It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen the Auto Produce BOSS Impreza.
The BOSS Impreza is one of my favorites and it’s good to see it on the track still. It’s crazy how so many of these demo cars from Japan just fall off the face of the earth, never to be seen again.
Apologies for the lack of updates but I’ve been spending the last couple of days making my way to Hong Kong. I’ll be doing my best to keep the blog updated from abroad however.
Photo courtesy of Varis.
If there’s one event in Japan where you’re likely to find the best from Subaru and Mitsubishi, it has to be Hyper Meeting.
Hyper Meeting has been going on since 2002 and is a mainstay for tuning shops, wanting to showcase their latest offerings, for the Impreza and Evolution models. Tsukuba Circuit plays host and features vendor booths, drifting demos and time attack events, for both privateers and tuning shops a like. As with most things Subaru-related on A Class, we’re going to take a trip down memory lane. Lets be honest, things where just better back in the day; in this case 2003.
While rally builds tend to be more popular in Europe, Japan has also been known to keep the tradition alive. WRC replicas are a common sight at Hyper Meeting and L’AUNSPORT is well known, for their WRC-style body kits. I say style very loosely because the word tends to refer to cheap replicas, but that isn’t the case here. L’AUNSPORT are some of the best in the business and offer full carbon aero kits for the entire Impreza lineup. Naturally the bugeye looks the best in WRC trim.
A GDB WRC replica and the C-West GDA demo car. I’ve never been a fan of the C-West headlight covers or that front grill, but the bumper has grown on me over the years.
Engine bay from the BOZZ Speed GDB, easily one of my favorite Imprezas ever. To the right is the Toyama K-One Spec-C Impreza. The car was primarily used for Gymkhana.
The long forgotten Aqua GDB. Unfortunately Aqua is no longer around; another casualty in the war against knock offs. Prova however, is still alive and well. Above is their Super Taikyu front bumper, on the shop’s GDB demo car.
Engine bays of the Stillway GDB and the Shinonome Super Autobacs BE5 Legacy.
It’s impossible to have a conversation about Imprezas and Time Attack, without mentioning Zero/Sports. Next to JUN they’re probably the most well known of all the Japanese Subaru tuners. They’ve been a fixture at Hyper Meeting since the beginning. Their BTZ201 GDA hit the track, while a demo car displaying their latest front bumper (circa 2003), stays at the booth. The bumper would eventually be fitted to Zero/Sports’ BTZ301-R; a car which would end up having a slew of mechanical problems, including a blown transmission at Tsukuba Super Battle.
For me, the greatest GDA of them all. JUN’s Super Lemon Impreza, the brainchild of Mr. Koyama himself. My long standing obsession with this car runs deep. It’s considered one of the greats and not just by Subaru standards. I believe the car’s best time around Tsukuba was 56:59.5, which put it in the same territory as the Cyber Evo and some of the more recent RX-7s. I believe the car was sold to a private owner and last I heard, it was being stored in a shipping container in the Caribbean. Maybe one day it will resurface because that’s a terrible fate, for such an important car.
This year’s Hyper Meeting is being held in a little over 2 weeks, on April 8. I’m excited to see the turnout, but can almost guarantee none of the cars above will be in attendance. While most of the focus will be on Imprezas and Evos, I’ve got a feeling a few BRZs may turn up as well.
I’m always coming up on new car blogs. It’s this fad we’ve talked about time and time again. Most of them are pretty cut and dry, with pages and pages of the same pictures and lackluster commentary. It’s always some dude talking about “fitment” and “pushing the envelope”. In many ways they’re no better than the mindless features we’ve all read in import magazines. It’s amazing that car features have almost become this cookie cutter science. Everyone is always blowing smoke up each other’s asses and talking about how great every car is. Well, most of the cars aren’t that great and neither are the blogs or magazines that are showcasing them. God forbid we say anything negative about a car. It might hurt the owner’s feelings, because these cars were all built very passionately with blood, sweat and tears, right?
The truth is that I haven’t seen a car that “pushes the envelope” in quite some time. I’m rarely impressed by new builds. I know some of you are going to say we’re in a recession and that it’s a result of that. Well, that’s fine and hey, I agree with you. But the reality is because of that recession, no one has money to spend on their cars and the ones that do aren’t making any waves, so lets not trick ourselves into thinking something else.
