2002 Subaru WRX - Street Car

It's all a matter of keeping the faith, according to Eric Strickland of Ada, Okla.When his buddy toasted the engine in his 2002 WRX, it looked like the end of the line. But where his buddy saw his hopes going up, literally, in smoke, Strickland saw a propitious omen. He bought the car, and now, $40,000 later, he has a prize-winning combination.

Internally the Subaru EJ20 remains box-stock, but Automotive Machine, in Ft. Worth, Texas, ported and polished the head, performed a five-angle valve job and ported the STi intake manifold. Strickland addressed the fuel system with a Walbro 342 fuel pump, rated at 255 liters/hr, STi injectors rated 550 cc/min and a fuel pressure regulator from Aeromotive.

Bruce Yingling at Alamo Autosports in Arlington, Texas, installed and tuned theAutronic SM2 engine management system. This plug-and-play unit cohabits with A'PEXi's AVC-R boost controller for managing the 16.5 pounds of boost Strickland specified for the IHI VF34 ball-bearing turbo. The turbo is also ported and polished, and works with an intercooler from XS Engineering. The wastegate is a two-flange Tial 35mm, and there are two HKS Super Sequential blow-off valves.

To ice the deal, Strickland has installed a 40-shot NOS Fogger system with a purge valve spraying through the hood scoop. According to Strickland, the combination puts 287.3 hp to the ground on Alamo's Dynojet, and runs the quarter-mile in 12.92 seconds at 107 mph.

Although the ignition system is stock-save for the Denso coil and NGK Iridium plugs-the exhaust system, turbo downpipe and intercooler plumbing are all ceramic-coated. Headers are HKS ceramics. The remaining exhaust plumbing is an HKS 3-inch carbon-titanium system with a 4-inch tip.

Strickland raided the STi parts box for the motor mounts, the five-speed manual, the short-shift linkage and the transmission mounts. The Stage 4 clutch and aluminum flywheel are from ClutchMasters. The clutch line is also STi-spec, and the 10-row oil cooler and catch can are from GReddy.

When Strickland bought the car, much of the suspension, brakes and exhaust system work had been done. So it's largely been a matter of tweaking the camber plates on the HKS Hipermax Pro coil-overs and dialing-in the Cusco 20-24mm adjustable anti-roll bar at the rear. There's also a 20mm bar up front. The anti-lift kit is from Whiteline, and the aluminum lower control arms are from the STi.

Big Brembo four-piston front brakes with 14-inch drilled and slotted rotors are mated to 12-inch AEM slotted rotors/OE calipers at the rear. Strickland uses Brembo pads, Motul 600 brake fluid and Goodrich brake lines.

At the autocrosses, road races and occasional rallycross events he attends, Strickland fits his WRX with 17x7.5 Superleggera wheels from O.Z and Kumho Victoracer tires measuring 225/45R-17. For daily driving, however, he runs Rota Tarmac wheels and Pirelli P-Zero tires in the same sizes. Rounding out suspension and chassis matters are the Cusco front/rear tie bars.

Superior Motorsports in Strickland's hometown of Ada gets credit for the bodywork, interior finish and telematics. Body mods include the scoops on the hood (Lansport) and roof (STi), a roof vent, side spat mudflaps from Subaru UK and that unmistakable ProDrive WRC rear wing.

Strickland's goal for a WRC replica was further achieved with the trademark blue mica pearl and the distinctive chrome yellow accents depicting the night-sky constellation known in Japanese as "Subaru" or, in English as "The Pleiades."

Inside there's a Sparco 2000 racing bucket with a six-point harness, a Halon fire extinguisher and a full command of gauges. Along the left A-pillar in one of Auto Meter's pod mounts are Omori 60mm readouts for fuel pressure, turbo boost and exhaust temperature, while in the center a binnacle houses Omori 45mm gauges for oil pressure and oil and water temperatures. There's also a GReddy turbo timer.

For entertainment, the folks at Superior started with HKS's Circle the Earth multiple grounding system before they rigged up an Alpine multi-media station featuring audio, DVD, VHS and navigation all integrated into two 7-inch monitors. The 12-inch subwoofer is from Stillwater Designs, and the five-channel amp is from Precision Power.

All told, this WRX is a rock-'em, sock-'em head-turner, whether it's posin', cruisin' orcompeting. All it took was a little faith