A Night at the Track: Chris Johnson’s daily-driver 2005 Subaru Impreza WRX

 

We were sitting in a McDonald’s parking lot around 5 p.m. waiting for Chris to show up when we heard that distinct, notorious Subaru rumble come out of nowhere.  Chris’s car is one of those you can hear before you see, and when you see it the first thing you will notice is that beautiful World Rally Blue paint.

 

 

At first glance you wouldn’t guess that it’s a 12-year-old car thanks to the fresh paint and painted black trim pieces.  The STi limited trunk lip spoiler paired with the ChargeSpeed sideskirt extensions, rear valences and STi V-spec front lip add a nice subtle touch to the appearance of the car.

 

 

The second thing you might notice when looking at the car are the wheels; 20″x10″ +15 Rennen CSL 1s, wrapped in 245/30ZR20 Pirelli P Zeroes.  He chose these wheels because he loved the look and wanted something bigger to fill in the wheel wells better than his old set of wheels, and says they’re one of his favorite things he’s done to the car.  Although Chris says the wheels are pretty heavy, his car definitely still moves, but more on that later.

 

 

We headed out to our local drag strip, the Bradenton Motorsports Park in Bradenton, Florida.  It was a weekly Thursday test-n-tune night, and people were starting to show up to start running.  There were all types of cars there, from stock-ish Camaros and Mustangs to fully built dedicated drag cars and even a few bikes.  We stopped near the end of the strip for some photos and a quick talk with Chris about his car and his story behind it.

 

 

Chris hasn’t always been a Subaru guy though. Before the WRX he had a 2003 Honda S2000, another enthusiast favorite.  He needed a more practical car than a 2-seater convertible due to it being his daily driver with a family of four, and when looking around he was drawn to Subaru for their All-Wheel-Drive system and simply because it was “something different” with 4 doors.  He bought the car about a year and a half ago with 102k miles with just an exhaust and aftermarket sway bars on it, and since then he has put another 30k miles on and tons of mods.

 

 

It wasn’t long before Chris got the urge to tear into the car and start modding.  3 months after buying it he had already swapped in a new turbo and injectors.  The modding only got more extreme from there.  Currently, he has a Blouch 20g turbo pushing 25psi on an e85 tune by M-Tuned.  The car makes a little over 400whp with 375 ft-lbs of torque, making it quite fun to drive and ride in.  Other significant mods include a full STi drivetrain, STi Brembo brakes with StopTech pads and stainless steel lines, and of course the highly sought-after STi 6-speed transmission.  The car rides on ISC coilovers with an 8k/6k spring rate, but Chris mentioned he’s planning on switching to air suspension in the future.  He loves the versatility of air ride because you can easily go from daily driver to show car with the push of a button.

 

 

Chris has an extensive mod list, as you will see at the end of this article.  All of the loud noises from his car come from his full turbo-back TurboXS Ti exhaust with a bellmouth catless downpipe and a TurboXS high-flow cat, a Turbosmart 44mm external wastegate, and a Turbosmart recirculating BOV.  When he gets on it, this car is LOUD.

 

 

Chris has even bigger plans for this car in the future.  He is currently getting a RevWorks RW950 EJ25 Stage 4 ported and polished short block built and shooting for 700hp!  Along with that, he’s getting Manley 99.5mm forged pistons, Manley 625+ beam rods, a new OEM STi crankshaft, new OEM case halves, ACL race bearings, S2 Billet camshafts and RevWorks CNC inserts for a complete closed deck block.  This thing will be SERIOUS in the near future.

 

 

Chris has had tons of time, money, and hard work put into this car and loves everything about it.  “It’s my everything, I drive it everyday, park it outside, take it to work – it’s my work vehicle, we’re here at the track so it’s my play vehicle, it’s my all-around, do donuts in the sand, take to the Tail of the Dragon car.”  You can see the passion Chris has for his WRX just by talking to him about the car or his mods.  Any enthusiast can relate when someone says their car is their everything; it’s like an extension of yourself or even referred to as “your baby.”  Chris just happens to put his “baby” to work on the drag strip every now and then, proving that you can have a good looking car AND use it for what it’s made for: having fun.

 

  

 

Chris was willing to line up with the MFortyFive team in the camera car and ended up getting dragged by the 6,000lb Expedition.

 

Just kidding…

Chris’s full mod list:

2005 SUBARU WRX LIMITED

Engine:

EJ205 130,000 miles on stock block
25psi on E85
Estimated 400whp/375tq
Blouch 20G turbo
Thermosmart turbo blanket
GrimmSpeed turbo heat shield
GrimmSpeed header cross pipe
GrimmSpeed 44mm EWG up-pipe
GrimmSpeed EBCS
Turbosmart 44mm hypersmart external wastegate
Turbosmart recirculating BOV
2015 STi TMIC
Injector Dynamics ID1000s injectors w/ PnP adapters
Deatschwerks 340lph fuel pump
TGV deletes
Mishimoto X-line radiator
Mishimoto upper and lower radiator hoses
Mike Adkins, M-Tuned on Cobb V3 AccessPort
AEM UEGO wideband
Cobb drop-in air filter
Cobb post-MAF hose
Torque solutions motor mounts and pitch mount

 

Drivetrain:

2007 STi Long Gear 6-speed transmission
2007 STi 5×114.3 front and rear knuckles
2005 STi driveshaft
2007 STi R180 rear differential
Pro DCCD controller
ISC 32-way dampening coilovers, 8k/6k spring rate
StopTech slotted rotors
StopTech performance brake pads
StopTech braided brake lines
Braided clutch line
Competition Clutch Stage 3 segmented clutch
Kartboy short throw shifter
Cobb shift knob
Perrin shifter bushings

 

Interior:

2007 Subaru WRX steering wheel
2005 Subaru STI Window visor splitter
Heated seats
Black suede headliner and pillars
Painted center dash and gauge bezel
Joying 7″ 4.4.4 1080 double din head unit
3M Crystalline 20% tint
Full LED light conversion
LED gauge cluster (red and blue)

 

Exterior:

Fully repainted in a custom w28 color (actually 2 shades brighter than WRB)
2007 STi Limited trunk lip spoiler
2005 STi front splitter
2005 STi V-spec front lip
Shaved front grille (emblem delete) & painted black
Painted ChargeSpeed sideskirt extensions
Painted ChargeSpeed rear valences
New OEM headlights
6K HID headlights
3K HID fog lights
iJDMTOY 128 LED tail lights (all bulbs)
and some sweet MFortyFive decals…

Wheels:

Rennen CSL 1 (20″x10″ +15)
Pirelli P Zero, 245/30ZR20
Project Kics gold lug nuts
Project Kics 6mm wheel spacers

 

By Ethan Pfab – @indecisivewagon