Tanner's FRS and Griffin's WRX

Arizona State University, with its over 83,000 students, makes for a great place to find cool people with awesome cars. Two weekends ago I got to have a photoshoot with two of these people, Tanner and Griffin.

I first met Tanner through the car club on campus, Street Refined. Tanner, a marketing major, drives this Scion FRS, sitting on Parts Shop Max coilovers and 18x9 Cosmis XT-005R wheels, wrapped in matte mint by Bourbon St. Wraps and sporting an Invidia exhaust. As you can see, it makes for an incredibly clean looking car. The Toyobaru twins were marketed as an enthusiasts car, an answer to the call for affordable, fun, RWD driver's cars echoing the Miata and AE86 Corolla. Thus, it was the perfect car for Tanner, who wanted a sporty, fun to drive enthusiast's car with tons of potential and can turn heads (in fact, as we were taking photos, passerbys would stop and look at the car; it seems no matter where we go at least two or three people stop to take a look at the car). In fact, when it comes to potential, Tanner has thought about boosting it, as well as add a Rocket Bunny kit someday. You can bet when that day comes there will be more photos. Until then, keep an eye out for this amazing looking FRS prowling the Tempe streets.

I also met Griffin, a business management major, through Street Refined. Griffin's ride of choice is this bug-eye Subaru Impreza WRX. As I've said before, Imprezas are a popular choice of car for those who want to have some fun, and for good reason, since there are so many Subaru owners and cars floating around. For Griffin, he chose this car as a daily that would be fun both out in the canyons and the track. With this in mind, Griffin's WRX has been modified for sportier purposes than just city street driving. It has an Injen Performance Intake, HKS catback exhaust, Cusco top mount intercooler, and an open source ECU tune, all of which sits on Megan Racing coilovers and 17x9 Konig integrams wrapped in Falken Ziex tires. That beautiful color comes from the 3M Matte Blue Metallic coating the bodywork. However, he has bigger plans in terms of performance, whih is an EJ25 STi JDM swap sometime in the future.

The two cars made for excellent subjects in the city night. We originally wanted to take most of our shots on the Mill Avenue Bridge over Tempe Town Lake, but a cop passing by changed those plans. But still, nothing an stand in the way of art.

After leaving the bridge, we headed for a parking garage to take some more shots to wrap up the night.

I have to say, these two wrapped cars, headlights glowing in the dark, were as striking in person as they were in real life. So, if you're ever around ASU, see if you can find these awesome vehicles. 

Noah's Blobeye Impreza STi

Subarus are a huge thing, as you can probably see from the recent blog posts about Subarus. There are a ton of Impreza drivers here at ASU, including my good friend Noah. Noah and I first met because I was wearing a Honda NSX shirt, and both of us are huge fans of it. With us both being car guys and an admiration for the NSX, we became friends easily. Noah drives this Blobeye Impreza WRX STi with a Cobb exhaust, white wheels that I forgot the name of, and some other various small engine mods that I forgot to ask about again since I forgot that this was also a feature piece and that I needed to ask him about these things.  

As can be seen from the license plate, Noah and his STi are from Oregon, which he tells me has an absolutely massive Subaru presence. For this academic year he drove his STi down from Oregon to have in the desert. The Arizonan fuel, however, has not always matched his Impreza's tastes, as he's told me before how he's had to work on the engine mapping a lot because the fuel didn't agree with his previous maps. But, with those issues over, Noah's been driving this thing- a lot. It serves as both his daily driver to his job and also his track-day toy, and its long, multipurposed life can be seen in its odometer.

The Impreza STi has always been a favorite car of mine because of its rally heritage. Riding along with Noah on the way to the photoshoot location, I became enchanted by the traditional boxer-burble and the wastegate, as well as the smaller details such as the shift indicator (that Noah set to go off at around 3500rpm just so it can be heard regularly, a decision I wholeheartedly agree with). And, being outside looking at the car, I was taken back to when I was younger, playing Gran Turismo 4 and loving how the Blobeye looks. Even sitting still, it looks aggressive and ready to race.

Unfortunately, Noah plans to sell his beloved STi due to life. Even though the STi is a wonderful car, it still screams "boy-racer" too much for Noah's current and future professional career because of all the reasons why a person would love an Impreza STi- the big wing, the loud burble, the bright color, etc. It's a real shame to see her go, but Noah told me that after school is done and a career is in place, he definitely plans on buying another one. Subie love sure runs deep.

Keaton's WRX

As mentioned in Milo's Impreza, I went to No Fly Zone with a group of people. Keaton, a very close friend of mine I met in the beginning of college, was another person in our group, driving his WRX. And, as stated before, when a Subaru and some dirt combine, rally drifting ensues. Milo and Keaton drove together, however, due to all the dust kicked up, I could only photograph the lead car, which was always Milo because he has more experience than Keaton. However, that doesn't mean I couldn't snap a photo of his WRX as it emerged from the dust. Look forward to an actual feature of Keaton and his WRX soon.

Milo's Impreza

I'm working on No Fly Zone and Cars and Coffee photos, but first, I wanted to share some pics Milo's Impreza. We went to No Fly Zone together with some other people, and after we were done spectating, we set out to a power plant we spotted in the distance to get some photos there. While we couldn't find a way in/couldn't find a suitable location, there was a nice dirt circle by the entrance. When dirt and Subarus combine, you get off-road drifts. Plenty of them. What do you do when this happens and you have a camera? Take some photos. 

Since this was a spontaneous thing, I didn't get to do an "interview" per se with Milo about himself and his car to write about as a feature here. However, from the small talk we've made, Milo has plenty of racing experience, racing karts as a kid and cars like his Subaru in autocross and track events. Hence, when photographing him, everything felt completely controlled and comfortable. His car makes "unknown power"; I didn't as about what's under the hood, but it isn't stock, either. Clearly though, his skill and the car's unknown power showed itself in our little drift-photoshoot. Which, by the way, was on a dirt loop with only one entrance and exit that we blocked off, so it was a closed course, in case if anyone was wondering. We're professionals, folks.