I told myself I wouldn’t wake up at 5 a.m. for a shoot anymore, but to turn down a chance to shoot one of the cleanest Subaru WRXs in the States, I made myself get up even though I had a sick stomach virus that caused some mad toilet action the night before.  JohnP and I met up with Paulie at 6 a.m. in downtown Fort Worth while the other Mayday guys were still asleep back at the hotel.  This is the day after WekFest Forth Worth by the way. Mayday Mikey, David, Venn, and Danny partied all nite so they weren’t able to make it and our other ace photographer Khiem…. well he doesn’t like to get up at 6 a.m.

We arrived at the location early, but it was still too dark to shoot, so Paulie and his wife started cleaning up the WRX a bit more before we started shooting.  Their car was already clean since the car showed at WekFest Ft.Worth, but they wanted the car to be extra, extra clean since it was their first feature. That’s being meticulous.

The following words by Paulie himself:

“It all started when I was deployed to OMAN during Iraqi Freedom – My wife was sending me all my WRC VHS tapes to keep me entertained.  It was towards the end of the last VHS tape I had watched that she tells me she wants to get rid of theS2000 and get something with AWD.  She felt a little nervous with the S2K in the rain, and she wanted something a little more stable.”

“Of course, I had just been watching years worth of WRC videos, so I was all pumped up when she said she wanted AWD.  Her exact words to me were “Sweetie, I want something as fast as the S2000, AWD, 4 doors, and it can’t cost more either.”

I was like, dang, she just described the WRX to a “T”.  Her reply was that she thought it was ugly (this is about the time when the Bug Eyes were coming to the US).  I said unless she wanted an Audi S4 for almost 20 grand more, the WRX was the only thing that fit her criteria.  She agreed to test drive one with me when I got back from the war.  About 6 months later, I returned to the US and we got our test drive.  She still thought it was ugly, but that was the farthest thing from her mind after the tach went north of 3,000rpm and she felt the turbo kick in for the first time.  She was addicted to boost!

We put our order in with Huffines Subaru in Texas and waited patiently for months to get one of the last 2002 Aspen White 5sp MT’s.  At that time, Huffines Subaru was affiliated with Cobb Tuning, who intern was the only US distributor of APS products.  They gave us a test drive of an APS Club Spec equipped car and my wife was instantly hooked.  It was the BOV.  She loved the sound.  She said no matter what, she wanted that sound.

So it began…”

“My inspiration for the car was deeply rooted in tarmac rallying (after watching years of WRC rallies while deployed).  I wanted to build a daily-driven road going version of the Prodrive World Rally Championship WRC S8 rally car.  A car that really captured the essence of the WRC car, without being a full up replica. Replicas have been done in the past but I wanted something that was more like a factory special edition. Something that had presence. Something that was subtle but so special you couldn’t put your finger on exactly what it was until you looked a little longer, and noticed the fine details of what helps identify this car with its WRC heritage.”

“It was to be uber clean, as if it started life as a Prodrive WRC Privateer entry, only in not such raw form. It was to be a finished vehicle, capable as a daily driver on real roads, but a monster when pushed in the mountains.  It was to be well balanced, both visually and mechanically, and also in it’s capabilities. I wanted a car that would blur the lines in the twisties, but could also excel at the circuit, or at a show – the ultimate daily driver.  A car that really represented what the WRC is all about – a global motorsport, one  that just happens to be the closest thing that someone could emulate with their road going car, since the WRC is based on them. “

“I knew the parts I chose had to have a European flavor, and so my quest began searching the globe for parts to represent a whole host of countries.  From APS (Australia), Sparco, Orciari and Lester AutoTuning (Italy), Enkei Sport and STi genuine parts (Japan), AP Racing (UK), Rev-Lab (Canada), and Hotchkis, Ground-Control, Gimmie Gears, and Cobb Tuning (USA), many countries were represented in the build up of this car.”

“All the modifications to this car were chosen with a methodical, calculated precision.  The balance had to be just right, down to the colors.  The devil is in the details.”

“This car was developed over time (about 8 years), all on my own dime.  No sponsors, no gimmies, nada- Just some hard work and an extreme dedication to build my ultimate dream car.  In fact, I turned down a full sponsorship with Endless USA (one of my favorite brake companies) because they wanted me to run Work Wheels.  Don’t get me wrong, I love Work wheels, but they didn’t offer anything in a WRC spec size that would fit the Tarmac Rally theme, so I had to decline.

The guys at Endless USA couldn’t believe I was turning down their offer.  They also wanted me to run stickers on certain parts of the car, and in a certain color.  I was like, “No thanks.”  I think a lot of these cars out now are built to a spec sheet, or for a judge, or for someone else.  Hell, if I had to add it up, I probably have like 80K invested in my WRX (including the cost of the car of course).  No way in hell will I compromise in anyway for anyone else, lol, even if they do give me a big discount on parts.”

