Four cars down in our feature series already and there was a couple of holes appearing in the types of car we’ve had. While they make up a large part of the scene, we’ve only had one car with origins in the far east featured to date. Also, while not as essential in the modding scene as once was, we have had none at all with much in the way of body kit. How best then to address the two points in one? Easy! Straight from the land of the rising sun and with bodywork from arguably the finest of Japan’s automotive styling houses, this is Stuart’s Veilside kitted Subaru Impreza WRX STi.

I challenge you to say this isn’t a nice car. You may not part with a right bollock for one, you may not have a bollock in the first place to negotiate with, but I challenge you to put your hand on heart say you don’t like this. In one fell scoop of the non bonnet variety, this Scooby ticks virtually every box. Classic Impreza shape. Subtle styling, with an edge. Usable performance. The best of automotive brand names everywhere and with 4 doors and a boot, bloody practical too. For its owner of the last year or so, it ticked enough boxes to convince him to take the plunge and buy the car even though at 21 years old, it means he has to pay so much on insurance, that for the same money he could re-kit every year and probably have it painted over again too!

With Stuart being a red blooded male, the previous owner may have convinced him to buy the car as well of course, using their own particular sales charm. While it is an import, it was a previous UK owner that sold Stuart the car. One loosely described as “a really hot older bird” whilst grinning like a school boy describing a teacher he had a crush on! Arnold Clark take note, MILFs on the forecourt may increase sales.

As an import spec STi this Impreza is packing a healthy 280bhp ish as standard. Standard doesn’t ever last for long though lets be honest and is as true with this motor as the next. The engine has been complimented with a set of Samco hoses, the obligatory dump valve and a full turbo back stainless exhaust, terminating with a Magnex 6x4 Oval rear box. Just to make sure the rev hike themselves up sharpish like, the flywheel has been lighted and balanced too.

Being the STi it also comes with little OE extras like a Carbon strut brace just to make sure the front turns in sharply whilst you’re driving like a hooligan and even when you’re not. The front turns in so sharply that occasionally, even with Eibach springs helping the handling, the back is caught napping and takes a few moments to catch up, especially when pulling U turns without slowing down enough first. With drive to all four wheels this isn’t of course the end of the world, it just tends to alarm onlookers. Since we clearly did all the moving shots on public roads I can tell you that we did not at any time witness this first hand and only have the owners word for it. Furthermore, the black lines left on an unnamed mini roundabout were there when we arrived.

Having a twitchy rear is never a good thing, be it with your car or after trying a new dish at your local Indian. Its especially not good when it results in having to get a side re-painted following a power slide of the unplanned variety on stone chips. What is a good thing though is that after the unplanned slide of the chipping variety, Stuarts old man who happens to double as his personal mechanic, buzzed his mate Frank, a panel beater and spray painter to trade to sort it out. Fuel and insurance costs might be a major headache but that is the sum total of the running costs for Stuart who’s lucky enough to have both grease monkey and bodywork boffins on hand for assistance as required and since they’re family or as good as, they don’t need paying either.

A consistent trend we’ve stumbled across with owners so far is the presence of some kind of second income to fuel the whole car habit and this owner is no different to the rest. When I found out he was primarily a student I was instantly thinking about well finished the car was. No stale pizza boxes, Greenpeace flags or empty cider bottles inside and no CND “ban the bomb” stickers on the outside either, although it does have an organic clutch which at least sounds good for the environment!

Grants, loans and any other allowances the academic set get handed these days then struck me, but before I’d had a chance to ask exactly how much taxpayers money had went towards the 18” OZ wheels and how little he could earn at the end of it all before he has to start paying it back, the list of other little jobs followed on too. Taxi driving to courier work and anything else that pays is taken on by Stuart to keep the funds coming in and the fun carrying on, although not all of the car variety I suspect as between you and me, I don’t think he’d been home yet when we met for the shoot late on a Sunday morning. Good lad!

While the Greenpeace colour scheme would be an expected choice for the interior trim of a students mode of transport to their two lectures a week, Stuart has left things reasonably standard inside this, his daily driver. Standard on this car though means caressing a Momo steering wheel and gearknob by hand, whilst nestling your butt cheeks in to one of the comfiest bucket seats around, complete with side bolster, torso and shoulder supports too.

In car entertainment is an area sometimes left neglected in performance cars like the Impreza but not so here, should sir wish to view an open university lecture programme or some grot for that matter he can do, so long as it’ll play on his Pioneer flip out DVD player he can view from the comfort of his bucket seat and hear it rather well too, through the JBL P-series component speakers front and back. The interior also has one final little trick feature inside of a performance rather than comfort nature. Mounted up on the dash board there is a little black box with an Apexi logo on. Should sir wish to fettle the running of the engine, between feeding in some opposite lock to keep the back end in check and studying a recoding of Professor Shaw’s analysis of air vortexes around tornados (or Debbie does Dallas) he can do, at the touch of a button!

Whether kits are your thing or not you have to admire the lines that designers have put on this model. The full kit consists of that oh so Veilside front bumper, side skirts and rear bumper. The Veilside Aero mirrors are in there too, although not part of the kit they set it off a treat and it all matches the proportions of the OE rear spoiler and bonnet scoop beautifully. The observant among you will have noticed the extra scoop on the bonnet. At the minute its doing absolutely feck all. Shortly though, it will be above a front mount induction kit sucking like something from a dvd mentioned above.

Future plans for the Impreza are very much geared in one direction. The plans are anyway, by the time they come to fruition going in one direction could be even trickier than ever. Stuart’s insurance premium has just come down to an almost manageable (when you work your arse off) £1800 a year. Yes that’s £35 a week just on insurance. What better way then to celebrate than by making the car more un-insurance friendly again! Next on the shopping list, an up-rated fuel pump, fuel pressure regulator, bigger injectors and a new engine management set up.

A Bently Continental GT is the most expensive car to be shown up by this pretty boy rice rocket in its current state of very mild tune, so write it off as a show not go car at your pearl.
While so far it has only been raced in anger on Crail’s very straight quarter mile, if you do end up going against this car, at a track day obviously, watch for twitchy arse!