2006 Subaru WRX - Money Shot

"We rushed to get the whole thing together for SEMA," Chris says about the build of his STI. "We only had a few months to get it done once all the parts arrived. I was actually wrenching on it in the parking lot of the Las Vegas Convention Center the first day of the show." The planning stages took two years, and Chris won't disclose what, if any, offers of free parts and labor were turned down along the way. But he will proudly say that he stands behind what went into his car 100 percent. "I set a goal and made sure not to compromise it for any reason," he says.

With everything torqued down, tuned and troubleshot, the car's earned undefeated status in seven straight major shows, alongside teammates at Team Sunworks and TWCompetition. After spending the rest of 2010 on the show circuit, Chris's next endeavor will be taking the STI to the track. "Mike Spec is a good friend, so I'd like to get him behind the wheel to show the world how potent a properly built 'show car' can perform in real life." Let's add another reason why we like Imports so much: legitimacy. We doubt we'll be seeing any Brabus E V12 owners do all that anytime soon.

Behind The Build

Name.
Chris Dunbar

Age.
22

Location.
Kennewick, WA

Occupation.
Network Administrator

Build Time. 11 months

Feedback.
chrisdunbar2002@yahoo.com

Hobbies.
Car shows/meets, computers, clubbing with friends

Motivation.
To have the most unique, appealing and competitive show Subaru in the country.

'06 Subaru WRX
Output: 618 whp; 551 lb-ft of torque

Engine Cosworth EJ257 longblock (#099): pistons, connecting rods, billet crankshaft, complete blueprinting/10,500 rpm balancing, +1mm stainless intake valves, +1mm sodium-filled inconel exhaust valves, valve springs, titanium retainers, 278/278 10.7mm camshafts, billet timing belt guide, oil pump; Tomei oil pan; Corsa Veloce Track Edition rotated intake manifold, billet fuel rails; Full-Race intake, twin-scroll turbo manifold, custom four-inch exhaust; custom Hypertech drive-by-wire throttle body; Roger Clark Motorsports adjustable cam gears; Garrett GT4088R turbocharger; polished Tial Q blow-off valve, 44 wastegates (x2); Process West Vmount intercooler/radiator, piping; Mishimoto radiator hoses; dual SPAL radiator fans; Turbosmart Eboost 2 boost controller; custom mirror-polished valve covers, turbo compressor housing; Injector Dynamics ID1000 fuel injectors; Aeromotive fuel pressure regulator; Walbro 255Lph in-tank fuel pump; Bosch 044 external fuel pumps (x2); custom surge tank; AEM EMS, tuned by Tim Bailey; custom titanium fasteners

Driveline PPG helical-cut gearbox, billet shift selectors, shift fork, synchros; Carbonetics twin-disc carbon clutch, flywheel; Kartboy short-throw shifter; Cusco 1.5-way rear limited slip differential, one-way front differential

Suspension Stance GR+3 three-way adjustable remote-reservoir coilovers, 8kg/mm front springs, 10kg/mm rear springs; Whiteline 27mm front and rear sway bars, chassis bushings; Group-N chassis bushings; Prodrive front strut tower brace; Ice Welds/Badger Canyon Racing full NASA-legal roll cage; OEM Subaru hardware

Wheels/Tires 18x10 HRE 590R wheels (+30mm front offset, +25mm rear); 265/35-18 Yokohama Advan A048 tires

Brakes Mov It billet six-piston calipers and 380mm rotors (front), four-piston calipers and 380mm rotors (rear); Pacific Import Auto stainless brake lines (front and rear)

Exterior Zero/Sports Time Attack front bumper, side skirts, rear bumper, front lip splitter; Mobworks custom widebody modification; Seibon carbon fiber hood, front fenders, trunk; L'aunsport carbon fiber roof; custom aluminum under tray; McCullough HID lighting; custom fender pull/flare, shaving; OEM GM Corvette ZR-1 blue paint and fade, applied by Miguel Ortiz of Mobworks

Interior Bride Vorga custom carbon fiber seats; custom black Alcantara/flocking upholstery; Rallytech carbon fiber rear seat delete, decklid, shelf, rear firewall; ARAI motorsports carbon fiber door panels; Ice Welds polished aluminum center console; Keys Racing steering wheel; custom carbon fiber weighted shift knob; SPA Techniques Extreme fire suppression system

Electronics SPA Techniques gauges (EGT, boost, oil pressure, intercooler air temperature in and out); Stack dash; Zero/Sports gauge cluster

Gratitude Family and friends; mom and Jennie; Tom Frederico of Mov It; Mark Reavis; Curtis and Dereck Stangeland; Yvette Brown of VegasVipHottieHosting; Rob at NV Jets; Greg Lilly from Underground Graphix; Josh Mackey of Mackey Designs; Mike, Steve, Dave, and the crew of Pacific Import Auto; Tim Bailey at Cobb-Surgeline; Geoff from Full-Race; John Wallace at HRE; Mobworks; Adam at Z1; Team Sunworks; TWCompetition; Dmoney, Izzy, and Carl for the great cage; Everyone involved with helping make this dream come true!

Cosworth Crate
Just what exactly does $16K get you from a world-famous manufacturer of Formula 1 componentry? Beginning with a brand-new EJ257 block, Cosworth machines each of their High Performance blocks to spec, and adds their own forged pistons (choice of compression), H-beam connecting rods, bearings, 11mm head studs, a new crankshaft (Chris opted for the optional steel billet unit), and blueprinting and balancing to 10.5K rpm. To the block's sides, brand-new OEM cylinder heads are CNC ported and honed, machined to accept +1mm oversized Cosworth stainless intake and +1mm oversized sodium/inconel exhaust valves, fitted with dual valve springs and titanium retainers, given Cosworth S2 camshafts to match, and buttoned down with Cosworth steel headgaskets. Cosworth even goes so far as to include a blueprinted high-flow oil pump and fine-tune timing and valve lash on each individual engine before it gets crated up and shipped out. Cosworth EJ blocks retain their native open-deck design for optimum cooling, but we suspect closed-deck machining can be arranged . . . for a modest upcharge.