Break the Stereotype: Eduardo Pineda’s 2007 Bagged Subaru STI

Have you ever sat back and thought about what YOU liked? If you ever take the time to do so, you may be shocked to realize that everyone outside of your mind has influenced you in one way or another. It’s not a bad thing, really, but it can lead to a lot of stereotypes being developed which can be a bad thing. Consider the word “stance”: now that I’ve said it, stop reading this article and think about how you define term “stance”. Are you done yet? I bet you had the same mental picture as I did: huge wheels, massive camber, and beat fenders. That is the common stereotype we all get from a “stance car” and even as I conducted the interview with Eduardo, the owner of the vehicle before you, my face cringed as he mentioned the very word “stance”. As we continued to talk, however, I really opened my mind and thought about all the right ways a stereotype can and be broken and Eduardo Pineda’s Subaru takes any negativity surrounding the word “stance” and makes the viewer reconsider their own prejudices.

This journey for Eduardo began as a want; a want for the monstrous flat four-powered car we all know as an STI. He loved the sound of the STI exhaust, as most of us do, and the simple fact that right out of the box, they looked great AND boasted 300hp. After some searching, he found the perfect candidate: a 2007 STI with front end damage from an auction. Without hesitation, he picked the car up with the intention that a simple bumper, windshield, and a fender would send him on his way. Unfortunately, he found the damage a lot more extensive than he was told. After taking the Suby to Infront Automotive and having a compression and leak down test performed, it was diagnosed as having a blown engine. Eduardo’s enthusiasm, and wallet, joined his new project car on the boulevard of broken dreams. It would be nearly 7 months of tearing down, blueprinting, and replacing a laundry list of parts that would make Dom’s overnight part from Japan bill sky rocket! In the end, the Subaru would spring to life with the roar of the flat four engine and sporting a respectable 545HP and 410 wheel torque. With the hard part behind him, it was time for Eduardo to finally get behind the wheel of his monster and take her home to start his vision.

Like everyone, and yes I mean everyone, we all go through stages with the cars we love. Paint was the first step towards the dream and going with the brilliant white finish gracing the pages before you shows Eduardo got it right the first time! With the car looking flawless, Pineda began brainstorming on how he would achieve his perfect stance. For a while, coilovers seemed to be the right way to go but soon, he grew tired of scraping over speed bumpers and being restricted on places he could eat, shop, and even hang out because he simply couldn’t make it into the parking lot. Choosing to ditch the coils, Eduardo went with the unspeakable alternative that makes every Subaru enthusiast smash their expensive Mac book screens when combing over a forum: air suspension. Ordering a set of Airlift struts, shocks, and rear bags then combining them with Accuair’s management and I-Level system, the Suby was now able to go where any normal vehicle could go and Eduardo was no longer having to park down the block to hang with his friends! With that problem solved, it was time to finish the journey.

In the car world we all live in, everyone has that one wheel design they’ve fallen in love with and dream to own. Dialing the clock back before the Suby, Eduardo owned a Civic which sported a beautiful set of CCW LM5’s but he always had a soft sport for the impressive Rotiform TMB. Fast forwarding to our current day, Eduardo had the cash available to make his Rotiform dreams a reality, and so he did. Ordering a set of Rotiform TMB’s with gold hardware, the STI now sported a simply stunning 18×10 wheel on each of his four corners. The end result was a heart stopping look as the four wheel beauty exhaled its bags and let the fenders meet the lips of the TMB’s.

“The goal was to standout but never to go crazy. I wanted to build something for myself that I truly enjoyed and loved looking at everyday.” This is what Eduard explained to us, and as we all know, if you can park your car and not look back at it while walking away, you’ve simply done it wrong. This vehicle is one that is just starting it’s long road with Eduardo and will surely go under many different changes along the way. The one thing that we can really thank Eduardo for, though, is breaking the “stance” stereotype and making us see that no matter what negative connotation exists around a specific term or style, there is always a way to do things right!