Rally Call
Keith of 7 Motorsports 2006 STI
Words: Joseph Greene
Photos: Jeremy Cliff
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I was at the arcade playing some “Initial D”. My car of choice (at least on this go-around) was a beautiful white Suburu STI. Drifting about the mountains of Japan while listening to eurobeat “No One Sleep in Tokyo”… indeed sir. From some angles it looks like just another mid-size car you pass on the highway… some soccer mom who still has but one kid and maybe some career in some office nearby… but my dears, there is so much more. It’s a comfortable interior, great performance, and a good reputation. It’s a good car for someone who doesn’t want something too extreme… or maybe just for someone who doesn’t feel like they should be going to “Race Wars” in the desert. The time came a few hours later that I was asked to write this article… on guess what? A beautiful white 2006 STI rocking 18″ by 9″ all around. A calling from above maybe? No. Just luck I believe.
The STI popped up around 1992 at the World Rally Championships and famously driven by the late Colin Mcrae. It’s a high-performance consumer versions of the Subaru Impreza WRX, an all-wheel drive car with a turbocharged boxer engine. Quite the beast, it dominated the rally circuit for years and still does.
The owner of this car, Keith really knows his stuff. And I got the honor of speaking to him for a few moments about the other love of his life. He told me it’s a daily driver mostly. One hell of a daily driver indeed. I guess that’s the beauty of AWD.
Your run of the mill STI can lay down 240 whp more or less. Pretty damn nice for a 4 door. But this ain’t good enough for Keith. His beats down 425 WHP like there is no tomorrow on pump gas. APS GR65 turbo kit dominates once more.
The APS kit as described as “the ultimate in bullet proof extreme flow turbochargers for the Subaru Impreza enthusiast.” Unencumbered by the limitations of current off the shelf WRX turbochargers, APS has totally engineered a “no-compromise” series of turbochargers from the ground up to match the exact requirements of extreme performance Subaru Impreza engines. APS has utilized extreme flow Ball Bearing Turbochargers, rotated to avoid the restrictive standard intake duct in its race cars for many years. These extra horses of course refined and tuned by the good folks at 7 Motorsports and GRD.
You gotta look good when you’re going fast. It’s not easy , I’ll tell you that. Keith’s STI is clean, sits low, and has quite a bit of bells and whistles. To accentuate the car in the looks department, Keith went with a Voltex body kit and he decreased weight with his Seibon carbon fiber trunk and hood. Custom powder coated Volk CE28’s were laced with a nice time attack green stripe to flow with Keith’s color scheme.
When he’s not going ungodly fast… which is rare. He likes to use those little things called brakes. DBA slotted, and aggressive Hawk pads
As far as the interior goes, some stuff has been done as well. It’s gutted as you can plainly see. Good luck if you’re sitting in the rear. It’s got the sexy ARC shit knob, Spec C interior panels, Sparco Seats, and Takana Harnesses. Hot sh*t.
I asked Keith if STI’s really get pulled over as much as they say. He laughed a bit. We both know the answer to that. As far as his future with the car goes… he doesn’t know. That’s the beauty of vehicles. Unlike human beings (wives in particular) we can’t just put mods and enhancements on and off… for as cheap a price.
Modifications:
SEIBON CARBON FIBER TRUNK
SEIBON CARBON FIBER HOOD
PERRIN FRONT SWAY BAR ENDLINKS
PERRIN POSITIVE STEERING RESPONSE SYSTEM
DBA 4000 SERIES SLOTTED VENTED ROTORs
HAWK HPS STREET PADS
RUSSELL STAINLESS STEEL BRAKE LINES
PERRIN Header Equal Length
HKS F-CON NAVIGATOR PRO
TAKATA HARNESS
PERRIN FRONT SWAY BAR
PERRIN LIGHTENED CRANK PULLEY
TURBOSMART RACE PORT BOV
APS DR65 TURBO KIT
STI 850 INJECTORS
APS SIDE FEED FUEL RAIL KIT
APS STI TUMBLER DELETE
TURBOSMART E-BOOST
HKS TWIN POWER DLI II
NGK PLUGS
ACT CLUTCH
FULL VOLTEX KIT
VOLK CE28
NITTO NT01
SPARCO SEATS
Gallery (click thumb to expand):
Nice, thanks
Cool article 🙂