Transcript
Speaker: Hey, welcome to this week's episode of the Dirt Subies podcast. i'm Really excited about this episode because I first talked to Josh, uh, probably two years ago. It's just really cool to catch up with him and actually talk to him and put this interview out for you guys. So I hope you guys enjoy it. And then if you guys want more Subaru podcast content to binge, check out the Subie and you podcast, tons of good episodes over there. My friend Raph has a whole catalog of stuff that you guys can go through and listen to interviews very similar to this. Now let's go ahead and get into the interview. For your support on the good old Instagrams. Bro, it's my pleasure. You're one of the VBOGs. Yeah, dude. i I think about that a lot. It's like kind of funny that
Speaker: I mean, it's still a small thing, but like I think it's like getting bigger, and I'm seeing a lot more guys running like lifted, whatever. And I think the whole safari car trend has really taken off, which is cool.
Speaker: Well, dude, can you ah introduce yourself to the people? and Let them know where they can find you. I'm, so dude, super stoked about this. Yeah, so my name is Josh. I have an Instagram page, Further Motion, and I'm actually the owner of Further Motion LC. I've just started ah an official company, and I see that i think that would be a fun little thing we can cover in a bit.
Speaker: Absolutely, yeah. I'm about it. um let me I got a couple questions right out of the gate that I want to ask you. So... Do you still have the VB or did you sell it and buy it back? Or what's the whole deal with that? Actually, it's gone. It's been gone for a while, but I've, I've,
Speaker: I recently went through my whole page and archived everything. And I've actually just been going back and re-editing and re-uploading all of the content that I've done over the years with it.
Speaker: And kind of just okca getting more out of it than what I originally did. Like talk more about what I wanted to do. Because like for the longest time, like I recorded the content in a very specific way that it wasn't very uh good for the most part now i have a lot more editing that i put into it and it's a little more carefree because i've kind of like decided you know what it's fine like just if you're going to put yourself out there just put yourself out there it doesn't matter what people think you you kind of can't really highlight everything if you're
Speaker: not super descriptive about what you're doing, why you're doing it. you know you're not You're afraid to be on camera. You're afraid to like put your voice out there. Yeah. one of those things you have to like kind of get over if you ever want to pursue the the social media creation.
Speaker: I can sympathize with that because I had the bug to do a podcast for like a year. Yeah. I was like, man, i I hate the way I look. I hate listening to my voice. And this means I'm going to have listen to my voice for four hours every week to edit. Yeah. things That's OK, because like it's if it's something you want to do, just do it. And it doesn't matter. Like who cares what people think? Yes. We're our own big, biggest critics.
Speaker: And yeah, for sure. That advice is probably some of the best advice that I know to give people is like, if there's something you're even remotely interested in or that you want to do. Just start moving towards just doing it. What's the worst case scenario? You die. Cool. Then you don't pay taxes ever again. That's pretty sick. It's suddenly not your problem anymore. Anything. Yeah. ah Yeah, man. Well, um what kind of car? ah Let's just say that you still have it because you still post about it. But is it 22? Yeah. twenty two
Speaker: Yeah, it was a 22 WRX. Yeah. Can you kind of explain to me, ah we we did talk briefly, you know, previously when you first built the thing. Um, but what was kind of your motivation for going with that car specifically knowing, cause if I remember right, you were already sort of planning to build it out or to do something with it. I mean, you started hacking on that thing pretty quick. Yeah. And I was like a year, i'm not even a year and I was cutting it up.
Speaker: I think I i bought the car in, I think that I bought the car in August and by December I had cut the rear bumper off. Yeah. A brand new car. du by By the way, that rear ah bumper slash skid plate, that thing turned out so sick. I've never seen anybody do anything quite like that to a Subaru. Yeah. Dude, that was early in the game.
Speaker: Like, i mean, Crosstrek, like, there's a couple of companies doing, like, the Crosstrek stuff, but, like... It was unheard of for WRX to get cut up like that. Are you currently looking for a lift kit for your Subaru, but you don't really know what to get? My friends, I've been using ADF lift kits for about 10 years. I've been buying parts from them for a long time. Some of the best stuff that I think is out there, super high quality, everything is top notch. These are one of the easiest solutions to lifting a Subaru that you can really get and I could not be more proud to have ADF as a sponsor of the Dirt Subies podcast and the way that they're sponsoring what we're doing over here is by giving you guys a discount code to use on lift kits skid plates ditch light brackets and other off-road accessories for your Subaru all you got to is use code DIRTSUBIES at checkout on their website awdadventure.com put code DIRTSUBIES in at checkout you'll get five percent off on your purchase let's get back into the interview And now obviously like more brands are kind of going that route. You know, obviously the the Porsche Dakar, it has like a kind of a similar metal like rear skid plate, whatever in the back. But I think back in the day when that first started going down, it was really
Speaker: really new. You started building that thing at a time where that car was still getting a bunch of hate. Oh yeah. And I remember telling people, Hey, look, you guys all said the same thing about Hawkeyes. You said the same thing about the Raptor eyes. You said the same thing about all these different models. You said the same thing about even STI hatches, man. When those came out, people were like, this, these are gay dude. Like this doesn't look anything like an STI. It's like, no kidding. Like, and now everybody wants one. What was kind of your motivation to go with a VB versus a VA? Were there technical um aspects of the car that kind of stuck out to you versus going and getting something that you could have purchased cheaper knowing you're to, you know, cut on the car?
Speaker: Well, first off, like, I'll take you kind of of down, like, the rabbit hole is, like, i I had a Tacoma at the time, and I went and to i went to the Toyota dealer, and I had a GR86 on order.
Speaker: So, I had just, like, graduated school, and I had just got, like, my first big boy job, you know, like, career-wise, and I was like, oh, I'm going to get myself something nice. yeah So I was like, oh, let me let me walk down there, go order GR86, and i had a premium,
Speaker: yeah what i think is premium and base for the first year. It was the premium in that bright blue. It almost looks like nitrous blue from the, the folks RS, you know, that color. Yeah. So I had that one on order code, the premium wheels, like the, um,
Speaker: the seats, the heated seats, like all the all the option packs, right? And i waited like six months for the car. And like by like month seven, I think, I was like, you know what, I'm done waiting. So I went down to the Subaru dealer just because I was like, yeah, let's like kind of let see what they got. BRZ.
Speaker: Yeah, exactly. BRZ or maybe a WRX. And um what's so funny is I wanted black. I wanted premium and no other options. Like I just wanted it like as base with the heated seats and the upgraded screen. But other than that base is possible just because that split screen on the the base cars was so ugly.
Speaker: Having that big tablet yeah it' just cut in the middle with that plastic, ugly plastic. Yeah. I was like, no, not bad. But then I wanted black because I wanted to hide the ugly fender flares, you know, because it was like that when when VA came or when v when VB came out, it's like, oh, no, this is not as good as VA.
