Subaru RS-TI Coupe - One Take

The US didn't get a proper WRX until 2001, so swapping modern drivelines into early 2.5RS models is very popular with hardcore enthusiasts. Chris Huynh's RS-TI is super clean and very quick!
Check out Chris's Subie on Wheelwell!
www.wheelwell....

[@Bones12x2]

Nobody gets more thumbs up than a rally blue Subaru with gold wheels!

[@Revitalyzed]

This is why I love the late 90's RS. Being able to convert the entire car into an STi. Hell, it's what I love about Subaru in general. It's like LEGO blocks. Take the motor out, and the other fits perfectly like a glove. Would absolutely love to own one of these some day.

[@austinshatzer]

What most non Subaru buffs don't realize - this exact drivetrain can be directly swapped into the Legacy GT platforms...same power, with a much refined interior, and a total sleeper.

[@360QuickNastyNoScope]

austinshatzer I own a Legacy GT! The interior is a slight step up, and no one notices it. Which I love and hate at the same time :(

[@Revitalyzed]

Andrew Donaldson Is it like the mid-2000's one? If so, those things are really awesome! I always saw them as a really good example of a sleeper. Looks like an ordinary 4-door sedan, then when they notice the clutch and shifter, you look at them, smile, and make music... "BWWAAAAAAHHHH-BWAAAAHHHHH-BWAAAAAHHHH-PSSSHH"

[@360QuickNastyNoScope]

Yeah it's a 2005, i'm 18 and it was my second car. I've been to autocross with it and the car is just refreshing to drive, yet it can be an adult whenever you need it too.

[@jacksongalipeau508]

austinshatzer I have a 2006 outback xt wagon and love it

[@AshyGr33n]

This is a man who knows how to take care of a car. Look at that pretty thing!

[@happy2Cyou]

The rubbing was probably only because there was like 700 pounds of meat in the front seats lol....keep these one takes coming. Love em

[@CarsandCameras]

Fifteen grand or more you say... What about overnight parts from Japan??

[@CarsandCameras]

awdrifter3 I know, I just thought I'd throw in a Fast and Furious reference :)

[@Forgan_Mreeman]

awdrifter3 you completely missed the joke

[@azza9423]

awdrifter3 Straight over the head.

[@kylebroome7593]

CarsandCameras hahahah Jesse from F&F1. kinda sad that he was in a drive by shooting by Tran and Vince.

[@NOORYOUNIS]

Kyle Broome BRO come on Spoiler alert?

[@momobhc]

To fix that Subaru window whistle, take small vacuum hose and feed it into the weather stripping to stiffen it up.

[@Xmvw2X]

The on-center steering vagueness is really just a bushing issue. The stock stuff is mush, so you need to replace the steering rack bushings and the suspension arm bushings to really get the steering precise and with a LOT more feel. Beyond that, steering response is all about body roll, and unfortunately a lot of the suspension for these cars run really soft compression and lack the compression resistance for quick turn-in response. Instead, you have to get to decently high spring rates and sway bar size to bump up the roll resistance to gain the responsiveness. It takes some choice damper selection or custom valving to get enough to feel responsive. The understeer thing is tricky and gets worse with the 6-speed swap. The brakes are front biased, so trail braking is generally a wash at best. The 6-speed diff package creates some understeer versus the 5-speed. As long as you don't set the center diff full lock, it will understeer less while off throttle. Full lock promotes understeer off throttle and even under light throttle. The diff package makes the car a little more of a brake straight, steer with throttle kind of car than with the 5-speed. The one gain the 6-speed has is on-throttle. You can tweak the understeer/oversteer range quite a bit with the center diff lock and amount of throttle you use. The 5-speed is really neutral (read, non-influential) on or off throttle, very predictable and all you have left is weight shift to understeer/oversteer once you manage to tune the car dead neutral. The 6-speed lets you tune for slight understeer or neutral, and then tweak it just enough to neutral out under light throttle in steady state cornering. It'll straighten out with less throttle and rotate with more. You can do a bit with angle of attack and adjusting your line too if you're sideways. The only annoyance is it's not linear, so you have to be a lot more careful with diff setting and throttle quantity. You have to actively think about it for a while until it gets natural. The correct setting helps though, and aftermarket diff controllers can help a lot to tweak the setting. More lock = more oversteer = more consistent through throttle variation. Full lock can help braking too as it promotes more neutral bias, but it'll give you a little turn in understeer as a trade-off. Aftermarket controllers can let you tune for both depending on the G-sensor, giving lock under braking and then open on turn-in. Less lock = more understeer = higher variability in handling balance between off throttle and heavy throttle. This is kind of why the stock trim car favors the highest diff setting just before lock. It helps take out some of the stock understeer and provides more consistent power delivery.

