This feature marks the first of many out-of-state trips we plan on taking in the future and was a huge milestone for us.  It was the first time we had gone out of state and spent more than a day traveling and working for the blog.  It was also a load of fun!  We chose to fly up to the Midwest not only for Subiefest in early July, but also for me to also show CJ and Zach around my hometown of Indianapolis, IN and meet some car friends I have there.  The funny thing about Jake is that I met him when we both lived in Indiana, then we both moved to Florida a few months apart.  I would meet up with him at car shows and talk a few times a year and see the car progress each time.  This past summer, he moved back up north before we were able to shoot his car.  When planning our trip to Subiefest, the first car that came to mind was Jake’s.  We could meet up with him and shoot it while we’re in town!

I met Jake through mutual friends, probably back in mid-2014.  We lived in neighboring towns on the north side of Indianapolis, and I would see his car at meets frequently.  I remember when he first got this hatch too.  It was silver and slammed on Rotas and had a ton of performance mods that I didn’t understand at the time.  I would watch him three-wheel the car while pulling into the meets and see everyone turn and stare at it.  I didn’t know him well, but I could tell his hatch was pretty serious.

A couple years passed, and I found myself living in south Florida.  Jake lived in the Jacksonville area and I assumed I would eventually run into him at a show somewhere.  I did.  Seeing the car again after it was wrapped and had some more work done was pretty cool, since I remember what it looked like in the beginning, before the wrap and most of the major modifications.

I’ll admit I was very excited to meet up with Jake in Indiana to finally shoot his car for the blog.  He was always a good option in the back of my mind since we started the blog, but ended up moving away before we got a chance to shoot.  It ended up working out nicely for this photoshoot though!  We met up in his area and followed him to a nice shoot location under a bridge next to a river.  It was our first full day in town, and we were all loving the Midwestern climate much more than the miserable heat and humidity of a south Florida summer day.  During the shoot, Zach and I talked to Jake and got some closer looks of his wild WRX.

Clearly this hatch has a lot going on.  When looking at cars though, my attention is always drawn to wheels first.  Jake’s car rolls around on some new 18×10.5” -10 BC Forged LE10’s, with some nice 265/35 Nitto Invo tires.  To ease the headaches of fitting such wide, low offset wheels, Jake has a set of HT Autos fender flares – probably my favorite style flares out there for the GR.  Hiding behind those wheels are some STi Brembos with DBA 5000 Series 2-piece drilled/slotted front rotors and DBA 4000 Series drilled/slotted rear rotors, ready to handle any intense braking after some quick pulls.  Jake has a sponsorship with BC Racing and proudly runs the BR Series coilovers from them as well as those gorgeous BC Forged wheels.

Under the hood is where things get serious.  This WRX has an extensive list of mods as you can tell.  IAG Performance Stage 4 Extreme block, ETS Rotated Turbo Kit, Precision 6266 Gen2 Turbo, and the Johnson Tuning flex-fuel kit, to name a few.  He even made use of the factory hood scoop after switching to a front-mount intercooler setup by mounting the oil cooler up top.  Just barely poking out of the hood you’ll see the external wastegate dump pipe he fabricated himself, surrounded by a precisely cut piece of carbon fiber.  The car was tuned by Corbin Johnson at Johnson Tuning, a well-known name out of the Midwest.  Thanks to him, the car makes an astounding 700 AWHP/597 AWTQ at 38 psi on E85, and 545 AWHP/471 AWTQ at 24 psi on 93 octane fuel.  Insane.  Getting to this point was not a very easy task from what Jake told me.  In fact, he hit some pretty big hold ups along the way.

