John Miller, the owner of this rather eclectic concoction of carbon fiber and Subaru, is the proud owner of one of the more unique feature cars we’ve had in Modified Mag in quite some time. Although the 2.5RS is not altogether common for us, it is certainly a platform that is hard to ignore for most of the hardcore tuners around the scene even today. The EJ-powered lightweight RS has long been a favorite amongst Subaru purists and rally-inspired enthusiasts, but it also represents an excellent chassis for those looking for performance both on and off the pavement.
John found the original rolling shell for the car featured here in the pages of Modified for a mere 1800 dollars. A former drag chassis that saw multiple owners and multiple 10-second passes, the car was finally gutted, stripped, and passed around amongst various shops until John finally snatched it up more out of unfortunate necessity than anything else. His last Subie had been “run off the road,” as John put it, and without getting into the details, his wrecked car afforded the parts he would need to combine with the shell to put everything together as one.
If we rewind some eight years prior, John’s original inspiration came from a Subaru lineage that went back to the early 80’s amongst many of his family members. This inspiration combined with the Impreza rally cars of the 90’s found John yearning for something of his own, and he went to work on various Impreza projects over the years. At one point he was on the brink of 12 second quarter mile passes with his sedan street Subie, but to take it past that threshold meant going a little more hardcore than he would have wanted for the street. Combine this with the fact that a child was on the way meant John would have to find another suitable daily driver while he went all out on the Subie of his dreams.
After settling on an ‘07 G35 as the daily, it was go time for the hardcore Subie John had always wanted to build. He had the vision of building a rally car he could race at the track yet still drive home on the street, and would stick to keeping everything at least streetable enough to make that all important trailer-less journey. Through the blistering Arizona summer and using an outdoor lift, John went to work, starting with a VF-37 twin-scroll turbo setup along with a Zerosport ECU and UTEC EMS. The car was then tuned to nearly 300whp on low boost, which provided for a decent enough power band to make the car a blast to drive at a mere 2700 lbs. The suspension combo is really where the car shines, however, as the TEIN Flex coilovers and complimentary EDFC are combined with poly bushings throughout, along with nearly every suspension arm in the book, and aggressive sway bars, mounts, end links, and some critical chassis braces that really stiffen things up. Prodrive wheels and a Rotora/Brembo brake combination ensure that the car is both planted in the corners and has adequate stopping power in nearly any situation.
John also really went to work on extensively modifying the interior and exterior of the car to suit his needs. A splash of EVO MR grey paint meshes well with the extensive use of carbon fiber to form a classy yet hardcore exterior appearance, while blacked out/tinted headlights, corner lights, and tail lights keep with the theme quite well. Carbon fiber doors, along with a CF trunk, hood scoop, mirrors, front lip, and an adjustable S202 rear wing all combine with interior and engine bay deletions to a weight savings of over 150 lbs from stock. On the inside an 8-point custom rollcage surrounds a set of Recaro SPG seats, while a host of Defi gauges monitor vitals at all times. Numerous touches from the JDM STI are apparent both on the inside and outside of the car, and include the instrument cluster itself, along with the rear bumper, hood vents, taillights, and more.