Speaker: VA is way better looking in every aspect, I think, other than headlights. But, um, yes, the headlights are like are sick. Yeah. But was like, I could not get past the fender flares. And like, you know, if it's black, it'll hide it. And then obviously like AFD came out with like the paint matched and then I could have gotten a better color, you know, but, um,
Speaker: yeah that That Subaru dealer happened to have the exact spec I would have specced if I ordered it from new on the way to the to the dealer. So I'm back down on it. They backed down on it. So was like, all right, i'll I'll go. I'll take this one and like, we'll go from there. Give me a pin. Yeah. But then because I bought the more expensive Subaru, then the, cause the 86 would have been cheaper, but that the WRX was more expensive. So i'm like, all right, well, I need to sell the truck. So the two car solution went away. i was going to go,
Speaker: second gen Tacoma and a little hot boy race car like GR86 you know but then I was like I still want a sporty car you know I still want some fun and like obviously like the WRX was really fun because I've not driven one before i had a Focus s ST back in the day but I didn't understand how much of a difference all-wheel drive makes yes when I when I got the WRX I'm like oh yeah this is like sick yeah I was gonna go for an 86 but like The WRX is fun every part of the driving experience. Like if you're commuting to work, the WRX is fun. You you get into boost on the on-ramp. Absolutely. It's just fun. The 86 I drove was it's pretty slow. Like it wasn't. Yeah. it's ah It's an agile car, but it's not like necessarily fast in a straight line. And I know the zero sixty s are are pretty similar between the the
Speaker: But um you felt the the turbo punch a bit more and it was a little more exciting. So i'm like, yeah, let's get WX. This would be cool. yeah But then because I sold the truck, I was like, I had Advan GTs. I had some fat summer tires. I was going to lower it. And I...
Speaker: wanted to go camping one day and I put all my my like gear in the the Subaru and we we went camping. I'm like, oh, actually, this thing kind of is a little a mountain goat. You know, it's like pretty sick. Yeah.
Speaker: And then i saw a video. i think his name was Benjamin. He was the first guy i had seen lift the WRX, the very first guy. And it was it was just like a kind of WRX VB.
Speaker: Okay. He was the first VB I saw it and he had, he had a gray car see and it had red fender flares and it had, um I think like Nissan Ultima wheels when I saw it, but it was just like broad side of the car, like from really far back. I'm like, what is that? ah Is that a lifted VB? Like, what is this And then I started going down the rabbit holes like there was a couple other lifted WX is feeling Rexy feeling WX.
Speaker: Are you? were Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think like Sam or something. So then I got into her car because it's like, oh, this is cool. It's a lifted VA, you know, and she's she's got the sparkos and whatever. So i'm like, all right, well, this other this one car is like.
Speaker: this one BB that I saw lifted on some Nissan wheels. I'm like, that's, that's sick. I should do that. You know? So that's where all started. I love that. Yeah. Okay. And then a TRB-00 Brandon, Turbo Brandon, you know, you aware of him?
Speaker: No. He's, he's got for a, follow he's got a blue WRX and he was actually the second guy that I saw lifted. And he was on, um, I think he was the first to get springs.
Speaker: so the So the first the first guy, i think I believe Benjamin was his name. He was on coilovers, and then Brandon, Turbo Brandon, was on ah springs. And then my car was like the first on spacers, or one of the first on spacers. And then it was the first on cross-truck suspension. but Okay.
Speaker: Yeah, i remember I remember you being the first on Crosstrek stuff. That's sick. What's that guy's name? Turbo Brandon? Turbo Brandon, yeah, TRBO. Yeah, he does a lot of cool stuff with Rally Innovations and like just like local California events. He's a local guy.
Speaker: Yeah. okay oh yeah it was following me for like a ah maybe six months to a year it was just us three like in a little group chat you know i'm talking about our yeah our wrx's we lifted but yeah yeah man yeah that's uh that's how that's how it goes it's sick though that you guys were you know some of the early adopters of of doing that because you know people are afraid not only to you know take a new car that probably has to have a banknote on it but then start like taking it off road but then cutting on it ripping everything out like that was that was the dumbest thing like i and like i i can kind of get into like why i ended up selling it too because it's like yeah hey this is a car i owe on that i'm out in the desert i'm jumping you know like i'm I'm kind of pushing something to its limit for like obviously a stock car. I mean, you can definitely build a car up to be more capable and a little more durable, but this, this is like ah a technically brand new car, you know, it's like within two years. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, you, you were the one that punched the warranty on it, you know?
Speaker: Yeah. And I drove it till had no more warranty. And then I was like, all right, well, we're good now. How many miles did it have? are you talking about the uh oh yeah okay had it had it for 18 months and 40k miles so i got i got my money's work on it absolutely yeah dude that's so sick uh what were some of the first mods you did to it um
Speaker: I got i got a like a pretty good working relationship with Perrin early on. And I think some of like the earliest... I know for like the first mod was the fender flares and the lift kit. The first kit I did was a spacer lift kit. And then shortly after that, I went down the rabbit hole of intake, exhaust, both Perrin items. um They sent me a couple other mods. ah The pitch stop mount, which...
Speaker: If I was to have a completely stock car and I could put one mod on it, it'd be the pitch stop. whether it Whatever brand you say you go with. But like the parent one I went with, it was just great. Like i was kind of worried it was going to really, yeah um really vibratey and like VH but and buzzy. Yeah. Because I had it that focus ST I mentioned. I had to do a transmount upgrade on that.
Speaker: And it was bad. The steering wheel would shake it out of light. All the rattles. But then not with the parent one in the car. That was probably like honestly all things considered like best bang for your buck best mod by far like that was the thing that improved the driving experience the most so one of my biggest fears about going out into the woods or out away from civilization in my subaru is the idea of getting stranded and having a good battery and a solid battery setup is a big part of making sure that all your accessories can function properly making sure your winch can function properly And in my opinion, the lead acid batteries that are typically put in Subarus are not up to the task. I no longer run lead acid batteries. In fact, all three of my vehicles now have AGM batteries from full throttle that I bought through Mele Design Firm.
Speaker: And Melee is a sponsor of the Dirt Subies podcast. And what that means is that you guys can actually get 10% off of a new battery, a new battery mount, battery tie downs, engine bay caps, strut tower braces, pitch stop mounts, all sorts of cool stuff.
Speaker: All you got to do is if you are on the MeleeDesignFirm.com website, use code DIRTSUBIES at checkout. That'll get you 10% off pretty much everything in the store. And that way you can go out into the woods in your Subaru, run the winch and not have to worry about getting stranded with a dead battery. Now let's go ahead and get back into this interview.
Speaker: I was just talking to Mitch over at Melee today about his pitch stops. I've i've got one on both my Subarus. um I love them. yeah And I'm in the same camp. like I'll always run aftermarket pitch stop mounts. Can you kind of explain to people What some of the practical benefits are. I mean, most people are never going to see them. It's either going to be behind the intake or the intercooler.
Speaker: Yeah. But, um you know, because a lot of people are just like, oh I want to dress up my engine bay. But there are 100% practical reasons for installing one. Oh yeah. Like the biggest thing is the fact that the transmission, it it just shift shifts way smoother um because you're not having that transmission underneath the car moving like up and down. Cause like, as you launch the car, obviously it tries to kick back. It's got all the drive. yeah So it's, and it's a a long ah longitudinal layout. So what it does is just keep the transmission in one place that it's easier to shift and it's a smoother like push into the gates.
Speaker: But then the other thing too, there's no torque on the linkage. Yeah, exactly. And you're getting less, uh, engine roll, if you will, because obviously it's on soft mounts, it's isolated, but the engine and the transmission to the subframe into the rest of the car, and you get a lot of energy loss when it transmits like that, that, that load to the axle shafts and then subsequently the wheels. So it's like the engine mounts are absorbing some of that energy, which is obviously not going to make it out to the wheels. So it just holds everything in place a bit tighter.
Speaker: But honestly, like if you get one that is too harsh, it is going to do more harm than good. Just because you don't want the car rattle itself apart. Yeah. Yeah, and you can hear every single tooth in the gearbox just going through the gears. But it's one of those things where modern-day cars, the NVH is pretty low because they're all so well-insulated versus if you've got a blob ISTI, yeah, you're going to hear it like you're just in a tin can. That's true. Yeah, that's true.
Speaker: So that, ah dude, I agree with you, man. Hands down, definitely one of my go-to favorite things to put, especially on a manual transmission car. um And then you said you did like the wheels, tires, suspension, all that stuff.