[@PistNRods]

Back when WRX/STIs looked good. LOL

[@MatrixDiscovery]

These will be collector cars of the future.

[@coopsnz1]

Yep ! Mines gone up by 10 k . Dealer offered me $40000 for a v6 limited edition

[@coopsnz1]

Low km mine has 75000km

[@coopsnz1]

$32000 USd

[@HeyhitmeBAM]

Ben Chesterman v6?

[@MotorsportMonkey]

Screw you to all you Subaru Owners with your epic flat 4 engine note. I daily an Evo IX in the UK and i forget how flat and boring as fork my Evo sounds until i hear a Subaru again. I say that with mucho love tho. Absolutely sick ride Chris!!!!

[@caliber5029]

Who doesnt love dat throaty boxer life tho

[@MechRider89]

dude a simple header change and you have the that throaty subie sound.....I'm trying to find one for my 4g63 to slap in my dsm, but if I have to make my own so be it. I love the unequal length header sound...and I love subies!

[@SideWays8Productions]

MotorsportMonkey I'm a die hard Subaru owner but I gotta say, the 4g63 is the only inline 4 that sounds good. For some reason it doesn't have the buzz of a K series or the dull drone of an SR20, it's got a nice raspy growl to it.

[@jdmcommute]

Ha ha! Thats hilarious! Well dude, an Evo 9 is badass. Dont feel too bad.

[@coopsnz1]

Ev0 6 tommi makein better

[@Skyerzen]

I had a 03 wrx with the 05 body, ej255 block, blousch 16g turbo, tomei equal length headers, sti intercooler, full turbo-back invidia exhaust sti brakes, cobb antisway bars, white line end links, tein coilovers, etc etc. yimi motorsports tuned it to 300hp. Apparently the build could do more, but I just wanted 300hp. The car has the stock 5 speed manual still running strong... to my astonishment. I sold it to my brother after an accident.

[@DDIAZ-we4dz]

every time i watch these videos i always pay attention to the guy that owns the car. you can almost see the anxiety of having someone else have control of your vehicle. and when someone else guns it in your car and takes tight corners fast as hell you let out that nervous laugh. its really bad when youve actually done work to the car yourself and youve spent allot of time on it.

[@cat-em3mj]

Yea to be expected.

[@thebog11]

Especially on those roads where you make a mistake and you could easily lose your life.

[@amygal1000]

Ran a Version V STi Type-R here in Ireland back in 2007 ..such a beauty but was easily trumped by its replacement an Evolution V GSR..that thing was just phenomenal

[@bryandoherty9399]

That 2.5RS-Ti is probably the nicest I've seen in a long time

[@sneeroh]

Videos like this really show me how good of a driver Matt Farah is. You could tell he's not really comfortable in the car with all of its issues so he's taking it real slow. Sign of a well experienced driver.

[@HEMi1995]

Love waking up to a One Take! Keep em coming!

[@ajwhite765]

between 1:40 and 1:47 shows just how well matt can drive. the first gear change was a little miffed but then the second was perfect. when i tried driving my friends rx8 it took me the whole time just to learn the clutch and i was coming from a mazda 3 so it's even within the same company. everyone saying matt isn't that good a driver can go and stuff it in any place they would like cuz he's pretty damn good! keep up the awesome content matt i love your videos dude!!

