Although we've seen plenty of STI models from various sources stripped down, powered up, and kitted out for the track, Subaru Performance Tuning (SPT), the company's own go-faster division, decided to head down a road less traveled when it made a special edition of the all-new Legacy sedan for the 2009 SEMA Show. It went VIP, the style adopted by the Japanese mafia (see sidebar).
The Yakuza aren't known for their love of modestly priced sensible sedans, but sister publication Motor Trend calls this all-new 2010 car "the most robust, buttoned-down and serene Legacy to date." So it's as good a place as any for SPT project managers Erik Lukas and Garrick Goh to begin.
Their secret to kicking off a VIP project car? Start with the wheels and let the rest of the choices be dictated by them. Lukas and Goh settled on these custom-made MC3 Enterprises Trinidad 20-inchers, 10 inches wide, with an outrageous three-inch lip and +30mm offset at the front, complemented by four-inch lips and +12mm offset out back. Stretched around these rims, literally, are Falken FK452 ultra-high performance tires, sized 235/30 at each end.
To accommodate this appreciably larger footwear, the fenders had to get some attention. The stock car already has some serious bulges, which have been enhanced here by smoothing them into a continuous curve and then flaring out the lip around the wheel well. While all this was going on, it was decided to fit JDM Legacy front and rear bumpers and a non-turbo hood, one without the big air scoop-even though the engine still runs a turbocharger (ensuring the proper chill factor is a Mishimoto front-mount intercooler with custom plumbing).
The tail end also receives super-subtle low profile spoilers on the roof and decklid, with a couple of cool rectangular exhaust tips in the rear lip, while USDM skirts hit the sides. To get the car rolling with more JDM panache, home-grown HID headlights, coated fogs, and power folding chrome-capped mirrors are added. And for the final flourishes: Subaru puddle lights, a chrome garnish above the rear license plate, and chrome door handles (from a Forester, believe it or not).
Shinjuku Black Plum. That's the name of this gorgeous custom-created paintwork. Under the watchful supervisory eye of "Bombka" at R&B Custom Auto Body of Philadelphia, PA, the car was first sprayed with a base of Crystal Black Silica, then a red-tinted pearl, followed by clear coat. The effect is that it looks dark plum-colored in the sunlight, but completely black in the shade.
Another essential aesthetic element is how close to the ground a VIP car can get. The only way to get so low and still be driveable is with an air suspension. Clear Star Media Group of Maple Shade, NJ, answered the call to fit a Universal Air suspension that can provide adjustable ride heights. Lukas and Goh have some wisdom to impart to anyone with air in their heads: "If you plan to actually drive the car, be realistic about ride heights and angles of approach."
There's a readout between the seat heater switches that shows the level of air pressure in the suspension's bags and reservoir tank. The switches themselves have been co-opted to now control the front and rear ride heights independently. The only other thing SPT has done to the chassis is to fit a front strut brace from an STI, but while the car was at Clear Star's facility, someone went crazy with the diamond stitching. Then again, such opulent effects are in keeping with the bippu brief.
By Colin Ryan
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