2005 Subaru Impreza WRX STI

Referring to a Japanese sedan as a "muscle car" would no doubt make most traditionalists in the muscle car scene either laugh or cringe. But for the more progressive and open-minded enthusiasts out there, the comparison makes a lot of sense. Take an economy car chassis, throw a more powerful engine in it, stuff some bigger wheels and tires under it, give it some tough looking exterior trim like hood scoops and flared fenders, and you’ve got an affordable go-fast formula. This is exact formula Detroit used in the 1960’s and 1970’s when building machines like the Pontiac GTO and Dodge Charger, and Subaru and Mitsubishi followed and improved on this recipe by adding the goodness of all-wheel-drive and the ability to turn as well as go stupid-fast in a straight line.

Just ask Al Castorino. This New Jersey native may have grown up on classic muscle cars, given that his love for big horsepower and high speed mischief started when his older brother bought a 1970 Dodge Charger RT and he later bought and restored a 1970 Plymouth Road Runner at the ripe old age of 16 (in 1984). But Al’s taste in high performance machinery covers the full spectrum, from lifted pickup trucks to a lightly modded Lexus SC400 to dirt and road bikes and even a 500-hp drag boat. Getting married and having a son meant his motorcycle racing days were over, so to satisfy his well-established need for speed Al stepped up and built this truly bad ass blacked-out 2005 Subaru Impreza STI.

"One of the things that drew me to the STI, oddly enough, is its similarities to the muscle cars of the 60’s and 70’s", says Al. "The big hood scoop is reminiscent of the old 440 Dart scoop. It’s got big power without too many frills. And for the price tag, it can’t be beat. The STI, and EVO for that matter, are today’s modern muscle cars." And with four door practicality, Al knew he’d be able to lay the smack down on just about anyone on the streets or at the track once the car was built to his standards, but he’d still be able to comfortably (and quickly) drive the kids to school.

After buying this Obsidian Black Pearl Subie, Al went to the internet in search of information on the best available go-fast goodies. That’s when he found NASIOC and IWSTI.com. "I thoroughly enjoyed them both, but IWSTI.com had me obsessed. This site is what spurred most of my ideas for the car. The information that can be found on these boards is priceless."

Tough to disagree, given the awesomely powerful and super clean STI our man Al managed to put together with the info he found online and the help he found from Rich at Precision Tuning and Chris at XX Tuning. It all started innocently enough with a dead pedal mod, but soon after boxes started arriving in the mail almost daily and Al was doing most of the wrenching himself until he started to get in deeper and deeper. That’s when Rich at Precision Tuning stepped in to do the Turbo XS front mount intercooler install. As Al said, "His workmanship was impeccable and his shop is one of the few that actually has people who car about what they are doing, treats their customers with total respect, and sets them on the right path with loads of good advice."

The right path for Al meant a Deadbolt SZ49 turbo, fully upgraded fuel delivery, SMC meth injection, a 50 shot of nitrous via a NX EFI wet kit, an Invidia downpipe, Skunk2 catback, and a Cobb Street Tuner to control it all. But after having been to four different tuners and through many different iterations of hardware, Al was never really satisfied with the way his STI ran. Sure 400whp and 400wtq might sound like plenty, but as Al said, "It just did not idle well and was not very smooth, mostly because of bad ECU tuning". And as you might expect with poor tuning, eventually the engine took a dump, in this case meaning failed ring lands on pistons two and four. That’s when Rich from Precision Tuning really stepped up and built Al a bulletproof EJ block with all the forged trimmings including JE pistons, Manley rods, ARP head studs, and Power Enterprise timing belt. They also threw in SZ55 turbo, Perrin equal length header and V2 fuel rail, APS turbo inlet, JDM TGV deletes, and some Stage 1 head porting for good measure.

This is when Al met Chris from XX Tuning. "I will tell you, this guy in my opinion, is the best tuner on the east coast right now. He keeps you informed as he is doing the tuning, tells you where the issues were, gives good advice about what hardware to use, and tunes the car for safety. Too many tuners are out there just trying to make numbers to impress everyone. Not Chris. He made 455whp and 492wtq on a very safe tune and the car runs like a top."