“I bought this car January 2nd of 2014 as a full-bolt-on car with a Blouch 2.5 on E85.  I was not very happy with a few items when I purchased the car, such as the tune.  After doing my research, I had Corbin Johnson tune my car.  After we were done tuning, the car made 430 AWHP and 430 AWTQ.  After getting the car running correctly and at a power level I was content with, I decided to sell the Rota wheels that came on the car and purchase a set of Rays Gramlights 57Xtremes.  This changed the whole look of the car.  I then continued to powdercoat my engine bay components, add a lip kit and make other changes.  Later that year in August due to oil consumption issues, I cracked two ringlands on cylinder two.  After a lot of consulting with my tuner, Corbin (Johnson Tuning), I pulled the trigger on my goal of 650 AWHP.  I went with a closed-deck block and rotated Precision 6266 Gen 2 turbo.  After about a year of anticipation I drove the car home from Six Star Motorsports, whom assembled the car.  After break-in we got the car on the dyno, and after lots of help from Corbin and Fathouse Fabrications working out small kinks and numerous adjustments, the car made 700 AWHP and 597 AWTQ with target boost set at 40 psi.  I was very stoked to have slightly surpassed the goal I wanted to reach, and I have many more plans for this car in the future.”

Obviously Jake could never sustain that power level with the factory 5-speed transmission, which is why the ever-popular ‘08+ STi 6-speed was swapped in.  Jake also threw in the ‘08+ STi R180 rear differential, a custom aluminum driveshaft, a Competition Clutch Stage 4 clutch and lightweight flywheel for a huge upgrade from stock.  The list of mods goes on forever it seems, but you’ll find that at the end of this feature.

The exterior of the car has an aggressive tone and gives off a vibe that says it will put bus lengths on you if you try to line up.  To name a few style mods, he’s got some Downwind Customs side skirt splitter extensions and rear spats, a Liberal Aero Carbon Fiber Front Lip, Bayson R Carbon Fiber side skirt extensions, a Blacktop Aero rear Carbon Fiber diffuser, and a painted Seibon Carbon Fiber hood.  Inside the car are some Sparco Fighter fixed-back seats, some AEM gauges and a GT Spec D-shaped steering wheel, to name a few things.  Another thing I noticed while checking out the car during the shoot was the front splitter.  Jake custom-made it himself and welded it to the chassis to ensure it would never get ripped off or bent.  Having the skills to do your own fabrication work is definitely a good advantage when it comes to modifying a car.

After the still shots were taken care of, we headed over to a quiet road in a business park for some rollers.  Luckily for us, we had a rental Nissan Rogue with plenty of room for CJ to hang out of the cargo area, dangling the camera inches above the road.  Jake’s car looks pretty menacing from the front, and you can definitely hear it coming.  After several passes, we parked and ended up talking for at least half an hour.  That’s one of the things I love about these features – meeting and hanging out with different/new people with each photoshoot.

This feature was a lot of fun for us.  I got to show CJ and Zach around my hometown and shoot with a few friends and some new people as well.  Despite Jake’s car running a little rough and burning oil that day, he eagerly came out to meet us for a photoshoot and led us to a few cool spots he knew.  It was nice to meet up in Indiana this time instead of Florida, and it was cool to see the car out on the street, since I have only seen it parked at shows the past couple years.  We appreciate it, Jake – and thanks for letting us feature your car!  To see more of Jake’s wild WRX hatch, check him out on Instagram @jakefromvaded.

 

By Ethan Pfab – @supwagon

 

Jake’s Full Build List:

Sponsors – BC Racing, BC Forged, Johnson Tuning

SUSPENSION/DRIVETRAIN:
BC Racing coilovers
Noname Adjustable Lower Control Arms
Whiteline Toe Arms
Whiteline Front and Rear Sway Bars
SPT Strut Tower Brace
SPT Sub Frame Brace
Whiteline Rear Lateral Braces
Whiteline Rear Diff Cradle Bushings
Perrin Spherical Rear End Links
’08+ STI 6 Speed Transmission
’08+ STI R180 Rear Differential
DCCDPro Center Diff Controller
Custom Made Aluminum Drive Shaft
Competition Clutch Lightweight Flywheel
Competition Clutch Stage 4 Clutch
Torque Solutions Solid Pitch Stop
Perrin Motor Mounts
Cusco Transmission Mount
Whiteline Steering Rack Bushings

WHEELS/BRAKES:
BC Forged LE10 18×10.5 -10
Nitto Invo Tires 265/35/18
Project Kics R40 Iconix Lugs
STi Brembo Calipers
DBA 5000 Series 2 Piece Drilled/Slotted Front Rotors
DBA 4000 Series Drilled/Slotted Rear Rotors
Project Mu NS400 Front Pads
Project Mu NS400 Rear Pads
Goodridge Stainless Brake Lines
Grimmspeed Master Cylinder Brace