“The interior sports a full Sparco compliment of their finest threads.  Material was ordered from Sparco Italy to complete the look.  One of the highlights is the full padded Alcantara dash, a throw back to the flocked dashboards of the WRC cars, to help eliminate glare when blasting down the rally stages.  On the passenger side, I had the SRS Airbag logo digitized and then CNC embroidered in the same exact location as stock to pull off a factory look.  Nested within the dash at its center, you’ll find a trio of Defi’s  BF series gauges in Amber Red, one of the first sets imported into the country.  The controls are all about keeping the theme, so the steering wheel got the Alcantara treatment as well.  First, the WRX wheel was tossed in favor of a genuine  STi wheel, and then stitched up by none other than Stitchcraft Custom Interiors of Hunting Beach, Ca – the same folks who do work for Chip Foose.  The detail on the wheel is amazing.  I had them replicate the stitching on the STi wheel down to the thread. It took 20 times to get right, but the end result was breathtaking. Rounding out the controls, the navigation system was from Kenwood, same electronic sponsor to that of the WRC car.  The door cards got the Sparco treatment as well. The tops were done in Alcantara to match the lines of the dash, and the inserts were done in Netspacer fabric to match the inserts on the Sparco Monza seats.  The rear seats went under the knife as well.  Fully encased in Sparco materials to match the front seats, the headrests were reshaped to that of their counterparts, for that little something special.  We even changed out the leather on the Sparco shift knob to Alcantara as well to tie it all together.  To finish out the interior, I installed Sparco’s competition 3 inch harness, along with their newly redesigned harness bar custom made for the WRX.”

“On the exterior of the car, the highlight has to be the front end.  I designed the front of this car to emulate the WRC car (not to replicate it).  The Prodrive lip, along with the LesterAutoTuning fog light covers and fender vents give the car a clean look.  The modified one piece bumper complete with Orciari WRC grille and WRC projector headlights help solidify the WRC look.  Fine details like the leading edge of the hood being cut to match the lines of the grill opening lend to it’s credibility as a WRC emulation, as do the Gimmie Gears WRC hood vent, which was molded from a real WRC competition hood. The roof got the Spec C vent treatment, and the rear decklid sports a true WRC style wing that came all the way from Poland, which hangs off the back of the car as if it just came from Prodrive. ”

“Underneath, the chassis got a complete overhaul.  To get telepathic reactions we said goodbye to the original steering rack and installed a custom unit from Rev-Lab along with Whiteline’s steering rack bushings. It brought the ratio down to an amazing 12.5 to 1 – just slightly over 2turns lock-to-lock.  The factory suspension was tossed in favor of custom damped AST coilovers by Turn-In-Concepts, with a dual Swift Spring set up, mated to Ground-Control caster/camber plates up front, and STi Group N top mounts out back.  Lightweight aluminum control arms from the overseas STi model were fitted, as were lightweight 25mm hollow sway bars from Hotchkis Tuning.  Also from Hotchkis Tuning came a set of fully adjustable lateral links surrounded by their custom endlinks.  Completing the suspension is a 40mm Cusco rear strut tower brace nestled in the trunk.”

“To help make the car stop as good as it cornered, AP Racing calipers from the UK were installed up front, loaded with Ferodo DS3000 pads clamping on AP Racing 330mm slotted rotors.  Outback, a set of Subaru Aluminum 2 piston calipers (as found on the 22B) were fitted and loaded with a matching set of Ferodo pads, but not without being powdercoated to match the AP binders up front first.  Slotted rotors from Disc Brake Australia were fitted to the rear.  Goodrich SS lines were used all around, filled with Endless RF-650 brake fluid, same stuff as used by the WRC and F1 teams.  Housing all that stopping power is a set of Enkei Sport RC-T4 tarmac rally wheels straight from Japan.  Wrapped tightly around them and contributing to the cars’ amazing kung fu like grip and stopping power, is a set of RE-11’s from Bridgestone.”

“Under the hood of this WRC emulation is where it all comes to life.  A Blouch 16G-XT turbo was chosen and mated with a very rare in the US Subaru Group N inlet as used in the WRC, breathing through an APS DR/500 FMIC an APS BOV.  Spent gasses make their way through a Cobb Tuning 3” Turboback exhaust after getting sucked in by the APS Cold Air Induction system filtrated by K&N.  Cooling duties go to the Fluidyne aluminum radiator. Getting the power to the ground is an APS lightened flywheel and Cucso Sport clutch combo.  The factory gears were replaced with a STi RA close ratio gear set from Japan that was cryogenically treated for strength and reliability.  Stiffeners such as a compliment of STi Group N mounts were used to keep the drivetrain in check.  Dress up items by Prova were used to spice things up a bit, and the factory manifold was powder coated like it’s STi offspring.”