[@SuperAbsolute]

+Alexander White shifting from 1-2 is harder to get smooth than 2-3

[@zuk207]

yess been waiting for another original impreza video

[@ArrtusMusic]

BUTTERFLY SMASHES INTO CAMERA AT 10:11!!!

[@sicsam1]

You need to drive a '05-'06 GTO. Good V8 power and IRS plus i wanna see what you think of one. I know a few people that watch this should have one.

[@TheSmokingTire]

sicsam1 if someone sends me a good one I'm down.

[@CoffeeMadeMeSay]

TheSmokingTire what if someone sends down a supra? would you drive it again?

[@TheSmokingTire]

My Supra yes, I would do another supra

[@sicsam1]

I posted the info on FB and so maybe someone will nut up and bring one out

[@NotFinalTillVinyl]

TheSmokingTire I'd love for you to whip my supra about. Sadly it's almost entirely stock (which I'm not sure you'd even be into) and I'm in Canada, which means at least a 2 day drive each way for me.

[@RahRahRaharu]

Great video. And yes I do have an RS sitting in my garage. It's built N/A and nothing can catch it on our back roads. The corner exits scare the shit out of my passengers.

[@Rangerfull3]

Keep these coming Matt! Loved them from the very first moment you put one out, it feels like I get to own all of these cars for a day and drive them around haha, whether I like them or not I think it helps expose a lot of people to different cars and lets us see you have fun driving around

[@ValenNitto]

That is one sweet subie and that exhaust. These one takes are awesome.

[@flavourboss]

Digging the layout with the parts lists and profiles, awesome series.

[@82coxy]

I never knew that America never got the early STI's, you learn something new everyday, LOL.

[@anon1561]

we had nothing but RS until 02 when we got the bugeye WRX. We didn't have an STI until 2004. It was really lame.

[@82coxy]

anon1561 I wonder why that was, here in the UK we got all the impreza's.

[@FreeUpTheWeed]

anon1561 woah that's weird, has anyone imported a 22b from what you've seen? Wrx's here are cheaper than Evos! V3-4s go for 4-6,000 and 5-6s are around 6-9000NZD depending on mods and model. They're literally everywhere, do amazingly well on our roads(undulating, twisty, wet, dusty and just generally unpredictable).

[@anon1561]

Adam Loer Yeah we got mostly base model cars for a while in late 90's eary-mid 90's like the Legacy, Impreza, Forester etc. Eventually we got the Outback models. We had nothing WRX or STI line until 02 and even then it was only for Impreza models. We never got the STI model Legacy or Forester. Closest we got was Legacy GT and Forester XT. I believe a lot of it has to do with market competition here. Our domestics are Mustangs, Camaros, Challengers etc. which stops a lot of manufacturers from offering us the full line. A lot is also to do with safety ratings/emissions. We never got skylines of any sort here either. Current GTR, which isn't a skyline was the first of the sort. We somehow lucked out with the Supra. We also didn't get any of the Ford Europe RS cars. It's sad.

[@anon1561]

Adam Loer There have been some imports but it costs an awful lot. A lot of guys purchase the 2.5rs and have the fenders and bumpers switched out with 22b replica pieces. That paired with sti powerplant and interior is usually worth anywhere from 18-25kUSD when complete. Evo's here are incredibly expensive but they're incredible cars so there's not much can be said about that. The Bugeye WRX still holds value as ones in good shape go for close to 8kUSD but ones with some use can be had for as low as $2500. It's worth buying a GC 2.5rs in good shape and a banged up bugeye for a combined 5-7k to make an awesome car like seen in the video. Where there's a will, there's a way. A lot of guys also buy entire front clips and interiors of V1-V6 STI's from Japan and swap the parts into US cars like an L model. Insurance stays very low and you have a beast of a car ready for anything.

[@Big_Kev97]

Very clean subie! Gotta love the 90s imprezas!

[@RVCAskater93]

that Subaru rumble is such a pleasant exhaust note.

[@chrissorreda4982]

Oh look a chubby guy in an Under armour shirt. Of course he has an STI

[@wordlife_97]

Jealous?

