Sleeping Beauty

Yes, you must be wondering as to why we are repeating this post again. Well to be honest the way I presented the pictures from the last post didn't really do this car justice. So here it is in the way it should have been! 

As children we have all heard of the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty. As the story goes a beautiful princess was cursed to eternal sleep. Only to be awaken by true love. You might wonder what all of this has to do with this car right here. Well, because the build of this car to its owner is like a fairy tale in petrol head heaven.

The term sleeper is not often heard among the automotive community in Sri Lanka. In a country where your car is an object of social standing, most of them are modified in such a way to stand out from the rest. But here we have something that is different from the true norm of automotive tuning.

Built with only one thing in mind. Going really really fast, but still keeping the cars practicality and stock look. It has been a real labour of love this project for the proud owner Janaka Rodrigo. 

I caught a glimpse of this car on-line and then was lucky to see it personally at last years Drag event. I fell completely in love with it soon after that. After much persuasion and planning here at last is the official shoot and feature of Sleeping Beauty!

This here is Janaka's princess, and having a track record of owning Subees previously his love for the brand is eminent. Warning though, the following content is going to cause extreme jealousy among many of the readers, so be prepared!

First of all a little background check on the car. It started off life as a Subaru Impreza STI 4 . Mind you this is not a convert. It is a completely authentic car, the real deal!

Why is it so special you may ask then? The Stage 3 badge speaks for itself here. For those who didn't know there are different stages in after market tuning. Stage 1 (Bolt on direct fit parts), Stage 2 (Slightly more aggressive than Stage 1 but requires additional parts) and Stage 3 (Motor sports or competition tuned). There are many explanations to these different stages but I guess this gives a rough idea with what we are dealing here.

What a face! Where other highly modified motors sport massive body kits, this still sports the original STI front bumper with an additional front lip. In my opinion I prefer this bumper to the newer STI 5/6 bumper. Looks much more meaner.

Only hint to the monster of an engine that is hiding under the bonnet is the massive Front Mount Inter-cooler.

As you can see the car is in Immaculate condition! Something that the owner is very keen on. Even before the shoot, the car was cleaned and waxed. He even carries Tyre shine around in his boot just in case! Sadly it rained while I was shooting.....

The lowered stance is thanks to TIEN Type Flex adjustable suspension set-up with complete struts and motors feeding in to the EDFC controller! More shots of the system below.

Put everything together and what you get is one amazing looking car....

Some of you may have noticed the lower front lip.....

A closer shot of that lip. Its actually locally fabricated and is of strong but flexible material to replicate a diffuser that reduces air flow under the car. And if you are careful running over speed humps are not a problem either.

Lets look at the party piece of this car shall we?

The engine bay in all its glory! The STI 4 2000cc engine has been uprated greatly. Full custom built up pipe down pipe, intake and IC piping from WEPR, 20G Hybrid Turbo, Boost Junkies Front mount Inter cooler  Custom 3' decat exhaust from pioneers in the field, WEPR and Samco piping are just a few of the very long list of mods on this car helping it get 293 Horse Power at the wheel. I wont list all of the spec here, scroll down at the bottom of the page the list of mods are available.

A Zero Sports radiator shroud hides the 3 core ARC radiator and also gives the engine bay a cool custom look.

And here is the Snail that is the culprit for all the power that this car is making. A Hybrid TD06 20G with 8cm compressor housing and Garret 60:1 compressor wheel.

One of the coolest suspension systems i have seen so far. At the touch of a button Janaka can reprogram the dampening on all four units at ease. A big boon on our pot holed roads.

A Tial 38mm wastegate holds the boost stable and lets go of the throttle at 4000 revolutions when the beast starts spooling, this GReddy Type S BOV gives out that lovely hiss that makes you wanna, aaahhaamm... yes I have to say it, Jizz in your pants!

Moving on to the rear end of the vehicle!

The custom exhaust is clearly visible. But other than that there are no other mods. To be honest this car looks best this way. There is no need for an after market kit. Its looks best just the way it is!

This end is what you will be seeing most of the time if you catch this car on the road. I was lucky enough to ride shot gun and was amazed at how quick this car was. Almost close to a race car experience. Mind you this Janaka's daily driver. So Kudos to him for driving a car like this everyday!

