Subaru Impreza RS - A 2-Liter Bottle Of Whoop-Ass - 02.12WRX

With the performance potential of the car now becoming apparent, Zaidoun decided to upgrade the clutch with an ACT heavy-duty setup bolted to a JUN lightweight flywheel. Most owners of high-horsepower Subarus have ended up with transmission problems at one time or another. So far, Zaidoun has been lucky.

"Unlike many Subarus," he says, "I haven't broken one transmission on this car yet, even with a lot of drag races and spirited driving. But again, I haven't really cranked up the boost to the potential of this turbo and engine. Regardless, a full dog transmission is the real missing link right now. Taller and stronger gears are a must at this point in order to achieve my goals. Hopefully in the near future, with the help of Wayne at CTC Motorsports, a new gear set and a better driveline will be installed." The folks at CTC are currently testing their new transmissions with great success, something that Zaidoun is thankful for.

The chassis of Zaidoun's RS also found itself getting some carefully chosen upgrades. The stock suspension was dispatched to the dumpster and was replaced with a set of Tein HA coilovers with camber plates. A Cusco rear sway bar was installed and a Subaru STI Carbon/Titanium strut brace was bolted on. The front brakes are Winner Power 6-pots imported from Europe and the car rolls on a set of 18x7.5-in. Advan Seina Generation II three-piece wheels fitted with 225/40/18 Nitto Extreme tires. Other exterior mods include a GReddy front lip, Syms rear spoiler and STI rear spats and side-skirts. STI also supplied the front fog light covers, and the headlights were upgraded with an Eaglelite HID kit.

The interior was next on Zaidoun's hit list, and he didn't pull any punches here, either. A set of Sparco Torino seats keep the front occupants firmly in place with the help of Sparco 3-point harnesses. The steering wheel is also a Sparco unit, as are the shift knob and pedals. The carbon-fiber center-dash console is equipped with a full compliment of GReddy gauges to monitor the engines vital functions.

What does all this add up to? Well, on the dyno, running pump gas at 18 psi, Zaidoun's car produced 400 hp at the wheels. Impressive numbers, especially when you consider that the high-tech World Rally Championship cars are producing only 300 hp (in restricted form). All wheel burnouts are easy and acceleration is awesome thanks to the all-wheel drive system. This is a car that is capable of doing it all and doing it very, very quickly.

Finally, Zaidoun asked us to include the following message.

"Thanks to my wife for being patient with my car addiction, my very good friends Nam and Mark, and everyone at CTC Motorsports: Wayne, Nam, Kyle, Arthur and Jason." Thanks to Zaidoun, we are all inspired to do a little home brewing ourselves.