There are many people out there that know this car all to well, but I thought it was time to update the car domain web page to bring things up to date. I am also asking the question, should I sell this car so I can start a new project OR should I keep 100,000 plus mile STi-RS to beat up on the new age STi's.

A little background on this vehicle:
This car was first purchased in Burlington, Vermont in 1999 and one year later driven out to San Jose, California to enter into the world of racing / modifying. Once I entered into San Jose, California there was little to no work happening on the Subaru Impreza RS, so one of the first things I did was a turbo kit (Ludespeed Turbo Kit). As any other young kid would do with a car that NEEDS more power, slap a turbo kit on it and raise the boost. But at this time there was no engine management at all, in fact all that was available were Super AFC's and Super ITC's, which work for about 1 day then the ECU will readjust everything for you. Back then, it was a drawback to have an intelligent ECU, little did I know...

The next step was the Link Plus Engine Management. This was the first RS-T in the US to house a standard plug in engine managment system (to the existing witing harness) that could be used on and RS with a turbo kit. We wanted something easy for everyone to drop into the car, so no wiring was needed. It worked decently though had it's problems and about 1 year later, we started to offer 2.0 liter conversions and the X-Wing recieved the 10th one ever completed in the US. With that came a WRX engine management system, which actually had some brains behind it, and was the right step into reliablity.

A few months later that engine was removed for a 2.6 liter STi shortblock and JDM Version 7 heads with AVCS. This made the X-Wing the very first 2.5 Liter STi conversion in the world for a GC8 body style. Besides that it was also the very first stroked 2.6 liter USDM STi block and largest STi block in the world at the time.

There is a lot more history in this car that has developed the Subaru world into what it is today. Whether that is good or bad is up to you to decide.

It's Name
It's name comes from a man named Andy, everything I could learn at the time about Subaru's I taught him, and one day he called the car the X-Wing. The name stuck and just wanted to give credit to someone that actually help push I-Speed USA to where it is today. He was about the only person that never gave up on us and to this day I respect him for that.

Competitions:

This specific 1999 STi-RS conversion (dubbed the X-Wing) has competed in multiple events around the California area. To name a few:

The Ultimate Street Car Challenge held by Sport Compact Car Magazine (Dec 2004, Jan 2005 issues)
- 2nd 1/4 Mile Acceleration (based on 1/4 mile time)
- 1st Drivability (Based soley on ECU Tuning)
- 2nd Grandma Test (Grandma fell right to sleep)
- 2nd Stopping (Shortest Distance)

Notes:
1.During this competition we were the ONLY vehicle to drive to/from every event while competing every event including the burnout competition, NOTHING BROKE.
2.We were also the only vehicle running a MAF Sensor, a Top Mount Intercooler and only car with a STOCK intake box.
3. We ran a 4.2 seconds from 0-60 mph (fastest of all the competitors)
4. This car was designed to be the Ultimate Street Fighter, out accelrate from light to light, whicle also being able to handle, drive smooth, feel absoltely stock and out brake the competition.

Ultimate Street Car Challenge, 2004

American Touge 2 Competition
Once again we were about the only car to show up without a trailer and ready for action. This time it was more for fun and to see how the Drift King really felt about the car.

The Drift King preparing to pilot the X-Wing.

The Drift King beating on the X-Wing.

1st West Coast Subaru Shootout, March 2004
We drove there destroyed everyone in site and left. That was about it, no one speaks about it to this day, as if the event never happened. Here is short clip of us beating the snot out of the X-Wing for 3 days straight to prove the durability of quality products and proper ECU programming.

Ultimate Street Car Balance

X-Wing at American Touge 2 Competition

Engine Mods:
- Crawford Performance S2 Short Block
- Crawford Performance WRx Street Clutch
- JDM Version 7 Heads with AVCS
- Maxim Works Headers (only 2 available in North America)
- Greddy 18G Turbo
- APS Top Mount Intercooler
- K&N Panel Filter
- M2 Turbo back exhaust
- 800cc Injectors
- Walbro High Flow Fuel Pump
- NGK Spark Plugs

Current horsepower/torque for the X-Wing

Engine Management:
- I-Speed USA Programmed ECU
- STi V8 STi Spec C Type RA ECU
- Launch Control: 4800 RPM's

Handling:
- Tein Flex Coilovers (coming soon)
- Swift Springs (coming soon)
- Cusco Rear Strut Bar
- Swift Front/Rear Sway Bars
- Full Poly Bushing Kit
- Prodrive Alcon 4 pots (13.1 inch)
- Recaro STi V5 Seats

Asthetics:
- Volk CE28N 18*8 Rims (On the way)
- Toyo T1-R's: 225/45/17 (235's soon enough)
- STi V5 Front Lip
- STi V5 Shifter Knob
- Prodrive Fog Lights

Everything installed, and tuned by I-Speed USA

Cheers,
William T. Knose Jr.
Lead Programmer
I-Speed USA