It doesn’t take much than a keen ear in a quiet establishment to know what car is pulling into the lawn. The familiar burble of a horizontally opposed engine, the struggle to fid the racing clutch’s biting point and the constant piling of revs brings to mind the typical shades of a tuned Scooby in blue or white- maybe black too...

However that turns into a little surprise when the culprit of the mechanical ruckus pulls into view in a unique shade of mango yellow. REV was almost positive that we were looking at a rare RA-R versionwell- almost. With model-specifi paint, we were almost had. Given our curious nature of asking, we gingerly approached the owner and inquired further, confiming our suspicions that this was no ordinary STi; which made the deal sweeter.

We had to know, we had to find out. The blood that flws in Bryan’s veins, our Feature Car’s owner and even his family members, has probably some form of ester oil technology, or infused with a lethal dosage of octane. This was the car to compete with another car in the householdhis father’s, a rare and coveted Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX wagon. On the weekends, the family heads out for weekend mass in either one of these magnifient Japanese performance machines, giving due credit to their proclaimed four-door, family hauling abilities. If that isn’t all, this eye-catching yellow Pleaides machine packs a certain degree of fiepower that could easily cream half the competition field on track.



Beginning with the traditional horizontally-opposed EJ powerplant, the combustion chambers receive copious amounts of air, thanks to its enlarged breathing ability from a Blitz open pod air intake system. The turbo setup had its share of fairness too; with an durable APS turbo inlet hose that leads spent gases into a carefully-crafted IHI VF22 turbo that retains the goodness of the original turbo; quick response while improving mid-high rev pulls.

More Blitz goodness comes in the form of a DD blow-off valve that regulates the immense pressure building with every turbo spool. To seal all that boosting goodness, the stock boost solenoid was replaced with one from Edge. The boxer gets its sweet soundtrack and performance from a FGK Legalis Super R catback exhaust system. As cool as a motorsports heritage-laced Japanese gets, Bryan outfis the Scooby with its own paraphernalia of tuning goodies; from a Zerosports air splitter that gets more air underneath bonnet to a Cusco cooling plate that specifially ducts air right into the gapping fis of the radiator. Turbocharged power is put down onto the ground with the experts in clutch mastery; an Exedy Super Single clutch that does an adequate job.



Handling was not left in the hands of fate. Working within reasonable means, the STi gets handling stimulation with local tuner brand; APi Racing with the Type RS coilover, bumping the handling ability of the 4WD machine a notch higher. As tight as a performance car chassis gets, a STi front strut bar relieves minute frontal handling problems. With body-roll and turn-ins settled, the boxer “not-soheavyweight” gets immense stopping power with blessings from a large set of 6-piston equipped Rotora calipers, chomping on equally huge heattreated brake discs that haul the speeding Scooby to a halt within a short span of distance.

The wheels are 17” Rota IK-Rs that do a great job of providing suffiient offset for big brake kit clearance, while wearing premium Bridgestone goodness; all four shod in a delectable set of RE070 tyres. Chargespeed is no newcomer to body-kits for Subaru. In fact, the Chargespeed treatment is pretty obvious on Bryan’s WRX STi; all round, from head to toe. The OEM bumper gets add-on treatment with a Chargespeed-fashioned polyurethane lower lip along with matching side-skirts. Drag dynamics factored in, the APR GT3 side mirrors replace the stock ones while adding additional downforce on the rear of the car is the renowned Voltex Type-5 GT-wing.

Moving down South, the rear bumper is outfited with a standard STi rear diffuser to flw air as cleanly as possible from beneath the car. Fitting both driver and front passenger in snugly is left in the good hands of Bride, with the Low Max Vios III full bucket seats. A deep-dished OMP steering wheel gives good leverage, while a set of fi-on STi metallic pedals do fitting job of accommodating quick feet movement. The car’s conditions can be duly monitored with a rare set of STi Genome gauges, as well as a Blitz FATT turbo timer that does a host of engine duties.

The senses of a car enthusiast is duly tested; mainly sight, the strikingly yellow paintjob and sound, the distinctive rumble of the boxer as creeps ever so slowly into sight. A lot of potential awaits, as Bryan takes his time to sift through the plethora of tuning parts available for the STi. Surely, REV will be keeping tabs on this baby with the passing of time!

Subaru Impreza WRX STI

Engine
Blitz Open Pod Air Intake, APS Turbo Inlet Hose, IHI VF22 Turbo, Edge Boost Solenoid, Blitz DD Blow-Off Valve, Fujitsubo Legalis Super R Catback Exhaust, Zerosports Air Splitter, Cusco Radiator
Cooling Plate, Exedy Super Single Clutch

Undercarriage
APi Racing Type RS Coilover, Rotora 6-Piston Brakes Front, Cross-Drilled Brake Rotors, STi Front Strut Bar

Exterior
ChargeSpeed Polyurethane V-Lip, ChargeSpeed Bottomline Side-Skirts, APR GT3 Side Mirrors, Voltex Type V GT-Wing, ROTA IK-R 17” Rims, STi Rear Diffuser, Bridgestone RE070 Tyres

Interior
Bride Low Max Vios III Full Bucket Seats, STi Genome Gauges (Turbo Boost, Oil Pressure, Oil Temperature), Blitz FATT Turbo Timer, OMP Steering Wheel, STi Pink Pedal Set