Speaker: ah What did you end up putting on that car? um I went with Sparko Terras. I think like 17 by 7.5 plus 38 plus 40, something like that. Whatever you get from Tire Rack. Because I wanted something a little more inset because when I did go the route of like lifting it, I'm like, well, I'm going to actually take it off road because I yeah i might be done like that. yeah But i was like, I want to get keep the the rock chips to a minimum as much as possible. Yeah.
Speaker: And so, yeah, I think it was a pretty i tame offset. And then i had the Falcon Wild Peak AT trails and those tires kicked blood. Yeah. If you're, and especially if you're not doing like rock crawling stuff.
Speaker: Yeah. That's such a good tire. Yeah. I don't have the clearance for anything more aggressive yeah tire wise. So yeah. When they make that tire in so many sizes that are friendly for our cars, because that's what they designed them for, you know, CVs and and things like that. And way lighter than a KO2. 100%. Yeah, way lighter. The only downside, you know, like i said, if you're doing anything where you're in a bunch of rocks, yeah, you'll cut through the sidewalls, but you just have to manage your expectations. Yeah. um But what size did you end up doing with the tires?
Speaker: I actually went pretty tame because i I wasn't sure how much like cutting like because like I came from the Tacoma world, like for as far as like off road stuff goes. And you can't fit ah too aggressive of a tire or wheel offset on a Tacoma before you're in the body mount. Yeah. So i was like, I don't want Exactly. Body mount chop. back Yeah. I was like, it's I'm not yeah I'm not I'm not doing a body mount chop on a brand new car, you know? Yeah, exactly. I went with the 21560 R17, I think.
Speaker: r seventeen i think So it was, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what I went with. So it was, it was like bigger, but I think that's even like a stock Crosstruck size. And a lot of the guys were actually going to 25 60 R17s, which I think is a bit, it looks a bit better, but I don't know what kind of clearance they're, if they're having any issues with that.
Speaker: That tire is technically going to be heavier and have more unsprung weight than what the car came with. Yeah. But it's not bad. But that said, did you feel like it soaked up any acceleration from the drivetrain or anything like that?
Speaker: It didn't affect the car at all. It affected the speedometer. I did get, i got pulled yeah over. I was doing what I thought was the speed limit, but it was over the speed limit based on, cause you, and there's no adjustment either. Like that's just going to happen when you're lifting a car that no one's really lifting. They'll have like the tuners for the Jeeps to like, uh, reflash their speedometers, whatever. But like,
Speaker: You're not, it's not happening on the Subaru. So it's like the only, the only thing I didn't notice was the speedometer being off, but like that's manageable. Drive a couple of miles under and you're, you're good, but didn't touch the acceleration. And with all the drive too, it's like,
Speaker: You could push the car to eight tenths and the all-terrain tires would fine. It's when you kind of get to nine tenths and the ten tenths that, oh yeah, you're going to notice the difference from what the car comes with. Now, obviously, this is with any reason. I'm comparing a summer tire to an all-terrain tire and almost 30 mil of width difference, but...
Speaker: you You could still rip the canyons without too much hassle in that car. Yeah. And what about, ah did you run into any clearance issues at all at full lock? Were you having any rubbing? Nothing? Dude, I had the the stock suspension with no lift back on and I was clearing those tires full full range of motion, like full articulation. So you could you could run that size on on a stock car completely with no issues.
Speaker: No kidding. Okay. With, with my offset. If you, if you have a ah farther, a more aggressive offset that might change, but. Contrary to what I would have thought it gets worse as the offset gets lower. Those, the A-arm suspensions, or I mean, I guess like and a double A-arm or McPherson, it's. Yeah.
Speaker: It's a, and I, even ah a double, uh, like wishbone kind of style, um, It's not a solid axle because with the solid axle, you get more clearance the farther goes out. Oh, but the way that absolutely yeah independent cars that have that um tire arc, how it swings is just different.
Speaker: Your Tacoma is not straight axle in the front, right? Unless you swapped it. You can't run big tires. You can't run crazy offset. Yeah, it's a problem. So I kind of followed that same philosophy with the WRX and it kept me safe.
Speaker: what What were maybe some of the biggest hurdles that um As you started building the thing, what were some of the, did you run into like big headaches or, know, stuff that really took some critical thinking to kind of get through different mods you wanted to do?
Speaker: Dude, those cars were like Legos. Like any, anytime I wanted to do something, like I was like, it's out there. You could go as crazy as you want. You could, you could go get a wilderness subframe spacer, wilderness suspension. You could like, it's, it's all global platform cars, you know? So it's like, I feel like every problem was kind of solved by the lifted cross track guys. Like they were doing all, and obviously it's the same platform. So it's like,
Speaker: I could go as crazy as as I want. And like, ultimately, the only thing that's going to stop me is how how far I want to cut in, you know? Yeah. yeah But um I think the only issue I really had was broken wheel studs. but That's because I was taking off suspension, mounting up new suspension. I went through three different types of suspension on that car and two two different sets of wheels and obviously 40,000 miles worth of rotations.
Speaker: So it's like, yeah, I broke two studs, but Subarus are kind of infamous for the soft studs anyway. Yeah. So ah other than that, like, yeah, they're not hard to replace. No, no. Pop two new ones in. We're good to go.
Speaker: We had no yeah no real challenges with like where I took the car, which is which is good. You know, I mean, I know you were running cross track suspension on it, but at one point you had a spacer lift. What did you end up putting on it for a lift kit?
Speaker: um It was just a one-inch Anderson lift kit or lift spacer. And it was fine. I liked it. It kept the ride, like, obviously pretty close to stock. I mean, it changed a little bit with the taller tires because more sidewall. But...
Speaker: didn't affect the suspension, any those um spacers. And I liked it. I think, I think I would have stuck with that if I didn't like feel the need to keep like experimenting, you know, like for, for the sake of the internet. yeah Cause I, I launched my, my Instagram page with, with that car. it was like, Oh, I'm going to be a yeah influencer car or whatever. It's like, yeah, I gotta have a cool car build on the internet. You know, let me, let me cut up this brand new car and kind of get that, that shock factor. Yeah. So i was like, that's kind of the route I went. But like realistically, like if you're just someone who wants a functional car, spacer is great. The springs, I think Rally Tech, I think is the company kind of known for doing the springs.
Speaker: Maybe there's other brands out there right now, but a spring so a spring lift or a spacer lift is great. I wouldn't do cross trek struts like I did. Those did not perform as well as i i would have hoped. More guys are getting too floppy.
Speaker: Yeah, it was so soft. But a lot of guys are actually doing the Forester struts and springs. And obviously it's the same platforms, all super global platform. And it's better better damping and spring rates for the weight of the car.
Speaker: Because the Crosstrek is lighter. yeah i i was I originally went with Crosstrek because that had the lowest height of those SUVs, if you will. And I was worried that the Forester would over lift the car because I didn't want to go past two inches because that's kind of hard on CVs and kind of hard on... yeah the drivetrain, you know?
Speaker: So I ended up going in with the Crosstrek and they were just too soft. Now, did you, um, at any point, if you did a one inch, I'm guessing your lift kit from ADF didn't come with like multi-link spacers or anything for the rear? No, anything, maybe anything an inch or under, you don't need to, you have enough, uh, geometry correction, uh, for the alignment. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah. So that's good. Anything over an inch and a half though, you'll have to do the subframe drop. Now, when you went to the Crosstrek lift, um what did that end up netting you as far as lift goes?
Speaker: I think I was about um two inches in the front and like almost two and a half in the rear. So it kind of had stink bug look, which I didn't love. Okay. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker: But, you know, if you got to load the car up, I guess it'll help out there. oh and i would yeah. When we did that camping, it was great. It's not perfectly level. It was good.
