A nice fat, wide set of tires have always been popular with the enthusiast crowd for obvious reasons. Even stretched tires have had their place in our hearts since the 60′s and 70′s (Countache and Stratos, anybody?). But the audacity to run these setups on a daily driven street car, let alone one engineered to run an OEM wheel & tire fitment nowhere near these specs has only really been around in this incarnation for the last few years.

Add to this the fact that setting up a car like this to live a life on the cracked and potholed streets of the Great White North is near insanity! Of course like most trends that catch on in North America the HellaFlush or ‘Wrong Fitment’ style started for us in California even though you can argue its roots in Japan. Where else can you get away with running these ridiculous fitments year round? It spread across the continent rapidly though as people in various scenes started worshiping at the altars of the stretched tire, the GTR face wheel, and the pulled fender.

With a car like the Impreza the whole thing is as much about stance as it is fitment. Dropping the wing off the back of some cars that come with them as OEM is a bit of a bad idea on most cars like the Mitsu Evos but with the overall rake of the Impreza the proper stance really brings out the aggro appearance of the car without the wing.

Wilbert’s 05 STI is really clean, debadged except for the original STI badge in the grille opening. Gotta love the dedication to the look – these guys are all rocking plates that show they’re serious about it! Even if you’re not into this trend, you gotta respect the dedication.

It’s hard to focus on the interior of a car like this when the exterior is so…

… I mean… well this says all we need to know about the exterior doesn’t it!? Work VS-XX’s on the outside, 18×10″ all around. Yum. Look at that lip! On a Subie!! Madness!!!

Just prior to this shoot Wilbert picked up the Voltex rear diffuser which actually fit on over (under?) his already installed APR diffuser. This car is diffusing air like nobody’s business.

Here’s a better view of that big carbon diffuser, this is going to be a nightmare over speedbumps! But that’s all part of the lifestyle, go balls out or go home.

Wilbert also cleaned up the messy rear of the stock STI by removing the ridiculous number of badges out back, his car is clean, low, wide, raked and rolls hard. Definitely one of the nicest I’ve seen!

We’ve looked at a 2005 Impreza, and that’s a challenge to get setup properly for flush fitment. What if your headlight tastes lean towards slightly more … round?

There you go! Loving those projector bug-eye headlights. This car doesn’t just have stance, it’s got some balls too.

How do you fit those meaty rims and rubber up under the rear of a Bug-eye WRX? Pull, pull, pull some more. The fenders in the rear have a substantial pull/flare but it’s done very well.

Hardcore Subi-files will recognize the S204 shift knob…

Just something intangibly badass about a meaty set of rubber stuffed up under the flares of a WRX. Kudos too for chosing white rims, that can’t be fun to keep clean.

The guys in this crew follow the HellaFlush/Fatlace crew closely, and this blue bugeye has even been featured as the first Canadian Subaru on the Fatlace blog.

It’s impressive how much rake a little bit of suspension work will yield on an Impreza.

This next car is from out east actually, Toronto Subaru fans may not recognize it since it doesn’t normally prowl our streets.

Those wheels are familiar though!

Nice touches are all over this car, the red anodized tow hook is a nice clean touch on the rear end. I gotta get me one of these to pull all those G35′s out of the ditches this winter.

Sparco pulls duty on the inside keeping the driver and passenger firmly planted.

Like the rest of the cars here though, this ones charms are found in its fitment and stance. The widebody is offset by those Work wheels nicely, and the aggressive front chin spoiler really helps with the already chunky nature of the front end.

The logos say it all!

YZ you gotta get those holes filled with the proper lights!

I believe this wing mirrors are Ganador pieces – certainly rare up here in Canada.

Again this car fully embraces the hellaflush and fatlace communities! It’s gotta be nice for those guys to see their movement is spreading not just across a country but a whole continent.

Now this… this is the setup I want! You hear me buddy!? Enkei NT-o3M’s, just stunning.

It’s just the right balance of comp-spec style rim, dish, tuck, pull – everything in balance.

Sooooooo cleeeeeeean.

You’ve really got to appreciate rim choice when it compliments a car this well, it’s quite impressive how some people ‘get it’ while others are just so far off the mark with their own cars (all of these guys get it though!).

What I see great about the HellaFlush style is that even a fairly stock or pared down car can really have more presence than a car with way more in the way of appearance work done to it. The right set of wheels, some effort put into the stance, and the Impreza goes from 4-door econobox to pissed off bulldog in a heartbeat.

What’s great about the spocom scene is the friendship and ties you make. Finding what ties you together can be a car, a style, a personality, or all of those things. In this case these four friends have found a tie that links them and their cars together in a great way. Really awesome to see guys working hard and doing their best to go after a style with no compromise!