MOTOR:
IAG Performance Stage 4 Extreme block
Outfront Porting, Polishing, and Bowl Blending
Supertech Dual Spring Valve Kit
Supertech +1mm Inconel Exhaust Valves
Supertech +1mm SS Nitride Intake Valves
GSC S2 Cams
ARP Custom 14mm Head Studs
OEM 11mm Oil Pump
Mishimoto Oil Cooler
Mishimoto Thermostatic Oil Sandwhich Plate
SixStar Motorsports Custom Top Mount Oil Cooler Bracket
Koyorad Radiator
Radium Engineering Catch Can
Aluminum Overflow Tank
Killer B Oil Pan Baffle
Killer B Oil Pickup

TURBO KIT/EXHAUST:
ETS Rotated Turbo Kit
Precision 6266 Gen2 Turbo
ETS Front Mount Intercooler Kit with 4 Inch Core
Tial MV-R 44mm Waste Gate
Custom hood dump fabbed by me
Tial Q Blow Off Valve
Grimmspeed 3 Port Boost Controller
Nameless Performance Catback 5″ mufflers/4″staggered double wall tips

FUEL SYSTEM:
Custom Return Style Fuel system
Radium Fuel Pump Hanger Assembly
Walbro 255 Fuel Pump in Radium Assembly
Radium Engineering Internal Pump Surge Tank
Twin Walbro 450 Surge Tank Pumps Each On a Separate Breaker
-8 Feed Fuel Line
-6 Return Fuel Line
IAG Fuel Rails
Injector Dynamics ID2000 Injectors
Dual Fuelab 6-Micron Fuel Filters
Aeromotive Fuel Pressure Regulator

TUNING:
Cobb V3 Accessport Tuned on Speed Density
Johnson Tuning flexfuel kit
Tuning Done by Corbin Johnson/Johnson Tuning
Tuned On The Fathouse Fabrications AWD Dynojet Dyno
700 AWHP/597 AWTQ @38 psi E85
545 AWHP/471 AWTQ @24 psi 93 Octane

EXTERIOR MODIFICATIONS:
Downwind Customs side skirt splitter extensions
Downwind Customs rear spats
Liberal Aero Carbon Fiber Front Lip
Bayson R Carbon Fiber Side skirt Extensions
Blacktop Aero Rear Carbon Fiber Diffuser
Seibon Carbon Fiber Hood Painted
Taillight Red Overlays
Perrin Wing Risers
AVS sleek Rain Visors
Tinted Windows 5% Rear Windows and 15% Driver and Passenger Windows
Matte Black Roof Wrap by B Wrapped
Arlon Matte Navy Midnight Metallic by B Wrapped
Carbon Creations License Plate Surround
Rolled and Pulled Fenders
Engine Bay Powder Coating Done by Shane Marshall @ PCT Coating
Password JDM Fuse Box Cover
Password JDM Alternator Cover
C-light headlights LED
Carbon fiber headlight eyebrows
HID lows, highs, and fogs
Carbon Fiber Front Bumper Side Vents
HTAutos Grill Painted
HTAutos ’08-’14 flares
Aeroflow Dynamics V4 canards
Verus engineering ’15+ STi splitter
Custom chassis mount splitter fabbed by me.
Verus engineering splitter rods

INTERIOR:
Sparco Fighter Seats
Sparco Seat Mount Brackets
AEM 50 psi Boost Gauge
AEM Wideband Gauge
AEM Oil Pressure Gauge
GT Spec D-spec Steering Wheel
Pioneer AVH3500BT Head Unit
SMY Gauge Pod Cobb Mount
Alpine Type X Subwoofer
Kenwood Amp
Pioneer Door Speakers
Custom Leather E-Brake Boot
Custom Leather Wrapped Cluster Surround
Suede shift boot
LED Interior Lighting
Viper Alarm with Tilt Sensor, GPS Locating, iPhone Controls
Downwind Customs shift knob
ATI Center Gauge Pod