Great builds have become a thing of the past; look at all the VIP’s and hybrids at Tokyo Auto Salon. Whatever happened to built motors and performance tuning? Those are the areas were I look at cars the most and they’re the areas that distinguish a car from being truly great or just another cookie cutter. John has been a big part of the Subaru community for quite sometime and not too long ago started a blog called Bugeye Garage. This is one of those great blogs that few people know about. He features only bugeyes, solid builds and the dude knows his stuff. Yesterday I was reading a post of his and he made a really great point about tuning and how it’s changed so much. This leads me to Nasif’s WRX, a car that embodies the tuning trends of old. This car was a fully built car from head to toe. Not only was it great to look at, with only the best parts, but it also had the performance to match.
For me this car was the best example of what people aren’t doing today and why I said most newer builds aren’t that great. If Import Tuner says that some dumped, HellaFlush car is pushing the envelope, than what is this WRX doing?
In many ways Nasif’s WRX was the ultimate street car. This guy understood what he was doing when it was being built. It was great to look at, extremely unique and very fast. All of those things were able to be achieved while maintaining a full interior with all the creature comforts (and then some) you’d find right off the showroom floor.
There was enough ARC parts on this car that the company should’ve be handing him money to drive around.
Do you think most of the current crowd knows about this car? Probably not and it’s unfortunate.
This is what you won’t find under the hood of most of today’s “celebrity status” rides. A swapped JDM Spec C engine, STi 6-speed transmission and an Ultimate Racing GT35R turbo kit. Just because you have a front lip and some Rotas doesn’t make your car special. This car is what I consider special. You might be wondering why I keep talking about Nasif’s WRX in past tense. Isn’t it still around, did he sell it?
They say the good die young. James Dean, Keith Moon and more recently Heath Ledger; celebrities, infamous and at the top of their games, leaving us to wonder. That was the fate of this car, a tragic end at the peak of it’s time.
There hasn’t really been a proper conclusion as to how it happened. Something sparked in the engine bay and the whole car quickly went up in flames. It was reduced to it’s shell, barely alluding to the machine it once was. The final images of this car somewhat serve as a symbol to an era that has nearly become a memory in the tuning community; the fully built car. Nasif’s WRX was that prime example of what cars today are not. When blogs, magazines and other media outlets use phrases like “pushing the envelope” and “setting the bar”, this is what should serve as their reference. Not some dumped, cookie cutter on wide wheels. Not to mention most of these cars are rocking fake wheels. What’s the justification of the owners you ask? “Well it’s really expensive to own the real thing and mine look just as good.” Really expensive? What you see above is upwards of $80,000 burnt to the ground, so let’s not go there.
I read something really interesting on the forums the other day (I wish I could find it), but someone was complaining about how everyone is building identical cars these days. One person piped in a made a comment about how it’s hard to not fit in and adhere to the trends because you’ll get criticized and hated on. Are you serious? Fuck off. This is the kind of mentality that people have nowadays. Do you think this scene started because people were afraid of not fitting in? I’ll give you a hint, it starts with “n” and ends with “o”. This utter lack of creativity and desire to do something big is what is killing this industry. We’re all led to believe that the current trends are new, exciting and the way forward. Well, maybe they are, what the hell do I know? But look at any of the original Bosozoku cars from the early days of tuning and you’ll see exactly what you do on every Impreza, 350Z and Evo on the blogs, forums and magazines today. It’s not new, it’s a rehashing of old trends that weren’t done because people wanted to fit in and “not get hated on”.
Many of you have read this blog for a long time and will think this post has completely contradicted a lot of the things I’ve said in the past. It sort of does, I’ll be the first to admit it. But what I’m really discussing here is the lack of big builds. The real front runners in the tuning industry. There are plenty of clean, well-executed cars out there that I would love to own. But it’s been a very long time since I’ve been blown away by anything.
Photos courtesy of Nasif.
