2002 Subaru Impreza WRX

Alex Witkin happened upon his 2002 Subaru WRX while driving around in a rusty 1989 Chevy Camaro in his home state of Maryland. When the "redneck-style Camaro," as he calls it, stroked its final rod, he was forced to look for a new vehicle and was immediately swayed by the WRX. The rush he felt when driving the all-wheel drive monster was intensified when he found out that there were modifications available for his car. At that point, he became a tuner.

Why he drove the Camaro in the first place is still mind boggling, but what's clear is that the WRX gave Witkin a specific context in which he could fire up his inherent passion for cars. At first, he was hesitant to tune the car once he found the cost needed to get the ride he already built in his mind. It was unsettling for him to spend that much cash, and it was even more disturbing for him to half-ass the project if he were to continue. So he did what every normal working tuner would do: he decided to continue and finish it the way he wanted.

"When I do something, I do it 100 percent," he says of his final decision, "So as soon as I started modding, I went all out." He began with researching the Internet, finding out how others finished their WRXs and, more importantly, where they bought their parts.

Within a couple of weeks, Witkin installed an intake system and a blow-off valve for the stock turbo. A couple of months later, he purchased an engine management system and a turbo-back exhaust with a titanium muffler, both from Turbo XS. After feeling the immediate effects of the aftermarket parts, he quickly graduated to a Turbo XS stage 2 kit, and once he grew tired of that, he moved onto a stage 4 kit which later proved to be the first snag of the buildup. The kit featured a bolt-on turbo upgrade and a front-mount intercooler setup. As soon as it was installed, Witkin road-tuned it and was excited at how much power it would put out on Turbo XS' dyno.