2004 Subaru WRX STi - Style Shift - 2014 IMSCC Competitor

We’re pleased to introduce Jeff Vuong as the second competitor in our 2014 Import Meet Street Car Competition. The IMSCC is an event that will compare some of the best import cars in multiple categories (drag racing, autocross, dyno, car show, etc.) in August 8-10 in Seattle, WA.

Other competitors will be announced leading up to the competition so be sure to check back regularly. Join the Facebook event page for notifications.

It’s no question that stance has grown to be a large niche in the import scene. Despite the amount of growth stance has had, the Subaru community has always been the one group that is the most divided in their opinion of it. One side appreciates Subaru’s rally heritage and drives them because of how well they perform. The other side views Subarus as any other car and doesn’t particularly care about how fast or how well it can handle the corners.

For Jeff Vuong, it has never been about building his 2004 Subaru STi to fit with any current popular style. Everything he has done to the car was because it was what he wanted at the time and in the last four years of ownership he hasn’t been afraid to make drastic changes when his preferred style shifted.

Text & photos by Matt Haugness. Video by Dustin St. Hilaire (Jessup Visual Works).

Watch 2004 Subaru STi – Jeff Vuong on YouTube.

When Jeff bought his STi in 2009 (shortly after joining the Marines) his initial plan was to upgrade it to a “stage 2 daily driver”. Excited to own a car that he always wanted, it didn’t take him long to get there. On his first deployment in Afghanistan, he spent a lot of his free time planning what he would purchase when he got home. After he returned, the first thing he did was install a set of wheels and slam the car to the ground – as that is what he was into at the time.

Happy with the aesthetics for the time being, he began to work on improving the output of the engine. Knowing that he wanted to move on from the stock STi turbo, he started by upgrading the fuel system with DeatschWerks 850cc injectors and a Walbro 255 fuel pump. The turbo he upgraded to made more power than stock but he wasn’t satisfied until recently when he swapped in a Tomei M7960. The primary reasons for the recent upgrade were to allow for better response and to have a higher horsepower ceiling.Jeff was sent back to Afghanistan for his second deployment where he spent a lot of time contemplating the future of his build. He started to realize that he had lost some of the excitement he once got when driving the car. He attributed it to the fact that he couldn’t drive it very hard with it being so low to the ground.

“The car was lowered pretty aggressively and the tires were stretched. It was fun for a while but one thing I couldn’t get over was rubbing my tires on my fender liners everywhere I went,” Jeff explained.

When he got back from his second deployment, he had already decided that it was time to raise the car and make it functional again. He swapped out his BC Racing suspension for a set of FEAL 441 coilovers. He also changed his wheels to a set of Gram Lights 57D (17×9 +35) with 255 Dunlop Direzza Star Spec ZII tires.

In addition to these upgrades, Jeff also went with an APS front mount intercooler and powder coated the piping to match the intake manifold. The engine was accented with a large number of GrimmSpeed shrouds and covers to clean up the appearance.
Once Jeff finished up the engine mods he decided that the car needed more aero. He installed an APR GTC-200 rear wing on a white WRX trunk along with an APR front splitter and canards. He also installed JDM side strakes and a replica ForceWerkz Mature rear diffuser.His favorite mods to date are his Status Racing seats and his JDM Spec C roof vent. With the G-Force harnesses, the Status Racing seats allow him to stay planted in his seat when driving hard. Jeff likes the JDM Spec C roof vent because of how unique it is and how much work went into installing it.

“It took 6 hours to install the roof vent in the car and it was extremely stressful cutting a hole in the roof. I’m really happy with how it turned out and an added bonus is that I don’t need to use my A/C anymore since it works so well.”

Jeff says that building this car has made him the enthusiast he is today.

“With this STi, I learned to install most of the parts in my garage with the help of my friends. The more complicated installs or something I couldn’t do myself, I would have my friends at AWD Auto do the work. It’s the first car I’ve built and it’s taken me a good 4 years to get it to how it looks and drives now.”When asked why he thinks his car will do well in the IMSCC, Jeff responded with:

“I think my STi will do well because I built it to be an all-around street/weekend track car. I built it to have a good amount of power and to handle well. I wanted something that didn’t have crazy turbo lag but could still make close to 400 whp.”

His immediate goal is to just spend more time driving the car. At some point down the road he plans on building the engine, installing a full roll cage, and possibly a dog box transmission.

“I would like to thank Status Racing for re-covering my seats, my friend Khanh from Kaizen Tuning for hooking me up with a new turbo, my friends at AWD Auto for fixing my car when I break it and can’t fix it myself, and I’d also like to thank the guys at Pacific Import Auto for tuning my car. Lastly, I’d like to thank my girlfriend, Megan for stockpiling my car parts when I was away on deployment.”

Modifications:

Exterior/Wheels/Tires:
05+ STi rear bumper
05+ STi quarter panel flares
WRX side skirts with F/R strakes
KS Tech hood scoop delete
KS Tech louver plate
Rep V-Limited front lip
Front license plate delete
GrimmSpeed hood struts
Hella Tones painted white
ForceWerkz Mature style diffuser
Muteki open ended lug nuts
JDM Spec-C roof vent
JDM fog lights with yellow overlay
JDM rain guards
WRX trunk with ARP GTC-200 wing
APR front canards
APR front wind splitter
17×9 +35 Gram Lights 57D w/ Dunlop Direzza Star Spec ZII 255/40/17

Engine/Transmission/Differential:
Tomei M7960 turbocharger
GrimmSpeed PnP exhaust manifold and crossover pipe
GrimmSpeed lightweight crank pulley
GrimmSpeed TGV deletes
GrimmSpeed radiator shroud
GrimmSpeed alternator cover
APS 525dr FMIC
70mm APS CAI
Forge Racing BPV
Invidia N1 TBE
AVO turbo inlet
DW 850cc injectors
Walbro 255 fuel pump
KillerB oil pick-up tube and baffle
KillerB dual reservoir
Cobb Accessport V2
Crawford AOS

Interior:
Status Racing Laguna carbon Kevlar racing seats
Rear 05 black WRX seat
Autopower roll bar/ half cage
G-Force 6 point harnesses
Kartboy 6-speed short shifter
Shifter extension
JDM black Duracon 6-speed shift knob
Personal Grinta 350mm steering wheel
Works Bell quick release and short hub
Pioneer 4100 touch screen
Broadway rear view mirror
ATI triple gauge pod
Prosport EVO boost gauge
Prosport EVO oil pressure gauge
Prosport EVO voltage gauge
JDM red hazard button
Subaru all weather floor mats