Subaru RS-TI Coupe - One Take 

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

Back when WRX/STIs looked good. LOL

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

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

BUTTERFLY SMASHES INTO CAMERA AT 10:11!!!

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.

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

yess been waiting for another original impreza video

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!!

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.

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

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

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

Very clean subie! Gotta love the 90s imprezas!

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

that Subaru rumble is such a pleasant exhaust note.

In the first frame the guy looks like The Rock.

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...

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

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.

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

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

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

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!!!!

I love these videos man. never stop making them

Started using Wheel well because of you.

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

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

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

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.

Man, I love the sound of these Subies.

Super clean! He should bring that gem back to mass

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

why do all the owners of the STI's look the same

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 :)

Really love these cars.

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

Sick car and review !

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.

Gorgeous in every way.

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

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

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

Shoutout from New Hampshire!

Beautiful Subie!

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

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.

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

the fold in his seat belt is fucking killing me

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

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.

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

Sick car! Nice driving!

These 2.5RS's are begging for the EJ22.

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

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

Chris Huynh's looks like Morpheus in the Matrix

woo NH represent

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.

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

I didn't know about the coupé! looks good

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

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.

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

Nice STI from a fellow Bostonian!

Glad to see some love to New Hampshire (:

Wow what a road

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

The power steering thing brought up a thought: have you had any scary moments in a One Take? For example a slide you didn't expect, or mechanical failure? Anything that kind of made your heart and stomach jump into your throat?

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...

Clean ride! Props

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.

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.

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

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

my wrx sounds like wind is getting in on the driver side window as well, all I have to do is roll the window down a touch and then back up and it goes away

Awesome car! Looking forward to the Integra vid soon.

Thumbs up for Wicked Innovation

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!

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

a car originally from my area, extra cool :) should try new england car scene sometime

Sounds so good.

I'd jump on that one take if you ever come to new york

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

Hey I was wondering what shift boot you used with your 6spd? I have an 02 wrx swapped 99rs that I'm about to put an 05 sti 6spd into but it didn't come with the boot... were you able to modify the RS boot to work?