2003 Subaru Impreza WRX Sedan // "W"
In 2004, a thread on NASIOC was created by a good friend of ours, titled “The Ultimate Auxiliary Lighting and Mount Thread”. That was 17 years ago. Today, there are 279 pages worth of conversation, ideas and photos. The first image that launched that thread was of a silver Bugeye WRX with huge fog lights mounted on a custom Rally Innovations Light Bar.
From the factory, the 2002-2003 Subaru Impreza already came with large halogen fog lights, but our friend wanted more! And, we turned that idea into reality. This silver painted custom Light Bar added to the standard Rally Light Bar two uprights that mounted to the upper grille area and a tube in between that allowed for an additional row of lights to be mounted.
While just a one-off at the time, this custom Light Bar ultimately paved the way for the current Rally Innovations Ultimate Light Bar design. It all started with one custom project for that one WRX. This silver WRX was pivotal in very our early days.
After all this time, 16 years to be exact, our friend still owns that same 2003 Impreza WRX sedan. From tarmac rallies to daily driver duties, 16 years and almost 300,000 miles of use had left this Bugeye in need of some TLC. This past year, we “borrowed” the car for some R&D, but we also took on the task of giving our friend’s beloved WRX some extra attention. After all, it is the very vehicle that brought Rally Innovations to the attention of the many Subaru forum users almost two decades ago.
When the WRX arrived at our shop, the door dings, dents, scrapes, and faded clear coat did not deter us from our goal of refreshing this Bugeye and giving it a couple modern touches. We started with getting the body work straightened out and gave it a fresh coat of silver paint. The old oxidized chrome headlights were swapped out, and new black-housing headlights went in. Then, we installed a set of Motegi MR140 in 18x8.5 – a nod to the classic Prodrive P1 wheels.
We then updated the front end with a custom silver powder-coated Rally Innovations Ultimate Light Bar and 4 Baja Designs XL-R Sports; Driving Combo up top and Wide Cornering down low. But, we didn’t stop there. We also designed a Light Conversion Kit that replaced the original halogen Hella fog lights with Baja Designs XL-R Sports in Amber Wide Cornering keeping a similar look with the large fog lights in the bumper but with a modern take.
This Bugeye WRX is certainly one of the cleanest to have rolled through our doors, and we are proud to have been a part of its journey, and look forward to seeing whatever adventures come its way.