Speaker: Yeah, exactly. When you went that route, did you pull subframe spacers off of a cross track or did you put multi-link spacers in the rear aftermarket or did you do anything back there?
Speaker: actually just went with the aftermarket, like flat out, I think it was a company, just whatever kit they had. yeah. Yeah. I just threw those in there. um It was actually a later development that I think one of the uh, adventure WRX. I think he's got a silver VB. Yeah. He was actually one of, yeah yeah. Yeah. I think he was like one of the first to do the OEM, uh, subframe spacers, which looking back on it, it makes sense. You know, was smart of him to do that. I don't know at the time. Well, yeah, there, there'd be enough.
Speaker: It's a little hard to find wrecked cross track that you can get your hands on to pull them out of, but you can, I think order them just from the parts dealer. It's honestly, that's true. or Cheaper than going through an aftermarket company.
Speaker: Yeah. I don't know why that didn't occur to me. Hockey pucks will work. no Yeah. Maybe if you're, if you're brave. Yeah, exactly. Did, um, uh, one thing that I hear a lot from, or a lot about from people, you know, with the old Subarus, they didn't have that multi-link suspension in the rear.
Speaker: but they've now everything's moved over to that. Um, I hear a lot of people complain about, uh, drive train noise, like, you know, cause you're changing the angle of the, the drive shaft out of the rear diff when you lower that, you know, all that stuff in the rear down.
Speaker: Um, did you run into anything like that or? No, I honestly, I didn't have any problems that came about. Dude, that's awesome. car Yeah. I got, I got pretty lucky. Um, I think,
Speaker: My coilover at one point like got loose and that started shaking like crazy, like the the lock collar. And that okay that that got weird, but that was yeah my mistake, you know, not making sure that collar was tight. But as far as like outside of the that, yeah no drivetrain issues.
Speaker: Okay, cool. Yeah. I, and it's funny because in, and I haven't heard you mention any CV axle issues yet either. um cause you always hear the, all the comments on anything related to a Subaru being lifted is, Oh, how many CV axles have you gone through? And it's, in my opinion, it's not a huge problem.
Speaker: Um, I'm guessing that's not something you ran into, correct? honestly the only time you're gonna break a cv like ah it'll it'll wear out probably faster over time like i will we' get that from tristan i think as he keeps driving his car like he does he'll probably be one of the first ah to break an axle because it's lifted yeah but dude it's it's a wrx it's not a rock crawler like these toyota guys they're out on the trail snapping axles but like that's because they're on a big rock yeah you know, like, yeah. And they have a walker. Absolutely.
Speaker: Yeah. Or they're, they start to bounce. You're, you're not there in the WRX. Like there's not the clearance, even, even cross tracks. I don't know that they're, they don't make enough power to break an axle. I mean, maybe, maybe axles are breaking and I'm not aware of it, but no, that's never been an issue for me.
Speaker: With the six speed, you know, I know, i know that, you know, it sounds like it didn't eat up too much of your torque doing bigger tires or anything. Um, but with the six speed gearbox, how did that kind of perform after lifting it and, uh, you know, modifying the car?
Speaker: it was fine. It was, it's, it's a pretty stock transmission. It's not like ah a big horsepower transmission, but it's, it's plenty strong for the car. It's like I said, it helps kind of being longitudinal too. I think that's just ah a stronger design than a front wheel drive setup with like a bevel box.
Speaker: you know, like a lot of the all the drive Hondas have it's, it's, it's stout. And like, if you get into bigger power or like really big tires, maybe you're kind of risking it more, but I don't think and anything that's like within reason, you're going to be just fine for the life of the car.
Speaker: Yeah. As long as people ah don't do anything crazy, you know, that's the thing is I don't know if you notice this, but I feel like Subaru owners are some of the more naive people. vehicle owners out there when it comes to the off-road stuff. They're shocked when ah you know when they break something off-road and they're like, oh my gosh, what a cheap piece of crap. And it's like, you go to Toyotas, Jeeps, whatever, those people, they just expect they're going to break stuff the moment they start abusing the piss out of the car.
Speaker: And it's like the opposite with Subaru owners. Like, I can't believe it. How does this happen to me? ah ah The Subaru is a rare case of I'm constantly surprised at how long they live while it's simultaneously how short they live.
Speaker: yeah Isn't that crazy? it's the e The EJ is a terrible engine and no one will ever change my mind on that. I will never, yeah ever say that the EJ is a good engine. The FAA the fa is a really good engine, both the 20 and the 24. The FAA is sick. Those are, those are and yeah yeah, okay, it's direct injected, you know, whatever. It's like, it's it's more stout in construction. Like the head bolts, I think, are way thicker. You know, like all of the parts that the EJ had issues with, they've addressed with the FAA engine.
Speaker: So that's great. Solid engine. I guess it's big enough to tow 5,000 pounds in the ascent or whatever. Like that's, it's strong enough. I should say not big enough, but strong enough, like in stock form to support a three year row SUV and 5,000 pounds of its towing.
Speaker: I'm pretty sure it's that, that amount, but that sounds right to me somewhere in that ballpark. They're pretty, they're pretty stout, like the newer stuff. But like, I mean, if you have a 2000 Forester with,
Speaker: 300,000 miles and you take it out and on the trails, you know, and it's like, you're just bouncing off of stuff. I've seen those in like kind of like mean videos. I've seen them last ridiculously long or you'll like see yeah YouTubers with an EJ and they'll put two engines in it within the span of one video.
Speaker: I'm talking about oh absolutely you know, when they had the build off or whatever with the WRXs. Yeah. It's like, oh, you're just yeah going through these engines like crazy. So it's like, yeah it's kind of all dependent on like what car you have, what the car is like and what you're trying to do with it. The EJs, I've always hated how EJs are not, um they they don't like to be altered differently.
Speaker: really in any way without a leave it stock. it's like, yeah, for the amount of money it would take you to, you know, build an EJ two five seven and put 400 horsepower to the wheels. You could have just gone and bought an M three or something, you know, the best Subaru are you doing to us?
Speaker: The best Subaru is a stock Subaru. And I came from a modified one. i I came from a pretty, pretty gnarly one. If I was to go back, if if I was to daily a VVB again, or even like if I had a VA, you know, I would be sitting on better looking wheels just because I don't think factory wheels on Subaru's look very good. Maybe the older wheel, maybe there's some cool special edition older wheels, but anything now coming out is just trash.
Speaker: It looks like everything else. yeah It's regular traffic these days. And if you're going to, if you're going to like just stock height, maybe, maybe a little bit taller tire, you know, so you can clear speed bumps easier, but they're pretty tall from fat. Yeah. I would literally do a pitch stop. Oh yeah.
Speaker: And an intake, not touch anything else. Yeah. Just because I want to hear the the turbo noise. Like I'm, I'm good. That's it. That's the best Subaru is that. Did you do any performance mods to the car? I think you might've mentioned something that slipped my mind, but, um, was it pushing just stock horsepower or?
Speaker: Yeah, it it would intake and exhaust, but I didn't tune it. So I wasn't actually seeing any like performance gain on that. Uh, it was a parent intake you did, you said? Yeah. Yeah. It sounded great. It was pretty easy to install. i had an actual heat shield because I honestly, like, unless you are tuning and unless you are getting like a ah restriction from the factory airbox, the factory airbox is the right one to have, but it doesn't sound as good. right yeah it It has baffling, you know, it it dampens the noise and yeah the the FA actually sounds pretty good.