[@goodfella949]

Of???

[@bobdole2541]

Not really. Everyone and their grandma in the state of Vermont has one of these. Either that or a STI or regular wrx. Overrated cars.

[@doylee469]

Man that is such a beautiful subi.. I remember passing by a subaru dealer on the bus on the way to school when i was in second grade and the dealer had alot of these sitting at the front of the lot.. I used to be the only kid on that bus who knew to drool haha

[@chele089]

In the first frame the guy looks like The Rock.

[@PhreshNBeat]

amazing car! I've always loved that bodystyle of the rs.

[@Dhern1212]

Looks awesome!! The true antithesis of a Subaru! Would love to own one just like that

[@decodeddiesel]

Very sweet GC8 build. One of my dream cars there, and I have a 2005 STi with 70,000 miles.

[@DoubleDeckerAnton]

The Subaru Impreza Rocks..!!! It's a classic that will just rocket in value! 👌😀💪😁👍

[@BlakesGarage]

RUMBLE RUMBLE OH YA. I have been waiting for a sweet subi review.

[@ps3alphagamer12]

I'm mad as fuck last month there was like 10 of these on Craigslist in the new York area, which is where I live and they were like the cleanest examples imaginable in the 5-12k range and now they are all gone except for 2 less desirable ones

[@anon1561]

That's how craigslist works. If you find something, make sure you get on that shit right then and there or somebody else will

[@CoffeeMadeMeSay]

even the hookers ?

[@hotwire96]

My Supra You'd be getting a different sort of STI then

[@FruityLittleBoy]

I've been looking for a 2.5RS around me for a while and I found a nice one for a good price a week ago. I contacted the guy immediately but he hasn't messaged me back. I'm starting to get pretty pissed.

[@bbpleg]

I've never owned a Scooby, but I drove a friends 99' for about a week and the car was just fantastic! Sooo much fun :)

[@ali09killuminati]

I love these videos man. never stop making them

[@Matt_Tsatsos]

Super clean! He should bring that gem back to mass

[@KSKaleido]

One of my favorite cars of all time. So sick.

[@ruleslawyer]

I used to have a RS-T. EJ25 with a ludespeed kit , cobb cams and link ecu running the show. Very fun car. Ran about 13.4, probably could have pulled a little more out of it, but I don't really drag race.

[@SmolSnake]

I like the comments about the standard Subaru wind noise and random whistling coming from a random hole in the driver-side door. Thought it was just mine...

[@thestig007]

Man, I love the sound of these Subies.

[@clawwill34]

Started using Wheel well because of you.

[@mistercmason]

No shit! You don't hear New Hampshire mentioned in the car world too often. Cool stuff

[@goga_sordia]

I can't wait to get another RS and build it up. Great inspiration!

[@justinkey8832]

If I ever bang up my 06 STI, anything salvagable from it is going into an RS build like this one. Nice ride man!

[@Tyschnei]

The smoking tire, you are a good sport! A great man!

[@tylerstevens5714]

Came here for 10:25 “gOt tHe FuCkIn sCoOp GoIn oN” 😭😂

[@seinsmeld13]

Beautiful country roads there. Thanks Matt. I would lose my licence(CDN) within a few hours. Anyway, keep them coming.

[@michaelcianci7944]

this a review i was waiting for. to bad the steering issues kept you from hangin it loose in the tight corners because that's where the 2 door really has the advantage over all the 4-5 door wrx's / sti's we got in the states

[@numinous4789]

Manchester, NH? IIRC my Mazdaspeed tuner, Justin from FREEKTUNE, lives up there! Small world...

[@clayton8or]

Woo NH has been recognized!

[@xaebion]

the fold in his seat belt is fucking killing me

[@onesadtech]

That giggling Matt does while driving this gorgeous car... It's what makes a Subaru, a Subaru. 😂

[@nzdatsports9659]

Real nice sound , sweet looking weapon ! Thanks for that.

