Just Saying Hi -- Owner of a 2003 Sonic Yellow WRX/STI Sport Wagon

[chrisarella]

Hi everyone. I'm new to the forums and thought I'd post up and say hello. I'm currently still living on Long Island but heading to the area soon. I'm looking for houses up around Palm Harbor / Tarpon Springs and thought I would start getting connected down here.

My car is a pretty rare 2003 Sonic Yellow WRX Sport Wagon with an STI motor swap. The STI 6-spd is getting added soon as well. I believe there were only 440 of these produced in North America out of a total 22,910 WRXes (works out to something like .01%).

I updated My TRGarage (http://www.tamparacing.com/forums/vbgarage.php?do=view&id=61653&garage=12363), added pictures in the Subaru Photography thread, and added a complete write-up here:
http://www.tamparacing.com/forums/members-rides/481862-my-crazy-2003-sonic-yellow-wrx-sti-sport-wagon.html


And here is a shot of my pride and joy...

http://ride.chrisarella.com/gallery/sti/wheels/031108_009s.jpg

[inaety]

Very tight car, welcome to Tampa when you get here

[chrisarella]

Thanks. Looking forward to it. I'll hit up some meets as soon as I get there.

[Liquid]

zomg Sti's are poping up everywhere!!

but i never seen a yellow sti before! nice! Welcome! :D

[chrisarella]

zomg Sti's are poping up everywhere!!

but i never seen a yellow sti before! nice! Welcome! :D
Thanks. The yellow is rare. And it started off as a stock WRX wagon but I built it up to the STI-spec (and then some) so you probably won't see another one like it.

It's funny, people call them STIs like STI is a car, but it is actually a division of Subaru call Subaru Technica International that is responsible for designing performance parts. STI is also referenced as a trim level for an Impreza, just like WRX. Think of it like this: Honda has Mugen, Nissan has Nismo, and Mitsubishi has Ralliart.

There are even further defined trim levels in Japan beyond the STI, including the Spec-C Type RA and RA-R. So the full name for the top of the line Impreza is an Impreza WRX XTI Spec-C Type RA-R. Now that is an insane amount of badging. :lol:

Anyway, schools out. Thanks again.

[Liquid]

LOL, thanks for the history lesson. I kinda had some knowledge of the car (GranTursimo FTW) but not too much since I never owned one. I know all about the Spec C and the RA-R but my knowledge is limited on these cars. They are great cars. Hope to see you around TR more often.

[chrisarella]

No problem. I'm looking forward to seeing you all around the neighborhood soon. ;)

[Liquid]

are you in new york or youre moving to tampa??

[chrisarella]

both, sorta. :lol:

I'm still in NY but moving to the Palm Harbor / Tarpon Springs area this year. I'm house hunting but not pulling the trigger yet until I'm convinces the housing market has hit bottom.

[Liquid]

LOL, yea.. new home sales keep falling. Now is a great time to buy homes if you got the money! :lol:

[chrisarella]

Lucky for me the money thing is simple... I own my house in NY so if I can sell here I can buy there.

[hollybear]

this is saying alot from me usually i really dont like the wagons.. but thats nice man.. it may be the yellow =) lookin good though!!

[dk1989]

Damn! Very nice car welcome to TR/Tampa when you get here. I live in Tarpon and theres a very nice house the bank will be repossessing soon enough up the road from me a buddy owns it but the bar has all his money and he doesn't work.

[chi town brat]

Welcome to TR . Enjoy Tampa when you arrive . We have a friend with a Blue wagon who puts down some pretty serious track times at Sebring.

We also have a friend treekiller aka Jeff who puts on some great Rally's in the area

Hope to see you out at an event

[chrisarella]

this is saying alot from me usually i really dont like the wagons.. but thats nice man.. it may be the yellow =) lookin good though!!
Thanks. Yeah, I wasn't a fan of wagons in the past but the auto industry has released some really sweet hot hatches here in the US the last few years. Europe's and Japan's influence is finally taking hold.

Damn! Very nice car welcome to TR/Tampa when you get here. I live in Tarpon and theres a very nice house the bank will be repossessing soon enough up the road from me a buddy owns it but the bar has all his money and he doesn't work.
Yeah, funny think about alcohol... if you have 10 problems and you go out drinking you'll most likely wind up with more problems. :lol:

Where is the house? What street?

Welcome to TR . Enjoy Tampa when you arrive . We have a friend with a Blue wagon who puts down some pretty serious track times at Sebring.

We also have a friend treekiller aka Jeff who puts on some great Rally's in the area

Hope to see you out at an event
Thanks. I'm into road racing too so Sebring will be where I spend most of my time (and money). :D

[dk1989]

Yeah, funny think about alcohol... if you have 10 problems and you go out drinking you'll most likely wind up with more problems. :lol:

Where is the house? What street?

Umm I have to find out the address but its on E Cypress St and its 2 lots put together and a corner lot. It's right next to the city hall. I think its high 400's E Cypress Street, Tarpon Springs. Oh and your at the top of the hill lol so you won't flood :lol:.

[chrisarella]

Umm I have to find out the address but its on E Cypress St and its 2 lots put together and a corner lot. It's right next to the city hall. I think its high 400's E Cypress Street, Tarpon Springs. Oh and your at the top of the hill lol so you won't flood :lol:.

Is it the one on the corner of N Grosse Ave or N Levis Ave? I think I'm more interested being a little farther out of the town area and want to be more west and closer to the water in the Bayous. My wife and I were down there last year looking around and fell in love with that part of Tarpon. Hopefully I can afford it back there. We also loved Lansbrook in Palm Harbor. Generally speaking we liked the feeling of community your whole area had and are open to seeing whatever comes up. I'll keep you posted though when we get closer to putting our own place on the market. We have to sell here 1st.

[dk1989]

:lol: OK Just letting ya know, and yeah its on the corner of E Cypress St and N Levis Ave. I like being away from the bayou cuz when the events happen you can't even get your car out of your driveway. We are far enough away to catch just the tail end of it.

[chrisarella]

Ok, I'm a noob but what events?

[dk1989]

lol I just mean like the diving for the cross and the greek church gatherings. Remember this IS greek town.

[chrisarella]

Yeah, I did know about deep Greek heritage but I had no idea it had an effect on traffic. Does that mean the events cause grid-lock for the whole area (like when the president comes to NYC... Nothing moves until he leaves)? LOL

Crap, I guess every area has it's good and bad but that seams pretty tollerable. Any negatives to Lansbrook you know of?

BTW, thanks for the info!!!! It's always good to get a locals perspective before relocating and buying a home.

[99cobra281]

welcome and nice car

[D-Phresh]

welcome to TR,i like the car first WRX wagon i've ever seen personally:D i like the way you have the gauges set-up inside..i run the same boost controller Apexi's that shit ;o)

[chrisarella]

welcome and nice car
My cousin had the same cobra. He upgraded to a c6 this year.

welcome to TR,i like the car first WRX wagon i've ever seen personally:D i like the way you have the gauges set-up inside..i run the same boost controller Apexi's that shit ;o)
Yeah, Defi's gauges are the jam. And the AVC-R is one of the best boost controllers around... I don't mess around. Although the standard blue AVCR would have tied in better with my blue lighting theme, I decided to go with the limited edition AVC-R in black. Not many of them floating around.

Thanks again everyone!