Speaker: i with With the unequal length headers, maybe maybe not so much, but with it the equal or unequal, whatever, i don't know. Yeah. Equal length is, is boring. Unequal is, is that's, that's when, yeah, that's when you get the, the Subie rumble, right? I don't, I don't really care for that too much. I'll be honest. And it's also less efficient that way. Like you want equal length. Exactly. It's more people don't realize that.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, all the all the low quarter mile Subarus that are pushing bunches of power, it's all equal length. It doesn't sound as good, but yeah, you're 100% right. The Subi rumble literally just means the car is not moving air as efficiently.
Speaker: Yeah, exactly. And you know what? I'm fine. Like, like maybe, maybe an upgraded exhaust a little bit, like maybe an axle back. I, the axle back I went with was a little too loud, but the muffler, the turndown I did that just, I had an exhaust shop do, I should say that the little turndown muffler is like a blocks yeah Amazon muffler. That sounded so good.
Speaker: It was, it was just turndowns are sick. It was perfect. And the way it fit with that bumper just looks so good. If I remember right, you just had them do some TIG welding to create a turndown. Is that right? No, that was a ah a muffler with the turndown, with the pie cut turndown. Like it just, it came from Amazon. It was about that long. really And I just had ah an exhaust shop, weld it to the back. They cut off the, um, right before the axle, before it splits into the, the, the white pipe or whatever they cut there and they just did a big single exit.
Speaker: And it was like a two and a half inch. Nope. Okay. I actually had a, uh, I had bought a brand new, VA at one point. So it wasn't the two four, it was a two Oh, yeah, it I'm, I'm right there with you, man. I think the, the FA, yeah, it's a little more complicated and it's not going to be as easy to work on yourself as an EJ motor, but they're great, dude.
Speaker: Fantastic engines. Nothing a little walnut blasting can't fix once they start to get you know carbonized. the and the the The Volkswagen guys and the the Fiesta and the Focus ST guys, they've been ripping on these cars and they they're getting up to 100,000, 150,000 miles now. It's not that much of an issue anyway. What?
Speaker: If you're going to do a walnut blasting, do it do it at 150,000 miles. And then you're doing it once, yeah and then the car's not going to live that long after. like These cars aren't going to get to 200, 250k on the stock engine if you're driving it hard, yeah honestly think. Maybe maybe they will.
Speaker: Maybe they will. and But the walnut blasting is a one-time thing, I think. But you're going to save the money on the gas that's going to pay for that job anyway. Because EJs suck on yeah they have do that i mean there a I remember getting like 35 miles to the gallon in my WRX, ripping around. um you know Anytime I had a highway trip, was like, dude, I just got like 37 miles the gallon coming out here. What the fudge? Yeah, it's it's pretty impressive. see
Speaker: Any EJ, you're low twenty s no matter what you do. Dude, it's rough. I have a, have an O5 Legacy and that thing is just shaped like a bullet.
Speaker: And I've got like Koenig hypergrams. That car is actually slammed. um It's got Koenig hypergrams on it. So the wheels hardly weigh anything. And that that thing, i have no problem getting 27 to 30 on the highway, you know, on a trip.
Speaker: Yeah. But no, you're right, man. the Is it turbo? The EJ is not turbo. No, no. i I would love to have that gin in a legacy GT. But yeah by now, everything's 20 years old. you got all these, you know, oil feed lines that all are going to need to be replaced. They've all been, you know, beat within an inch of their life. you know For the most part. No, that the non-turbo EJs are a lot more efficient. They're a lot more reliable. like yeah they they They live a lot longer, but any WRX or S-T-I-EJ, dude, it's a third time bomb. 100%. beat on them and they tune them without really doing what it actually takes yeah to reliably. cause that's that Yeah, they're they're great.
Speaker: They're great out of the box to be what they are. But yeah, the moment you start, you know, the moment it goes to the tuner is the moment you start, like you said, counting down that ticking time bomb. too Yeah. like Unless you got a hundred grand sitting in an account where you can just start throwing, you know, hit it with your purse, you know, that kind of thing.
Speaker: Otherwise get get ready for that thing to be parked, you know? Yeah. They, and they do get beat on too. i got, that's going to be a ah part of it. Uh, you, You kind of have to have some mechanical sympathy.
Speaker: There's yeah. I always tell people it's funny. um Like in some of the local Subaru groups out here, I'll see people saying stuff like, Hey, um you know, I just got my first job and I've saved up, you know, 15 grand and I want to buy a WRX. What should I get?
Speaker: And I'm always like, not a WRX. Don't do it because you're going spend 15 grand on the car. Then your insurance is going to go through the roof. You're young kid. You have no money. The thing is going to blow up in less than a year and it's going to be an expensive paperweight that you're still making payments on because I guarantee you're going to finance part of it at the end of the deal, you know, every single time. And then three months later, guys, what should I do? WRX spun a rod buried. Yeah. Oh, I had Ringland failure. Oh, yeah. Ringland. That's a big one, dude. No, it's it's sad because like...
Speaker: Honestly, I think ah the WRX is like the gateway to like performance cars. And I think so many people start there because they are reasonably attainable, but also they do have SUV tax on them. like Toyota tax is a thing and WRX and STI tax is a thing.
Speaker: like you You might not think so, but like when you start looking around online like in the marketplace and whatnot, there's there's a big premium. yeah And obviously, in the later years where the WRX is its own chassis and it's not based on the Impressa,
Speaker: It's even more so that way. It's like there's a there is a premium on that. But like, yeah, if you're going to buy a WRX or an STI or or whatever, buy the newest one you can afford in the best yeah condition you can afford. a eye Yeah. PPI all day. Do not buy it without a shop looking it over, preferably a tuner.
Speaker: Yeah, for sure. And obviously to do your homework, like if do a compression tests, which on the early cars really sucks because getting those spark plugs out is a bear. The VB is great that way. You can actually reach the spark plugs.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. I noticed that actually when I had my FA. Most EJs won't live long enough to do a spark plug change anyway, which is, so you know, it's fine. i I'm probably going to get blamed for my EJ hate, but i I don't think it's a good engine. i preface this whole thing with that. Yeah.
Speaker: Just so most people know, we're mainly talking about turbocharged DJs, and you are 100% right. Yeah, the EJ, you know, it it was what it was for decades, man. It took them, I don't know, what, four decades, three decades or something like that to give us an update?
Speaker: like yeah Yeah, they just kept improving upon... you know That's the beauty actually of Subaru. is So many years, so many generations, and so much like parts and interchangeability. like it's it it really is and Here's another thing. like i'll I'll give the laurels to Subaru.
Speaker: They're a great first car. They're a great first performance car because they're really easy to work on. they don't rust away too bad. Like they're lucky. That's true. It's, it's not an early,
Speaker: ah like Toyota, you know, product that yes it deteriorates into the dirt, into the dust. Yeah. um Early Corollas, bro. Those things. Yeah. Early Corollas, especially any second gen Tacoma, any first gen Tacoma. Yeah.
Speaker: They all just rust away. But, um, Subarus are pretty good about like longevity, um, in that, in that aspect, it's just the engines, but also if you're having to fix stuff, yourself because you got no money because you just spent this extra money on a WRX because you wanted to be tanks not the not the the legacy or the impressa yeah um it's you kind of learn some skills which is cool And it's a it's honestly the first the first WRX, like or even the first car you get, that's like a performance car that you start to work on. It's I recommend everyone do that. Just mess with your stuff. You know, it's like, oh, absolutely.
