Three years ago, Lee Bullen embarked on a long and arduous build which would see a ‘standard’ Spec C Impreza become a brightly-colored, time attack winner. Lee, known better as “Toffee” on scoobynet.com, decided that his daily-driven Subaru ought to see more time on the track and in 2013, made the commitment to turning it into a single-purpose track day tool/time attack entrant.

Though the Spec C is no slouch, winning time attack events would require taking this compromised road car and sharpening the edges. The first order of business was to remove all the amenities, strip the interior and place a rollcage in the emptied shell. With the body panels removed, an ABW widebody kit was added to allow for a set of Enkei RPF1s with 295-section Dunlop DZ03G tires. Widening the track were a set of 5 mm spacers, which gave the Subaru a racy-look, added stability, and greater turn-in speed.

Lee painted his Spec C a brilliant orange with black accents. The effect is truly staggering, and if the standard World Rally Blue was loud, this turns the Marshall stack up to ’11.’ Remarked as being one of the loudest cars at time attack events, literally, this Subie turns heads wherever it goes. Complementing the turbo whistle is a whine from a set of solid transmission mounts. “Solid” may be the operative word here, since much of this build’s success can be attributed to the camaraderie within the Subaru community.

After an unfortunate and slightly embarrassing collision with a wall during practice, the project was back on its feet within a few days thanks to several Subaru racers lending parts in the interim. A new intercooler, oil cooler and radiator were all lent from charitable Impreza drivers in the nearby area.

During the repairs, Lee took the opportunity to add a full dry sump system from Zen Performance. This upgrade acts as a testament to the brotherhood among Subie owners. Since Lee was in a time crunch to get the car operational before the next time attack event, Zen Performance had one of their employees deliver the system in person. While remedying the engine problems, a larger GT3586HTA-M turbo and Lateral Performance headers were thrown in to net 700 brake horsepower on “only” 2.2 bar of boost.

As it is not just a straight-line machine, Lee kept looking to improve the cornering potential of the car post-accident. A Whiteline roll center kit up front keeps camber angles more consistent and mitigates some of the inherent understeer in a Subaru. Similarly, the rear end up was upgraded with an SD Motorsport subframe, which, in conjunction with the rear differential mounted slightly higher than stock, allows for the car to be lowered without any negative effect to the suspension.

Though the climb to the top was fraught with crashes, rolls and several expensive repairs, Lee and his team soldiered on, ultimately clinching victory. Lee’s build is testament to the fact that a supportive group of tuners and enthusiasts are often needed to pull off a build of this caliber, and that the ambitious racer should never give up.