Smurf Mobile - Converting a stock Impreza to road ripping STi

Zafar Mashfee is no stranger to Shift. He was one of the first people in Dhaka to do a 2ZZGE swap into a Toyota, and we featured his clean but ballistic 2ZZ Premio last year. It wouldn't be far fetched to call him a car scene pioneer then, especially after taking a look at his latest project: a full conversion of an Impreza into a fire breathing STI.

By "full conversion" we mean precisely that: Mashfee has left no stone unturned in his pursuit of the perfect STI, and even the carpets, floor lining, door cards and pretty much anything you will find on a Japanese spec STI has been swapped in.

It's highly ironic, then, that Zafar Mashfee has long harboured the dream of owning a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, and still does. So what is man so obsessed with Lancer Evos, that he has multiple cover photos on Facebook, doing with a painstakingly converted STI? The answer lies with the ease with which a basic econo-box Subaru Impreza can be  converted to an STI. Even the most basic of Imprezas come with symmetrical All Wheel Drive, with the STI drive train mounted in the same place, with thicker driveshafts to handle the extra power over the regular Impreza. By contrast, AWD cars in the Lancer range are very rare and require extensive chassis modifications to get the Evolution drive-train fitted, making the converted car less put-together than a converted STI.

On the inside, outside and in the engine bay where the EJ20T sits, this Impreza has a fresh-off-the-showroom feel to it - polished surfaces, factory finish and an air of cleanliness that shows that the owner cares about his car.

It's easy to fall in love when the object of your affection looks, goes and sounds as amazing as this.

Photos: Tasdid H. Chowdhury