Speaker: Discover something new, you know, try to try challenge yourself a bit. But like a saw daily driver first. yeah do small things do small things start with an oil change start with a tire rotation and go from there you know don't but don't go past the point of no return where you can't get the work but um yeah yeah it's it's a good it's a good building block um like any wrx any subaru they all have always been really easy to work on parts have always been plentiful um parts interchangeability if you want to mod it a bit with oem stuff that's that's pretty cool it's fun they're like adult legos i talked about this i think on two previous interviews you know subaru they've used the same starter for like 30 years wow you it's like oh you just oh my starter went out go to the junkyard or if you got another subaru parked out back
Speaker: pull it off, put it in the, put in the car that won't start and you're off the races, you know, there's, yeah, that's cool. you know, there's obviously little things where they'll, you know, they'll alter, you know, like you said, they've updated the EJ. It's like some of them switched over and had all the different variable valve timing stuff where they changed the heads a little bit.
Speaker: But yeah, for the most part, like oil pans, intake manifolds, they can all be interchanged, you know. Even the so but the transmissions, you can you can STI swap a VB, yeah which is crazy. It's like, why are these bolt patterns lining up? Like this is a whole new generation of engine. And this is last year's last generation's like transmission. And just it's it just works.
Speaker: It's wild. You're getting the durability of the FA24, you know, the the displacement of it, because that's a pretty big engine, you know. Uh, then you're getting a stout transmission. So if you do want to go stage two, that there is a way to do it luckily, but for pretty cheap. Yeah. Yeah. They're, they're definitely money pits. That's for sure. They're the NA stuff.
Speaker: If you're not looking to go fast, the NA stuff will last forever. But, dude, once you start getting into the turbo territory, dude, it's it's ah just find it just find a hole and start throwing your money in it, and you're basically going to get the same result. you Yeah. still no Still no car that you can drive and and and no money in your pocket. Yep.
Speaker: That's why people normally have two. yeah Yeah. I've, yeah, I've got a lot. The, the legacy that I have, you know, since it's not turbocharged, that thing has got,
Speaker: I don't know, 230,000 miles on it. And I, all I do is oil changes and other little maintenance items. Finally, it finally needs a new engine. It still runs, but it's got ride tur swap it time to go pick up an EJ. I would like to build something stupid that's, you know, like an old RS, like an old Impreza that's weighs nothing. Got a massive, you some stupid build in it. I don't know. Actually, here's my plan. My plan. I have side businesses that I run. Yeah. I'm going to take the money from that.
Speaker: I really want a first or a second gen Dodge Viper. That's like the dumbest thing ever. so No, that's good way to go. It's, ah you know, they get like 12 miles a gallon and, you know, just is what it is. Headlights cost 5k for a pair, but I kind of don't give a fudge. I just want one. Cause just for a year, I just, yeah, yeah, exactly. I just want to walk out into the garage and see it and say, Oh, that's my car. Yeah. Cool.
Speaker: After a year, maybe I'll sell it, but, uh, that's actually my next, you know, you got to get in the game cause they're getting expensive. They're becoming collectible dude. Yeah. They really are.
Speaker: First gens and second gens aren't second gens are definitely appreciating heavily. Yeah. ah It helps to have a roof. The newer stuff, bro. It's yeah, it's crazy. I think the tires kind of hold people back on those because it's like they had such a crazy. um I can't remember. Section width like a three twenty five.
Speaker: Yeah, it's somethings it's something. It's in the threes. And no ands there's only like two companies that make them. And it's like you're paying four grand just for tires on a, you know, 17 inch wheel or whatever they are. That'd probably be cheaper than messing with some EJ build, you know, to be honest, um which is crazy.
Speaker: for For the 99-02 GTS, ACR, and Bro. bro. Yeah, gnarly. and then two seventy five fronts that's absurd even two seventy five in the front is crazy bro yeah that is that's gnarly I can't do the millimeter conversion to inches, but I know that's pretty buck wild, dude. That's almost, that's like 13 inches, I think. Because 35 by 12 and is like 325, I think. Okay. think 325 like 12 and a half, technically. So that's meaty.
Speaker: three twenty five i think okay i think three twenty five is like twelve and a half technically so that's that's meaty that Yeah, so that that tire is the same width as the 35s that I have on the Jeep.
Speaker: yeah you know i'm like the It's like massive. I'm just running 15s on them because I like you know dropping them down to 5 PSI in the winter. Yeah.
Speaker: i I can't imagine having that on a car that's not lifted. Yeah, dude, that's, like that's wide. You're, you're talking about the Viper and talking about like, like the money and stuff. Yeah. um I'm actually, I've started a business and I haven't launched the website yet. There's a couple more things I'm going to launch on it.
Speaker: But I want to start giving back to the community because I had the opportunity to build a really cool car that I had a lot of fun with. And people on the Internet, like they they like, hey, this is so cool. I want to do something like this.
Speaker: And I think it's it's kind of fun to share that that tinkering mindset, you know, that that ah want to to get out there and like just build something cool, build something you like, you know, and it's expensive. And especially nowadays it's expensive or even if people want to buy their, their first project car or the first WRX, you know um I'm going to start doing giveaways.
Speaker: Oh, heck yeah. Just cash giveaways. Okay. And I just want to help kind of the people of the internet build cool stuff and hopefully okay they can get inspired like I was inspired by other people. Just because I think like the car hobby is cool because you it's like a way to connect with people. You know, you have a shared interest. It's really easy to talk someone talk to someone when you have something to talk about. And I like the idea of like setting up meetups, you know, community events, whatever.
Speaker: but also just fit financially helping people like do something to their car that they want to do, you know? Cause like, I think people are yeah kind of stuck trying to just pay the bills, like do normal life, you know, but I think it'd be cool to kind of help and give back in a way and help people kind of discover the joy that I've been able to discover.
Speaker: Heck. Okay. Let me ask, are you going to do like raffles, like kind of the raffle business model or how's, how are you planning to do it? Yeah, it's it's not a raffle. it's like It's a giveaway. It's a free entry component. there There's a bonus entry component too if you want to go that route. But ultimately, it's like i don't I'm not trying to give away cars.
Speaker: I'm not trying to give away like the, there's these giveaway companies that will do hundreds of thousands of dollars. Like, Oh, when this yeah Ford Raptor or this, whatever, plus however much money it's, it's like hundreds of thousands of people that they, they could not give away hundreds of thousands of dollars of cars. If there wasn't a a business case for it, where they weren't making that money plus X to, to keep it on. Right. And like, I mean, yeah, and they're all, they're all doing merch as well. And I don't,
Speaker: I don't see the the the point in having a bunch of Chinese t-shirts printed that is I'm supporting. Yeah. someone who like the people making these t-shirts and these like sweatshops, they're paid pennies, you know, it's the companies that that pretty much own them that are profiting. So it's like, yeah, that all, all these companies are doing is kind of incentivizing like waste. Like they're, they're putting ah ah a design and AI design sometimes on a t-shirt and sending that order off and it's getting printed for pennies. yeah And then they're, they're selling those sweatshirts for 60, 70 bucks. And it's like, yeah,
Speaker: oh, here's this cool item that you could potentially win, you know? And it's like, just buy the $60 t-shirt and you can, yeah you can win this thing. but it's like hundreds of hundreds of thousands of people are entering with however many bonus, yeah bonus multiplier giveaway entries or whatever. It's like, that's crazy.
Speaker: but That doesn't make sense. So my idea is I just want to give back to folks who need a little extra cash to spend on their car because and I want to help build the community and I love the community. And it's, it's fun for people to discover the the self-confidence of working on something on their own.
Speaker: Wait, are you going to like self-fund this or like, Oh yeah. I'm confused, dude. that Yeah. Dude, that's sick. It's okay. like There's going to be like the bonus entry component, obviously, but and bonus entries are a dollar.
Speaker: So there's a franchise component and there's a bonus entry component. And like the bonus entry is a dollar. It's not it's not $60 T-shirts or $60. You know, it's just like this. I don't expect it to make money. I'll be honest. If I don't like probably I'm more likely I'm going to lose money. But like, that's cool. Yeah, that's it's just like I want to share that.