Wheels can make or break a car. Most of the time the stock wheels on a car isn't always the best. Due to manufacturing cost most companies don't send their cars with nice wheels especially the Japs. So most of the time its the wheels that get swapped out first. But one car that they really got it right was the late GC range! The lovely 16' wheels are to die for and Janaka has left them on to keep the lovely stock sleeper look. Of cause giving it a little pampering by wrapping it with some Potenza RE001's.

To the next bit of the car! The cockpit.....

Yes! This is Janaka's cockpit. Looks like it was taken out of Star Wars(his favourite movie of all time by the way). The interior was a combination of after market and original bits. Which I think ties in well with everything. Just the way I like it! Oh yes count with me, 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 gauges in the car. One is hiding on the other corner by the way.

Open the doors and you are greeted with this. Just a warning to tell you who built the car and what it can do to your innards.

I love the seats on these cars. Ultimate in cool, actually more cooler than the seats on the EVO's of that era. Finished off from the factory itself in Alcantara centre piece and fabric with STI imprinted on it. These seats, just grabs you in on the action.

These three fellas from Defi monitor Fuel Pressure, Exhaust temp and water temperature.

And Janaka's prized collection. A set of original and very very rare STI Genome gauges monitoring Oil temperature, Oil Pressure and Boost.

Controlled by this module here. You can program it to record data or show you highest recorded levels on the gauges. Very interesting piece of kit it was!

A more responsive tach has been thrown in for good measure and as a shifter indicater. You might think that so many gauges are unnecessary. But not when you are running a car with a built like this. Constant monitoring of vitals are important.

All of them standing in line awaiting their orders!

A knock link gauge has also been incorporated.

An Apexi AVCR also monitors and controls some vital features of the car! Mounted neatly at the end of the centre console.

Another necessity is the Turbo timer.....

The original STI came with this leather wrapped shift knob with the red stitching to match the seats. Another neat little detail that I love.

This here is the stock Nardi steering wheel that comes on the STI. This is probably the last good steering wheel that came on Impreza's. The newer MOMO's were not so sporty and were so big some complained that it seemed like it came off a bus!

One last look at the control room!

A little bit of humour from the owner!

I shall finish off with this lovely shot of the car. It was an thrilling experience to shoot this amazing beast and to ride in it. I was waiting to do this for a long time. Hope you guys enjoyed this as much as i did and may she be forever be unrest with thirst for speed and beauty.. A big Thank you to Janaka Rodrigo for letting me shoot his pride and joy.

Here is the list of modifications.

Engine
TD06 20G turbo Hybrid
Tial 38mm External wastegate
Custom Downpipe - WEPR
Custom Upipe - WEPR
Apexi Power Intake
Custom intake - WEPR
Boost Junkies (UK) FMIC
Custom IC Piping - WEPR
ATV motor sports Silicone IC hoses and Clamps
Boost junkies (UK) vacuum lines
ARC 3 core Racing radiator
NGK PFR6B Laser Platinum plugs
STI Pink 550cc Injectors
Greddy Type S BOV
Custom 3" exhaust and back box - WEPR
Samco Main Radiator hoses
Perrin light weight Crank pulley
Zero/Sports Radiator shroud
650cc injectors
Tomei fuel pressure regulator
K&N + Trumpet

Drive train
Stock 4.44 FD 5 speed box with matching rear Diff
Fidanza Light weight flywheel
Exedy street stage 2 Clutch kit
Update: 1 May 2012
ACT stage 4 Cerametalic Clutch kit

Handling/Braking
Tein Type flex complete suspension with EDFC controller for in cabin 16/32 way Damping adjustment
Whiteline Links
Stock 4 pot front and 2 pot ear calipers
STI 650^ pads
Agency Power steel braided brake lines
Bridgestone Potenza RE001 205/50/16

Electronics
Haltech PS1000 - Tuned by David Rowe (Fr Pumped gas)
Apexi AVCR
Link Engine management Knock sensor with Display
STI Genome Boost / Oil Temp / Oil pressure gauges 60mm with STI genome stammped control box
Defi STS26B Water temp / EGT / Tacho and Fuel pressure gauges
Innovate MTX Wideband O2 sensor and gauge
Apexi Turbo timer

By Charith Kulasiri