[@nathanielplummer9995]

Wicked tuned this?! That's amazing, one of my personal favorites in the area. Funny how it's all the way out in Cali now

[@PreparationdobleH]

I would've to see once he finish putting the car together, nicely done

[@petersmithy8099]

Hey Chris, I had my WRX tuned at Wicked - love those guys

[@mrbaaman]

Basically what i want my blue subaru coupe to become. (but sti engine instead of wrx engine) Great video

[@lordzevallos]

Really love these cars.

[@PedroFTeixeira]

If you install the lower h brace, the steering lights up a bit and gets "faster". Also there is a quick steering rack. As for steering wheel, get a newage one! ;) Also the clutch it's not you Matt, it's a Subaru thing, if you release to quick it "bounces" a bit.

[@GuitarGuy291]

Shoutout from New Hampshire!

[@tvanb]

Matt, have you thought of creating a "one take" channel? I find that your other videos are becoming lost in all the one takes!!

[@TheSmokingTire]

KZbin is a volume game. Its unfortunate that the hard work we put in to our pretty films is lost in a sea of quick ones, but the solution to that problem is not starting from zero with a new audience on a new channel.

[@lanceblackwater1021]

TheSmokingTire Your pretty films only exist because of stuff like this. Keep this coming. I got nothing wrong with paying for pretty, but big youtube people have a habit of trying to be like TV (looks at drive+, hot rod garage) and ruining their content.

[@MrInfernalStorm]

TheSmokingTire You could update the channel page and have a spot where new one take videos are displayed and then a spot where any other new videos are.

[@lanceblackwater1021]

M Lizard Like a playlist? Hmm...

[@tvanb]

Yeah, that sounds good

[@UnreachableSwagger]

Sick car and review !

[@PANTYEATR1]

great video Matt and I co-sign you. when I thing of Subaru, I think of that car right there or the wagon layout! I was in Japan when these were at their popularity and I wish you could see what the Japanese can do with these cars man! I want one...

[@Ultra80s]

Beautiful Subie. Love the rumble, but it does get to you after a while. I have a full Milltek system. Removed it and went with Maddad Stealth + stock STi can.

[@AndrewManess]

Surprised you've never turned right and gone down Decker Cyn that way Matt. Of course it is much more fun to go up it so the route I usually take is down Encinal and then up Decker. Shame the power steering was fucked up, an R-STi is a dream car for me to drive up Decker.

[@ReverseGravity7]

I like decker the best, tighter than most other canyons. Drive it every time I head to the beach

[@felixgijon8621]

This has always been my dream car. I was born in the wrong decade. I'd give up both my legs just to own this car.

[@xXMatix700Xx]

***** then you cant drive it..

[@felixgijon8621]

Matix700 just goes to show how stupid crazy my desire for this car is...I'd give up all 4 limps for the 22B.

[@xXMatix700Xx]

***** lol, well good luck work hard and im sure you will be able to get one soon

[@amygal1000]

***** Type RA is actually quicker than 22b ...just a bit of trivia for ya !

[@amygal1000]

amy gal Type-R and RA are rated at 316bhp if I remember correctly

[@HandsomeAlex25]

Gorgeous in every way.

[@walperstyle]

I could tell early on that there was issues in the steering from the amount of play you had. But then you made sure to bring it up several times afterward, lol.

[@TheSmokingTire]

hard to ignore that stuff. If we edited these videos, you'd only end up hearing it once. With one takes, every time I get annoyed you hear about it.

[@BudleyBailey]

TheSmokingTire when i bought mine it was doing the same thing,im surpised you were going that quick! Haha

[@austinshatzer]

Nice video! We have one in the Iowa Subaru Club on a built motor pushing 660awhp 0 5-700awhp Legacy and Sti's are one thing, but the RS's are just so much cooler, lighter, better looking, etc etc

[@05EVORS]

met you last year up at Newcombs Ranch filmed you driving off its on my profile lol....had an RS Evo now a '15. Love it. Only reason I didnt get another Evo was my wife cant adjust Recaros up n down had to get power Sti seats. '15 cloth Evo/Prancer seats are garbage

[@Keukeu45]

I didn't know about the coupé! looks good

[@jkflorida]

Sick car! Nice driving!