Speaker: Dude, that's okay. Well, I'm guessing you already have your domain purchased. Yeah. Everything's locked up. yeah I just got to go live with the website. Got to publish it. shout it out, dude. What's the address? This is the first scoop. It's going to be furthermotion.com. And the business is furthermotion.lc.
Speaker: Okay. Heck yeah. Dude, I love that. That's sick. I, cause I've never talked to anybody, um, who's done anything like this because but like you said, you know like I lose, I pay to do this podcast. know, it doesn't really make me any money. Yeah. It's so fun to do though. Exactly. Enjoy, ah enjoy stuff, do stuff that you like. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, dude, that's sick. Because yeah, most people, like you said, the ah those giveaways or whatever, they don't make a lot of sense, but they make a ton of sense for the guy on the other side. Yeah. Yeah, a lot of guys are making a lot of money doing it. What...
Speaker: Is that company is like 8080 or something like that that first started doing those? Yeah, dude, you can you can name off 10 right now. There's Overland, there's 8080, there's even Maverick, yeah like like a gas station will do this. you know It's like, oh, join this giveaway.
Speaker: Yeah, and it's like, how do you have ah an entire J Leno-sized compound if if you're not literally raking in cash like it's growing on trees? Yeah, they're they're selling 80%, 90% markup sweatshirts. Like, like truly. like I mean, and if you like the brand, that's cool. And if you like the clothes, like, that's cool. But, like, I've seen a lot of it. It's just, like, the stereotypical, like...
Speaker: cheap tea that's like fruit in the loom or whatever tea that has like ah a vinyl print on it that fades over time it's like I I want people to be spending their money on their car and and getting out and driving it yeah and building community with people and it's like ideally I get a large enough social media presence that I can just keep giving away and then it not really be like affecting you know like too much community wise dude I love that that's I had no idea this is something we were going to talk about, but this is sick. Yeah, no, I had to hijack this. i had to had to get it that out there. Dude, no, no. that's right It's right. I built a car that I enjoyed and I want to share that with everyone else.
Speaker: Well, and the other thing too, like I don't, uh, I don't script any of these. I really don't even do any kind of research. I literally just like talking to people and dude, the amount of different type of stuff that I typically talk about just completely goes off the rails. So this is not even a problem. I'm, I'm with it, dude. Well, it those shows work, right? The banter, the banter podcast that works.
Speaker: yeah i i guess i think what it is is a combination of me being lazy and busy it's like yeah dude you got me fudged up if you think i got two hours to do research you know yeah for a but this this format it's a lot more wholesome right you just gotta talk and chat yeah yeah just like-minded people you know people that yeah just want to bullshit about cars yeah 100% dude. Yeah. Let me ask you this. Yeah. What is the coilover setup that you ran on the VB?
Speaker: It was Silver's suspension. I actually, I reached out to them because I didn't want to go with the flat out suspension just because I thought it was overpriced. And I didn't want to go with the yellow gravel speed, whatever. It's expensive, dude. Those, yeah, they're they're pricey, like first and foremost. And they're also inverted. And I didn't want to deal with not rebuilding shocks every 10,000 miles.
Speaker: And because like, that's like, that's a, that's a dedicated motorsport setup. A lot of those. And now, and other versions came out that are less like, they're more tame for the road, you know, but I just, I went with the the typical, um I think inverted is the right word, right?
Speaker: When you have that, that, yeah that shim that rides on that grease film and you have to, you pull that off and put everything back in. I think so. Yeah. I'm not a coilover expert, but yeah, I believe you're right. I think, I think I'm, I'm saying the right things there, but yeah, I just went with like a yeah a street setup essentially that was just had a heavier spring rates and it was a longer shock body. So Silvers did this. I don't know. Don't know if they're still doing them, but I was one of the pilots for that, that company and that, that part, but um okay it was just optimized for an inch to two inches a lift. And i I put it at right about two inches and it was great.
Speaker: you kind of got to give me the low down, on your setup in the rear of the VB and on the front. I know you had like a light bar set up. You got give us a low down on the rear diffuser slash skid plate thing. That thing is sick. I love that thing. How did you do it? What was the purpose of doing it? How hard was it to to make it happen?
Speaker: So I was looking at the car and I just like, I kind of realized that the back looks like a diaper. Yeah. And I saw like this nice body line that was yeah like a perfect cut point. Absolutely. There was actually Scion FRS that was running around Saudi Arabia for the longest time. And i don't I don't remember the username. don't remember with the if the car had its own life page or whatever.
Speaker: but it had it had metal skid plates front and rear, and it looked really cool. how Because they they kind of wrapped up, ah and then they came to the metal bar at the top right before it was kind of next to the bumper plastic cover.
Speaker: So it wasn't like a full replacement bumper. was like a hybrid bumper, kind of like what i ended up going with my car. But um I really liked how the the bottom had the the two...
Speaker: kind of like textured pieces that go down almost like fangs in the rear. And I liked how there was this perfect cut line to remove and leave those parts, those aggressive parts. But then i yeah I thought it was a really cool shape to have a metal bar bent up with that actual skid plate. yeah Like the shape of it is is really interesting. And it didn't line up with the body lines like I thought, but I ended up with really liking...
Speaker: the direction it went. And it was actually just a local guy who fab that all up for me. Okay. Yeah. So it it was totally one off, but I ended up having to cut some of the the supports to the plastic bumper. So putting a plastic bumper on later in the car's life is going harder.
Speaker: So just keep in mind, there's three tabs that will have to go by, but like, they're just little like yeah eighth inch sheet metal tab. So it's not too big. Yeah. Yeah. And then on the front, what what were you running up there? Was it like an SSD or Rally Innovations or something?
Speaker: I think it was a Rally Innovations light bar. just it was they They launched it pretty soon, and I picked it up um pretty soon after launch, I should say. I just threw it on there and threw some spotlights on there, some Amazon spotlights, because I i thought I liked the look.
Speaker: But... yeah This is gonna kind of lean into what could have been. i was looking at options of of ah a front bumper cut with ah a skid plate, kind of similar to the back, a little more aggressive and more more functional for rocks. Like I wanted to protect the turbo, because on the VB, the turbo's up in the front passenger side.
Speaker: So it's on the bottom, right? Yeah, exactly. Yeah, it' the EJs are tucked up a lot more. Not on the FA though. So yeah I was going to do something more functional protection wise, as well as I wanted it to look really aggressive. I didn't like the light bar I put on because it actually ruined the ground clearance. I was scraping that thing on every pot hole. This car was lifted at two inches at one point with taller tires, like two 1560s, not stock.
Speaker: site like i think i was maybe an inch and a half taller of a tire maybe a little more and i was still i was like i've ruined this car because i can't i can't take a driveway and and not scrape because they just hung out so far yeah yeah so i was like i wouldn't go that way okay i and i and that's kind of what led me into more plans of cutting but that got me the crossroads of hey if i keep cutting into this car how much more aggressive is it gonna go it's my only car at the time ah am Am I going to make this so I can't get to work the day in and day out?
Speaker: So that's ultimately that what kind tempered that. Brake caliper clearance. how Did you have a decent amount of clearance when you threw the sparkles on or was it like a real tight fit?
Speaker: Oh yeah, there's plenty of clearance. you I don't think you'd fit a but big brake kit under the 17s, but the the stock, whatever non-special editions, I don't even know what but they have now. Like the TS spec or something, right? think that has the bigger Brembos. you You're not fitting Brembos, but premium brakes, a lot of guys later could even go down to 15s actually with a different brake setup from a previous generation Subaru. Oh, yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, but the stock WX, stock VB, you're you're only getting a away 17s, honestly. Okay, okay, gotcha. What do you do for a living? I actually work at a hospital. i'm ah I'm a human resource person.