MOD LIST:

Motor / Drivetrain:

Blouch 16g-XT turbo w/ hard lines
Subaru Group N turbo inlet pipe (very rare piece, used in WRC)
APS D/R 500 FMIC w/T-Bolt clamps
APS BOV
APS Up-Pipe
APS 70mm Cold Air Induction w/ K & N filter
APS Lightened Flywheel (12.5 lbs)
Exedy Sport Clutch
Cobb 3” Turboback exhaust
Cobb Access Port w/custom Protuning
Cobb Heat Shield for turbo
Cobb Post MAF Hose
Cobb Tuning double adj.short throw shifter w/ hardened bushings
Crawford V2 Air/Oil Separator
Prodrive 3 port Boost Controller
STI RA close ratio 5 speed gear set (cryogenically treated)
STI Group N Motor Mounts
STI Group N Pitch Mount
STI Group N Tranny mount
DeatschWerks 750cc Injectors
DeatschWerks 300lph fuel pump w/specific 2002 WRX install kit
Fluidyne Aluminum Radiator
Samco radiator hoses
Zerosports Thermostat
Prova Hood Dampers
Prova Oil cap
Prova Radiator cap
Prova Brake Fluid cap
Prova Clutch Fluid cap
Castrol Syntec 0w-30 European Formula oil
HKS Twin Power Ignition
HKS Circle Earth System
Optima Yellow-Top Battery
Manifold powder coated to match IC piping

Suspension / Chassis / Brakes:

AST coilovers (TIC SST-spec, w/custom valving, adjusters, dual Swift Springs)
STi aluminum control arms and Group N rear strut top mounts
Ground Control front camber/caster plates (top mount)
Cusco 40mm rear strut tower brace
Hotchkis Tuning front & rear sway bars (w/ rear subframe bracket)
Hotchkis Tuning front & rear endlinks
Hotchkis Tuning adjustable rear camber links
Rev-Lab quick steering rack (12.5:1 ratio) w/Whiteline Steering Rack Bushings
Subaru tapered wheel bearings packed with Neo Synthetic HP 800
Kartboy exhaust hangers
Alignment (-2.7 f camber, -2.2 r camber, max even caster, zero toe all around)
Enkei RC-T4’s 18×8.5 w/235-40-18 RE11s, w Enkei ES Nut Lug nuts, 21g each
AP Racing front BBK direct from England – 5200 series calipers w/330x28mm vented/slotted 2 pc. rotors
Subaru 2-pot 22B calipers on rear – custom powder coated to match front BBK
DBA rear rotors, 290x18mm, vented/slotted
Ferodo DS 2500 pads for street / Ferodo DS3000 pads for track
Endless RF-650 brake fluid
Goodrich Stainless Steel Brake lines
GrimmSpeed Master Cylinder brace

Exterior / Bodywork:

WRC wing (NeoDesigns)
WRC hood vent (Gimmie Gears)
WRC front grill (Orciari) molded into bumper – converted to 1 piece WRC spec.
WRC headlights (Orciari) w/Hella optics
Prodrive front lip
Prodrive rear diff guard (polished and painted)
Subaru Spec C roof vent
Lester fog light covers
Lester air intakes molded to fenders (replaces side markers)
Leading edge of hood cut to match WRC car/grill
Custom grills for hood vent, and radiator opening
Subaru OEM Painted Side Skirts
JDM rear WRX badge (Red outline instead of Blue)
De-badged “S U B A R U” on decklid
Original vinyl logo’s plus Finland 2002 WRC design specification number plate
Authentic Great Britain License Plate

Interior:

Full Stitchcraft interior from Huntington Beach, CA – covered in Sparco materials
Dash covered in Alcantara, with “SRS Airbag” logo replicated on passenger side airbag
Defi Triple Meter Hood covered in Alcantara
USDM STi steering wheel swap w/WRX cruise control intact, covered in Alcantara with STi stitching fully replicated
Sparco Monza front seats
Custom rear seat made to match the Monza fronts, thread for thread, with headrest shape of Monza replicated
Top of door cards covered in Alcantara, middle covered in Netspacer fabric to match seat inserts
Sparco Globe X shift knob covered in Alcantara
Sparco harness bar with a pair of Sparco 3” competition harnesses
OMP Rally Helmet net w/Bell Sport Mag SA 2010 approved open face helmets
2004 WRX radio bezel, center vents, and cup holder (dark Silver)
Red Hazard button from the JDM S203 model

Electronics:

2004 USDM STi gauge cluster
Defi BF Amber Red series gauges – Boost, Oil Temp, and Oil Press
Defi Control Unit II
HVAC illumination converted to Red to match gauges
Kenwood ExcelonDNX 9980HD double-din DVD/CD/MP3 player w/iPod integration”

I kinda want an AWD platform now… til next time.

– Danh –
dphan@maydaygarage.com“