[vinncent_25]

Here's where I am now:



Here’s how it all started:

I previously owned a '02 Subaru 2.5 RS. I was pretty happy with the car, but I was talking to a coworker of mine to source a wrx engine that his shop had for a customer. I had been planning to do an engine swap and make the car a sleeper, but a huge tree fell on the car in June. The car had: JDM headlights, Injen CAI, Greddy Evo2 CBE, Stoptech BBK, rear slotted rotors, and TEIN SS coilovers all around a 3 month period. My girlfriend's brother worked at Avenue Sound in Long Island, so I had them put in a JBL 12" sub and an Alpine amp. I later bought an alpine headunit and ipod kit. For wheels and tires I had a set of Enkei RPF1s 17x8 for the winter and Advan RGIIs 17x8 on Falken 452s for the summer. My first set of wheels and tires were 18x8 Rota RPF1s on Falken Ziex 512s, but they were too heavy and with the way I was driving I went through brake pads too quickly.

When searching for a new car I figured I stick with either a '02 or '03 bugeye, so I could keep my headlights. I also wanted to go with a wagon to avoid being bothered by cops in the area. I found one, but it had just been sold. The salesman told me of another Subaru on the lot so I checked it out. I asked for the keys and started her up. The car only had 19,012 miles when I got there. I checked if it looked like anything was modded, and it looked fine. It had a 8” sub in the back, 2 amps, speakers, and a pioneer headunit. The only problems I saw were it came with these bumper guards that were hiding some scratches on the rear bumper and I could also see a groove in the left front rotor. I figured it was something I could get painted and changed. After working out a deal with my parents to help pay for the car, I put the deposit down on July 6th and picked it up July 11th.

Updated: 3.30.08

I rescheduled my tune for April 19th at ATX Motorsports in New Jersey. Chris from XX Tuning will be tuning there that day, so I figure I head over there so I wouldn't have to drive back to Connecticut. I recently had a photoshoot with my coworker who's a photographer. Pictures are in post 53 and 54. I'm also planning on getting my fmic, boost controller, and ewg installed sometime between now and the 19th.

Modifications

Engine:
Accessport Stage 2 - Protuned by Chris (EFI Logics)
Zero/Sports intake pipe
Zero/Sports radiator shroud waiting to be installed
SPT Turbo Heatshield
APS 3” Turboback Exhaust
APS 65mm Cold Air Intake
Perrin Equal Length Headers
Coolingmist Methanol Kit
APS 725 Front Mount Intercooler

Suspension and Brakes:
Tein SS Coilover
Cusco Front/Rear sway bars
Kartboy Front/Rear endlinks
DBA Front/Rear Slotted Rotors
Goodridge Stainless Steel Brake Lines
Motul Brake Fluid
Axxis Front/Rear Brake Pads

Wheels:
Enkei RPF1s 17x8
Yokohama Iceguard IG721 225/45/17
Advan RGIIs 17x8
Falken FK 452 225/45/17
Factory BBS wheels
Work XD-9s 18x9

Exterior:
Cleared headlights and angel eyes by lightwerks
JDM rain visors
20% tint
I badge
SEIBON Carbon Fiber Trunk
Mine's Carbon Fiber Spoiler
Autospeed License Plate Delete
KS Tech Hood Vent

Interior:
Pioneer Avic D-3
Ipod kit
Defi Guages (boost, oil temp, egt)
Autospeed Dead Pedal
Sparco Speed Seats
Kartboy Short Shifter and Bushings
Painted Center Console and Vent Rings


Here are some pics of my '02 2.5 RS:

after getting the coilovers installed



after getting the front/rear bumpers painted and both front fender painted





after the accident









Here are some pics of my '04 STi:

after a free oil change and car wash





lowered with angel eyes



@ my godparents house after we decided to clean all of our cars




More pics to come…

[GJM]

Nice pics. I remember your bugeye at fizz getting coils put on. My car is the one right next to it in the first picture

[vinncent_25]

I remeber your car too. When I was leaving a lot of Subarus were pulling into the lot

Update: Defi's installed. I'll post pics when I take pics tomorrow night.

[300hp owen]

cool. I love those RGs, sad loss of your bugeye but nice new beginning with an Sti for you.

[vinncent_25]

I was able to wax the car this morning and take some pics.







Defi's

[nice-rice]

Its looking great man. I love the golds on silver paint, love the Defi's. Nice job.

[vinncent_25]

Here are more pics from yesterday

Cusco rear sway bar:



Engine bay with Zero/sports intake pipe:



According to Fedex.com I should be getting my radiator shroud and rain visors today. I'll take some pics and post them when i get the chance.

[vinncent_25]

Update:

JDM Rain Visors installed last Sunday. It was a pretty simple install with the help of my little brother. I'll post pics when I take some pics of the car. It's been raining the past few days so I haven't been able to get the car clean. There's also some tree sap that go onto my trunk from stuff dropping onto the car, so I'll try to get that cleaned up this weekend.

I found a great deal on equal length headers on SQC-NY :: Site :: Forums. I'm supposed to pick it up tonight. I'll get it installed when my APS TBE comes in.

[wdb]

Nice upgrade, from RS to STi. Congratulations and welcome to the site!

If you're doing headers and TBE you should do the uppipe too. A lot of discussion here recently in the Engine, Power and Performance tech section. Check it out.

[STI_Mike]

nice car!!!!!!

[funSTi]

clean car!!

[vinncent_25]

Thanks for the compliments.

I'm not looking to go too big on the car for now. Right now I just want to concentrate on the performance and handling of the car. When the rest of my exhaust parts comes in I'm going to take a day off from work and head to XX Tuning. I'll look to add more suspension parts next spring and go from there.

[vinncent_25]

I picked up the headers last week and everything looked good. The guy was selling a bunch of other parts that I'll probably end up picking up when I get more money.

Right now I'll have to put some money into getting some work done on the body. I got hit Saturday night while making a left. This guy got into the left lane, but it was a left turn only lane. He ended up going straight and hitting me. I was able to control it, but there were too many cars coming so I couldn't turn around and chase him down to get his info. I'm planning on heading to the body shop once I get back from work. The place is good with their work and they're open 24hrs on week days. I'll get that painted and other misc. parts that were scratched up when I got the car.

[vinncent_25]

I took the car to the body shop last night. They should be done with everything by Thursday. I'm getting the dent and the bumper pulled out and painted and a few other stuff. It wasn't as bad as i thought it was going to be. I'll try to take new pics on Saturday.

[vinncent_25]

I still haven't done much to the car for the engine. I've stayed mainly with suspension, wheels, and tires. I had a day off yesterday so I decided to finally go stage 1. The power is definitely noticeable when I get on it. I figure it was a good time since I'll be going stage 2 in a few weeks. I'll learn the car with the power I have now, so I can feel the difference when I go stage 2 and get my protune.