Speaker: Oh, no. Oh, you're the HR guy. I love it. I'm the HR guy. Yeah. Okay. Okay. That's what's up. you I work in the medical industry as well, but, uh, couldn't do HR, bro. It's bad. It's, it's not a fun, fun place to be. You got to have tough conversations with people, but in a way that is still nice. It's I think it's a good thing, though, because then like if I do something like this, it's like, oh, I got I got some like baked in people skills. So, yeah, at least I can get it out there, you know.
Speaker: what i need to say. So I, no matter how hard the conversation is, but yeah, you get, what do they call that? The sandwich? You got to say something nice, give them the bad news and then compliment them as you fire them. Yeah. Luckily I don't have to deal with firing. So that's cool. oh That's a different department. Luckily.
Speaker: Sick. Okay. Okay. Sick. I don't want to keep you all night. Cause i know you're an hour ahead. Anything else that I should ask you about or that you want to talk about? No, honestly, ah like stay tuned because I plan to build more off-road cars.
Speaker: Heck yeah. Okay, one last question. what's I've seen you post a ah buttload of different cars. what's Overall, if you could only pick one car out of everything you've owned, what's the one car that's been your favorite so far?
Speaker: Dude, that's hard. Because I think I've owned... a
Speaker: 13 cars at this point something ridiculous like me like with cars cars trucks like whatever etc you know uh yeah sports cars i had ah a slew of trucks and like sportier cars like i got the focus st had some trucks yeah and then i got a fiesta st right uh focus st yeah But did you have a Fiesta or like I have I currently have a Fiesta and I was actually in the process of turning into a rally car until. OK, that's what I'm thinking of. Yeah. So there's a reason why I sold the WRX is I I wanted a truck and a trailer to tow the race. OK, you know, and still. OK.
Speaker: Yeah. So bought a truck and was working on the trailer. And obviously the Fiesta, I bought that, too, because there was a rally event in Florida in Idaho.
Speaker: ah just like okay i I don't know if you heard of them. They were called... Now it's now I'm blanking on it. It was in Blackfoot. What is it? was It was ah ah just a group of kids who just bought their own racetrack in Blackfoot and they were building it up. And they happened to do a season or at most of one season, but they just couldn't make it work financially. so it actually went under. But that's the whole reason I bought the Fiesta. It's like i i need to I want to go crazier with with dirt cars. you know like I want to yeah want to do something pretty gnarly and it actually build some like a race car. you know Something that if I rolled down a hill, I wouldn't be affected financially. Exactly. Or physically. Yeah, or physically because I could put yeah a cage in this one. I'm not putting a cage in a VBW or X just yet. like I'm not there financially. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, dude, that makes two of us. Yeah, but I had a, had a 370Z that I was actually going to safari. Yeah, traded, traded the WRX in for a truck and then I picked up the Z and I was going rally a Z. I ended up hating the platform.
Speaker: that's That's a lie. The platform was great. like the The suspension, it's ah double wishbone in the front, multi-link rear. It has a really stout transmission. it has a really The VQ37, that's a dope engine.
Speaker: they They rev. Dude, all the VQ stuff is sick. They don't sound good. They don't sound good at all. sound like broccoli head cars. Yeah, they do. But that was going to be a sick...
Speaker: rally car but i couldn't get over the clutch it had the worst clutch i've ever driven in my life really yeah no it was no way to yeah you could you could okay you could do ah an aftermarket clutch and a lot of guys were doing an external uh slave cylinder i think and yeah that would make it a little easier but i wasn't it this car had 36 000 miles it was like it was a oh there's no no reason it it yeah I bought two nice of a car again. and Firstly, it was it was a one owner, 36,000 mile. like it It was pretty much brand new. like it was It was so clean. like, all right, well i'm gonna um I'm going to do a rally build with this. you know like yeah
Speaker: That's something different. you know Something for the for the internet. but Yeah. Didn't end up going that route based on, I didn't like how the clutch was. Um, a couple of life events happened to that. I was like, Oh, well maybe I should pursue this instead.
Speaker: I don't love the car anyway. And we'll go with something else. And then I landed on, the Fiesta because it was 3,500 bucks. It was so cheap and all of the parts availability is there to build it into a rally car. Cause I, I wouldn't have to do R and d again. Like I had to with the VB, but then obviously the, the track went under out of business. So I'm no longer doing the rally build.
Speaker: I got other plans. I'm just all over the place, man. But it's like, it's on cars and that's, I loved the lifted WX, but I want to do explore other builds too, you know?
Speaker: So that's kind of what ah the 18 months. It was a good time. it was a fun time. And we kind of moved on from there. Heck yeah. So, so what is next? What's other, I mean, i know you got your, you're starting your, uh, your business and all that, but as far as cars go, are you still planning to build out the Fiesta or?
Speaker: ah i don't know. the verdic We'll see. I have a, i have a YJ. You mentioned your Jeep. I have a YJ that I think I might want to do something with in the future, but also that's kind of, that's a great platform.
Speaker: It is. Yeah. And they're cheap yeah and they're kind of like reasonable for people to get like, I who and again did this, you know, they started out with street cars and drifting, right? But then they kind of just expanded to every aspect of cars. And thank goodness they did that because I feel for the longest time the community has been segmented.
Speaker: Like Volkswagen guys stick with Volkswagen guys. Yeah. Like tuner guys stick with tuner guys. Like off-road guys do off-road things, whatever. But like, I think all cars can be cool. Like re retro cars, vintage cars, like survivor cars. Like if you have a 4,000 mile, like Ultimobile, Alero, that's sick. bro that's sick that's it's like yeah dude that's cool there some people are not every everyone can appreciate that but I think some people can and I just like all aspects of stuff so it's like I just want to kind of continue to explore things that I like and if hopefully can inspire other people who like it too been looking at your Instagram you've been crushing it man I'm
Speaker: I'm stoked to see what you're doing. This is absolutely sick. ah Dude, thanks for doing this. This was an absolute pleasure. appreciate the opportunity to come on here. I appreciate you being such a ah ah good follow and like someone to follow back. and and like We've had our our text conversations before, which has been cool. yeah Well, you were one of the first people on my list.
Speaker: ah back when I first started doing this. I don't know why it took me so long to reach out, but I was like, ah, this guy's killing it, doing thing. Maybe he'll make time for, you know, us peasants. you Oh, dude, your page is bigger than my page. What are you talking about? Is it?
Speaker: Yeah, you got you got way more viewers. The followers, man. Man, when I look at your view counts, though, you're like 99K, 30K on all your reels. Dude, you're absolutely crushing, man. that's That's a big part of why I wanted to kind of re-edit everything and kind of yeah get it back out there and like ultimately the the the car is gone but I want to share that experience you know and to as many people as I can to as many people as I can because like that's I got inspired and I I loved every second of it like I'd get giddy when I was on my way out to the desert you know it's like I want I want other people to experience that too so it's like
Speaker: Yeah, a hundred percent. And I'm so glad you did. Cause I'm shocked at how much content you're able to put out about a car that you don't even currently own. Um, but the VB is now becoming more accessible to people. Yeah. More people are buying them. More people have the opportunity to be like, wait, I, I don't have to slam it yeah and do something else. Like, yeah, they're getting more affordable, more available and and people are exploring what they can do with it. And it's cool. Yeah. So if you made it to the end of the interview, i really appreciate the heck out of you. If you could do me a big favor, like and subscribe if you're not already, and then definitely leave a comment. Let me know what kind of car you're driving, and then let me know what kind of mods you've either done to it or what you're planning to do to it. Until next time, we'll see you out on the trails.
