Inside, the car has a minimalistic design that incorporates a nice blend of racing components and audio gear alike. Mike first stripped the rear section of its seating and exchanged the front stocks for a pair of MOMO Cup buckets. He also mounted a series of Defi gauges to the A-pillar, gauge cluster, and center console, which include boost, oil pressure, oil temp, water temp, fuel pressure, and EGT. A MOMO Jet steering wheel now takes the place of the factory piece, but it attaches to a Daikei AS-01 adjustable spacer and an S-501 steering wheel hub, along with a Tekniq Auto quick-release steering wheel adapter. For long road trips, such as the Tour, there's also a Pioneer AVIC-N1 head unit, which not only keeps a steady flow of music pouring through the speakers, but provides real-time navigation and DVD viewing should it be needed.
As you can see, Mike's WRX clearly embodies all that we look for in a feature car. Though we were sure we'd feature it, those Irish car bombs from our Tour kickoff party really helped to seal the deal. Good going, Mike.
Fast Facts
Owner: Mike Centola
Hometown: Rensselaer, New York
Ride: 2003 Subaru Impreza WRX
Daily Grind: IT specialist at IBM Global Services
Under The Hood: 2.0L EJ20T; 565cc STI fuel injectors, Group N HD engine mounts and pitch mount; Walbro GSS342 fuel pump; APS intake, DR500 intercooler with piping, and high volume, dual-vent blow-off valve; Invidia downpipe; JIC 505Ti full titanium after-cat exhaust; GTspec Version 2 header; NGK BKR7ES spark plugs; Forced Performance Green turbo; UTEC boost controller; SpeedMonkee aluminum radiator and overflow tank; Perrin radiator hoses; APR carbon-fiber radiator splitter; GFB pulley set; Crucia Racing thermostat; Odyssey PC680 lightweight racing battery; Pony Express MIL Eliminator; StaticX grounding kit; Thermotec heat wrap; WRXTuner water injection kit; Exedy clutch and lightened flywheel; Kartboy shifter bushings
Stiff Stuff: JIC FLTA2 coilover shocks with Eibach ERS 600-pound springs; Cusco antisway bars, strut bars, rear V-brace, and Version 2 underbrace; Poltec adjustable end-links; STi aluminum control arms, pillowball lateral links, and trailing arms; Whiteline rear camber bolts, rear subframe locking kit, and rear differential bushings
Stoppers: Porterfield R4S (f) and Axxis Ultimate (r) brake pads; Stoptech stainless brake lines
Rollers: 18x8.5 G-Games 77 Wolf wheels with Kumho MX 235/40R18 tires; 17x8.5 Advan RG (race) wheels with Kumho Victoracer 255/50R17 tires
Outside: Jun bumper; Kaminari side skirts, rear upper lip, and reverse cowl carbon-fiber hood; APR front carbon splitters, mirrors, and GTC200 rear wing; Fiber Images carbon hood; Gruppe-S carbon side marker covers; STi Genome front grille; Morette projector headlights; Catz 4500K HID kit; APC Superwhite city light bulbs and red Led rear bulbs; stainless exhaust bumper heat shield; graphics by Infamous Graphics
Inside: Momo Cup seats and Jet steering wheel; STI shift knob and JDM instrument cluster; Daikei AS-01 center adjustable spacer and S-501 steering wheel hub; Lotek A-pillar gauge pod; G-Force six-point harnesses; Speedware Motorsports harness bar; Tekniq Auto quick release steering wheel adapter
ICE: Pioneer AVIC-N1 head unit; Defi boost, oil-pressure, oil-temp, water-temp, fuel-pressure, and EGT gauges
Props: Erica Boren; Nick and Grace Centola; Arthur and Claudia Boren; Reflections of Speed; UNYSOC; FrozenCPU; Forced Performance; Nu Image Motorsports; Infamous Graphics; APG Motorsports
Right-Hand Man
Joining Mike on this year's Tour is a friend of ours from last year's festivities, Byron O'Hara, who owns this clean JDM Legacy wagon in addition to the WRX he brought last time and an Impreza rally car that he stores in his garage. Though it's fairly stock, we thought it was just plain cool that he brought it out.
Faster Facts
Owner: Byron O'Hara
Hometown: Albany, New York
Ride: 1995 Subaru Legacy
Daily Grind: Pizza delivery guy