High Performance Subaru

1994 Subaru Impreza WRX - The Traitor - 165

Over the years, many people have claimed to own the fastest WRX in New Zealand. But timeslips don’t lie, and Matt Locke happens to be holding one that reads 9.98 at 228kph. Anyone think they can do better? Thought not.

For the better part of a decade, loyal drag racing fanboys of the triple diamond mark had much to cheer about. On the other hand, followers of Subarus had only a handful of mediocre achievements to be proud of. It was an odd state of affairs; in rallying and on the track, both makes were evenly matched. But when it came to drag racing, Subarus could never really get it together — they were always breaking down.

“I was tired of seeing Mitsi after Mitsi at the strip,” says Matt. “Someone needed to build a serious Subaru in New Zealand.” At the time, Andre Simon’s DOCILE Evo was destroying all and sundry in the 4WD drag racing world. Matt decided that if he were ever to build a fast Subaru, there would be no one better to enlist than Andre. The pair chatted over a few beers and a plan was hatched, and it was also here that the plate TRAITR was conceived.

What started as a bit of a joke turned into reality when Holden fan Matt came across a Subaru shell for a price he couldn’t refuse. “I knew a guy selling a WRX shell and it had everything minus the gearbox and motor,” he recalls. It was the perfect starting point, since the motor and gearbox were components Matt would’ve replaced anyway.

Initially, Matt wanted that car streetable, but when the motor was sent to Andre in Wellington, plans changed. The goal was now to build a full-on drag weapon. The shell stayed in Auckland and was sent to Jono Climo at Performance Metalworks with a dummy motor installed so the fabrication could get underway.

Matt wondered what he had got himself into when Jono let him in on the idea for his custom manifold, which he described as looking like “a baby trying to crawl over the engine”. If he was worried that Jono had lost the plot, once Matt saw the actual design he realised that it didn’t really look like a baby at all — unless you really squint your eyes and have a vivid imagination, that is.

From that point the project picked up momentum, and veterans of the drag scene Steve Hayes, Brent Lucas and Te Ariki Gardener (ADD Steve, Beanbag and Tux to everyone who knows them) came on board to lend a hand.

High Performance Subaru Builder's Guide Author Considers The 2011 ...

Year of development, having been rolled out by Subaru in 1993 with a 1.8-liter engine and front wheel drive – with an optional 2.2-liter engine and all wheel drive. In 1998, the “hot rod” Impreza was a 2.5RS, with a 2.5-liter normally aspirated engine at about 170 horsepower. The Impreza WRX was introduced in 2002 (along with a new sedan body) with a 2.0-liter turbocharged engine – compliant with the World Rally Car (WRC) homologation formula. In 2004, the STI was born (as the STi – capitalization is critical) with a turbocharged 2.5-liter engine and about 300 horsepower.

That history lesson is all leading up to this – Subaru standardized on a 2.5-liter engine across its lineup in 2006, and used the STI engine as the basis for all its 4-cylinder offerings thereafter. The current STI engine is the tuned-up version of all other Subaru engines, with an 18-year development cycle. The STI also comes with an ultra-strong 6-speed manual transmission and a heavy duty all wheel drive system with a driver-controllable center differential to help maximize road drivability while also allowing the driver to select for better limited traction performance on gravel or snow.

The result is an Impreza that drives the way virtually all automotive engineers would like their cars to drive. Historically the STI was a bit softer and more luxurious than its direct competitor, the Mitsubishi Evo. That has switched around now, with the Evo X rising in price and competing with the Audi A4 and Volvo S60 for the luxury market. The STI is now king of the hill among unabashed AWD sport compact performance.

Inside, the STI looks and feels very nice – Subaru has gotten an unfair rap over the years for a cheap and cheesy interior, but that’s long gone in the current STI. You’ll find leather touch surfaces where it makes sense to have them, nicely laid out controls, and no chintzy touches like fake wood grain anywhere in the vehicle. Just basic piano black for shiny and soft rubberized plastic everywhere else – unless you make the jump to a much higher price bracket, that’s what you’re going to find in every other car on the market – and Subaru’s design is both tasteful and well-made.

With any performance car, you have to understand up front that you’re going to trade off some comfort and quiet for that performance. The STI is no exception – you not only have a great feel for the road with the sports car suspension, you’ll hear it, especially on our comparatively rough roads in the Pacific Northwest.  The low-profile tires  add a bit of their own noise to the mix as well. But on the other hand, the test car had a nice stereo – so turn it up and enjoy the performance!

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