One of the great things about Japanese enthusiasts is their ability to go “all out” with their cars. What do I mean by that? Well, they are very good at deciding what the end goal for their car is. Whether it ends up becoming a track or street car, the owners always take it to the extreme. In this country, the lines are a bit more blurred and when you ask people what they’re trying to do, they may not have an answer. I’m always going back and fourth on my own build because I’m not sure which way I want to go.
This picture is more an inspiration for this discussion, rather than a clear cut example. In this case, it’s a Subaru STi Spec C doing the street thing. The Japanese rock their cars so hard. If they build a street car it’s going to be filled with all kinds of cool gadgets, LCD screens and stereo upgrades. You’ll also find that a vast majority of the cars in Japan (older ones included), have satellite navigation. I guess the point of all of this is that the Japanese really use their cars. If it’s a track car, it’s going to see track days and if it’s a street car, that shit is going to be daily driven. In the United States we’re all very anal about our cars, myself included. No one is allowed to eat food in it or make foot prints on the freshly vacuumed floor mats (or maybe that’s just me). In Japan they don’t care. They all smoke and eat their cars and just genuinely enjoy using them for what they are. It’s kind of a cool thing. Look at any street drift car and you’ll see what I’m talking about. I think my favorite part about the picture above isn’t anything to do with the car. It’s the drink can in the cup holder. It looks like a BOSS Coffee which I’ve drank and spilled in my car before. They don’t fit in the upholder and if you drive too hard, they will fall out.
Came across this photo of the Bozz Speed Spec C on Minkara.
Needs some STi projectors LOL!
Speaking of old school Imprezas, the Aqua GDA. I love this car.
I used to really want that front bumper. Looking at it now, I wouldn’t put it on my car. I doubt you could even find it anyway. Aqua is no more and it’s a shame. It’s just one of many companies that have had to close their doors because of knock-off brands.
This picture reminds me of a scene from Initial D. All the cars are lined up on the summit of Mt. Akina, waiting to do their tandem runs to the bottom. That most surely isn’t the case here, but it’s nice to imagine.
One of my favorite bugeyes holding it down in the front. The owner has gone through literally 4 or 5 sets of Volks since his car started popping up on the forums.
Unlike the trends in the US, most Japanese performance cars tend to stay away from ultra-aggressive wheel fitment. That being said, there are always exceptions.
This GDA Spec C has been around for years now and I’ve been following it every step of the way. I’ve never seen a Subaru with so many different sets of wheels. This guy has had it all, his most recent set being Volk TE37′s in white. Now the owner has decided to change it up again with a set of TE37 SL’s.
This Spec C is easily one of the craziest privately-owned Imprezas in Japan right now. The fenders were widened a while back to accommodate the owner’s tastes in aggressive wheel fitment.
I like this picture the most. This car just looks so mean parked at the gas pump. If this guy keeps at it, I’m sure these TE37 SL’s won’t be on the car for too long. I wonder what he’ll go with next?
To this day, my favorite mod are my brakes. About 2 years ago I upgraded my WRX with a set of Brembo GT 4-piston calipers, slotted rotors, and braided lines. They stop on a dime and have been the most worthwhile investment to my car. With that said, there’s always room for improvement. I really like special OEM brake kits. Subaru has done a number of collaborations with different manufactures on their various Imprezas over the years. AP Racing, Alcon, and Brembo are all companies Subaru has worked with to give their cars the ultimate stopping power. The STi Spec C Type RA-R is one of the most sought after models in the Impreza lineup. It’s an uber stripped down version of the standard STi and it’s fitted with these beautiful STi 6-piston calipers and slotted, 2-piece rotors by Brembo.
Tino recently fitted these brakes onto his insane STi project and I think they’re the perfect combination of form and function for his car.
I’ve always thought it was hard to get any better than my Brembo kit for the street but I can only imagine how hard those massive calipers grab. The Spec C brakes are pretty hard to come by and I’m sure they cost a boatload. I’d love to own a set someday.
Photos courtesy of Tino.
Came across this group photo and thought it was pretty awesome!
The photo is from a local autocross event in Okinawa. A lot of US military are stationed there, including the owner of the GC8 on the left. There’s a little bit of everything, for every type of enthusiast in this photo. The bugeye looks kind of like my car LOL!
Then there was this Spec C Type RA-R at the event. I would take one of these in a heartbeat, and it’s already the right color!
