Alex Witkin happened upon his 2002 Subaru WRX while driving around in a rusty 1989 Chevy Camaro in his home state of Maryland. When the "redneck-style Camaro," as he calls it, stroked its final rod, he was forced to look for a new vehicle and was immediately swayed by the WRX. The rush he felt when driving the all-wheel drive monster was intensified when he found out that there were modifications available for his car. At that point, he became a tuner.
Why he drove the Camaro in the first place is still mind boggling, but what's clear is that the WRX gave Witkin a specific context in which he could fire up his inherent passion for cars. At first, he was hesitant to tune the car once he found the cost needed to get the ride he already built in his mind. It was unsettling for him to spend that much cash, and it was even more disturbing for him to half-ass the project if he were to continue. So he did what every normal working tuner would do: he decided to continue and finish it the way he wanted.
"When I do something, I do it 100 percent," he says of his final decision, "So as soon as I started modding, I went all out." He began with researching the Internet, finding out how others finished their WRXs and, more importantly, where they bought their parts.
Within a couple of weeks, Witkin installed an intake system and a blow-off valve for the stock turbo. A couple of months later, he purchased an engine management system and a turbo-back exhaust with a titanium muffler, both from Turbo XS. After feeling the immediate effects of the aftermarket parts, he quickly graduated to a Turbo XS stage 2 kit, and once he grew tired of that, he moved onto a stage 4 kit which later proved to be the first snag of the buildup. The kit featured a bolt-on turbo upgrade and a front-mount intercooler setup. As soon as it was installed, Witkin road-tuned it and was excited at how much power it would put out on Turbo XS' dyno.
Before they could even drive the WRX on the rollers, however, they found out the turbo already blew. Witkin replaced the blown snail with a sleeve bearing VF-34, which was the same size as the previous but with a faster spool up. He also installed a remote map selector, a test and up pipe and a high-performance boost controller all straight from the Turbo XS catalog. To mix quality-fed fuel into the chambers, Witkin fit in a dual Walbro high-flow fuel pump, and customized and flow tested 780cc fuel injectors from GearboxTech.com. He also made sure the engine bay looked as good as it ran, so he mounted an APR
carbon fiber radiator shroud, used a Blitz radiator cap, invested in a set of Samco hoses, and added an LNR 3-piece carbon fiber engine dress-up kit. To top it all off, the engine features a direct port nitrous kit from NX, providing even more scary horsepower down the streets and strips. He didn't bother to dyno the car this time, but Turbo XS estimated the car was making upwards of 280hp, a number that exceeded Witkin's goal of 275hp.
Satisfied with the engine's power at that particular moment, he moved on with modifying the exterior. Witkin wanted it to be black and have the stealthy, mean look. To complement the style, he put on a genuine C-West body kit further capturing an onlooker's visual capacity. The fierce V2 front bumper was accentuated by a set of APR carbon-fiber air splitters, custom-made carbon-fiber fog light covers, and is rounded off by a GT Spec-replica Liberal front grille. Behind it sits a Kaminari carbon fiber reverse cowl hood, segueing perfectly to the Fourstar Motorsports carbon-fiber WRC Rally-spec side mirrors. Applauding from the back row, an APR GTC-200 carbon-fiber wing chops through the air, while the V1 rear lip reduces drag as the WRX tries to gain optimum downforce. As final touches, Witkin blacked-out the taillights to match the stealth bomber scheme.