We were long overdue for a DOTD feature.  Really long.  But here’s the first Driver of the Day in the past several months – my Instagram friend TJ and his bugeye wagon!

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