my first major journal entry. Over the weekend I got around to doing a bunch of work I’ve been trying to do for a while. About a month ago I mounted @tryhardsti ‘s old 265/35 Hankooks on my 18×9.5” Work CR Kiwamis, knowing that they definitely wouldn’t fit since I was on air. Due to that and the direction I was leaning towards with the car, I ended up getting some brand new Fortune Auto 500 coilovers with 9k/7k Swift springs. Naturally, I ended up doing all the work the last free weekend before our next Tail of the Dragon trip. Needless to say, I am amazed by the quality of the coilovers and the fitment I was able to achieve after all the work it took. I’m running tons of negative camber up front (265s on a WAGON fender) and a little less in the rear since I’ve got the RPG flares now. The Tomei hangs much much better after readjusting it as well, I just need to fix the exhaust leak at the downpipe. Another cool addition is the @endless_horizon_fabrication fire extinguisher and bracket that mounts to the passenger seat rail. Definitely feel better about having one with me during intense driving! I tried to do my Whiteline Front Roll Center kit but the first bolt I tried to loosen snapped completely in half… Corrosion ftw. That’ll get taken care of this week, then I’ll be converting all the lights to LED and I should be all set! Can’t wait to show off all the new stuff I’ve done the past few months at Tuner Evo this weekend!!! Come find me if you’re there!

Ethan Pfab – @supwagon

The post MFortyFive Journal Entry – Ethan appeared first on MFortyFive.