Anybody who dares to join us on the Tour has many things working in their favor. You get a great excuse to get out of work for a couple of days, cruise to the NOPI Nationals with people who are equally fanatic about cars as you are, and have plenty of chances to score free schwag and brag to all your friends about how fun it was to egg the Super Street editors' rental car. When all is said and done, the one perk left that makes it all worthwhile for us (and you) is when we can pull really good feature cars out of hundreds. This time, we befriended Mike Centola on the North Leg, who along with his friend, Byron O'Hara (and their respective significant others, Eri and Danielle), cruised with us in his extremely fashionable Impreza WRX (see Byron's sidebar on his right-hand-drive Legacy on page 106), a vehicle that represents a cool blend of Japanese styling and American performance in one package.
We noticed Mike's WRX immediately, as the Subaru splash graphics set to the white hue and gold G-Games wheels are an instant attractoion. Though it had the look with a JUN front bumper and Kaminari side skirts and rear lip, would it be enough? A closer inspection revealed a few carbon-fiber body mods, such as APR's front splitters, side mirrors, a GTC200 rear deck wing, a Kaminari reverse cowl hood, a Fiber Images rear trunk, and Gruppe-S sidemarker covers. The front end also plays home to a series of lighting gear with the Morette projector headlights and Catz 4500K HIDs, while the rear sees a red/clear taillight kit, custom reverse strobes, and APC and Hella bulbs to go around.
When it came time to prep the suspension, we could see that Mike spent quite a bit of coin to get it dialed in. Using an interesting combination of JIC's FLTA2 coilover shocks with 600-pound Eibach ERS springs, the WRX is lowered a total of 3 inches from stock height and complements the 18x8.5 G-Games 77 Wolf wheels perfectly. For further chassis reinforcement, Cusco 22mm and 24mm antisway bars were used on the front and rear, as well as Cusco strut bars. The undercarriage of the WRX's chassis also sees the use of a Cusco rear V-brace, a Version 2 underbrace, Poltec adjustable endlinks, STi aluminum control arms, Whiteline rear camber bolts, a rear subframe locking kit, rear differential bearings, and from the JDM STi, the pillowball lateral links and pillowball trailing arms. Even though the G-Games are Mike's primary set of wheels, he does switch them out at the race track for 17x8.5 Advan RGs, which come wrapped in Kumho's Victoracer 225/40R17 tires. The braking system is touched on lightly with a set of Porterfield R4S brake pads up front and Axxis Ultimate pads on the rear. For an improved brake feel, Stoptech stainless lines were installed on all four corners.
Though it looked sweet on the outside, we wondered if Mike's car had the power to back its clean stance. The EJ20T remains mostly stock, at least internally, but it has been given a few bolt-ons to boost its performance. A Walbro GSS342 fuel pump helps deliver an increased supply of gas to the 565cc injectors, and an APS intake brings in a fresh dose of air to the combustion chambers. The factory turbocharger was replaced with a Green Turbo from Forced Performance, and the exhaust sees a major improvement with the addition of an Invidia downpipe, a GTspec Version 2 header, and a JIC 505Ti full titanium after-cat exhaust. Additional turbo essentials include an APS high volume, dual-vented blow-off valve and a DR500 intercooler kit with related piping. To help lower engine operating temperatures, Mike also opted for a SpeedMonkee aluminum radiator, which is accompanied by a set of Perrin hoses and a Crucia Racing 160-degree thermostat. For the drivetrain, Exedy was the company of choice for upgrades, which come in the form of a sport clutch and a lightweight flywheel.