[@Sube-Tube]

woo NH represent

[@faekz]

I remember this dude from my tivo podcasts. Fast lane daily

[@venom751998]

One of the better One Takes Then again I love that car

[@MTLJack]

Chris Huynh's looks like Morpheus in the Matrix

[@masterofS200]

I do wish I had known you were in NZ dude haha. I'd have quite happily let you drive my WRX STi Type Ra. If you love the RS-TI I guarantee you'd have liked my Ra :P

[@darkseraph0]

I was gonna comment the EXACT same thing about atlanta and peachtree street when you mentioned boston hahaha. First time i went to ATL i was so damn lost!

[@JDsHouseofHobbies]

Beautiful Subie!

[@MikaOwns]

Awesome car! Looking forward to the Integra vid soon.

[@chef9097]

BOSSTTONNN FTW!!!!!! Ha, as soon as he said "wicked.." from Wicked Performance group, i knew he was from the east.

[@ArtiicNation]

Glad to see some love to New Hampshire (:

[@panzerKO]

Please read this. For the love of God, when you drive a car with heavy and/or no power steering, just state it once. There is no need to constantly compare power assisted steering against non throughout the entire damn video. You've done that in literally every manual steering video thus far. It's annoying. It sounds whiny and there's very little the owner can do except sit next to you looking awkward. Other than that, thank you very much for the great job and awesome videos.

[@kabob21]

The power steering pump was going out, stupid. It was giving him inconsistent on/off boost in the wheel making it difficult to drive.

[@TheMadShredder]

Yeah stupid! Lol

[@360lateflip]

Thoughts on the occasional mystery rattle, check/remove the heat shields from your exhaust area and heat wrap them. I solved one of my rattles that way

[@js92css]

Love these cars. Wish you would have included some footage from the outside of the car doing some of the twisties. Some awd launches would have been nice to see too.

[@TheSmokingTire]

js92css those kinds of shots aren't in the budget for the One Take series. Requires extra people and extra time, therefore more money.

[@cheesepizza87]

TheSmokingTire Really enjoy this series, the cars the road choice the length of the videos and your appreciation to the owners for coming out and letting you drive them, real world car enthusiast shit ! a la @mightycarmods or @motortrendchannel'ish keep up the good work Matt

[@MouseCIick]

nice.. impreza 2.5rs, my favorite. 22b, '04 and '15 is my favorite

[@socalpimp1974]

Clean ride! Props

[@TunedByJ]

Nice STI from a fellow Bostonian!

[@inmotion81]

Best car you have reviewed yet ..plz build one)

[@GT6SuzukaTimeTrials]

These 2.5RS's are begging for the EJ22.

[@FunctionFactory]

Matt, love these videos. Do you want to expand the 'One Take' series with a few more shots/angles? As a fellow automotive videographer, I would be more than enthused to contribute footage to this awesome series. Hit me up via youtube response or leave a message on our channel. Thanks and keep up the good work!

[@sixteenseven123]

Yoooo, reppin the 603 man haha we have so many fucking subies up here that every shop does them, cool to hear about local guys on such a broad platform =)

[@esoj37]

Sounds so good.

[@zm5431]

Wow what a road

[@SubaruWRXspdManual]

because I owned a '98 RS(5 spd), I love this car even with its little quirks. I'd love to find a 2 door RS with low miles.

[@whoischris28]

Wicked Performance is hands down the best in New Englands. Matt Miner is the subaru jesus out her e

[@Marki-sq1jg]

Ayee! My boys out here in New Hampshire 👍

[@90TAllen]

Matt, have you and Rogan ever talked about doing an episode of JRE together? I've been hoping for this forever now lol.

[@TheSmokingTire]

I've been on JRE twice

[@90TAllen]

TheSmokingTire Shit.. I guess I forgot. Well hopefully there will be more in the future then.

[@TheSmokingTire]

90TAllen Me too, great show. Joe is a lot of fun, and super smart.