The Motul-inspired Subaru WRX STi

Maximilian Fairly is a 30-year-old skater-turned-petrol head based out of Toronto, Canada. And he owns what could be described as the ultimate Motul Subaru WRX STI. The bright red Subaru has been attracting a lot of attention in the car scene, both on events as well as on social media. It goes without saying: we needed to know more about this unique machine.

I’m just another petrolhead. I work a regular job in waste management and my passion is my 2012 Subaru Impreza WRX STI. I wasn’t always into cars. When I was younger, I was really into skateboarding and that was pretty much my life. I was forced to quit this passion as too many injuries prevented me from pursuing it. Cars always fascinated me and my very first car was a 1992 Honda Integra, so not a bad place to start. At my previous job one of my colleagues turned up in a 2012 Subaru STI and from that moment on I was madly in love with it and knew I had to have one.

Yes, I get bored with thing quite quickly [laughs]. I got my Subaru in 2016 and immediately started modifying it. Originally it was black, but It went through various wraps, first it was purple, then red and now it has the Motul drum design on it.

What’s the story of getting the signature MOTUL drum design on the side of your car?

Well, when I first started to modify my car I did so with the help of PDM Automotive, a local shop here in Toronto and they helped me so much that I became good friends with the owner. He’s also quite an important Motul seller so has a really good relationship with the Motul regional sales rep at the time. When my car came up in the conversation and the fact that I was looking to do a motorsport inspired livery, both of them came up with the idea of putting the drum design on the car. I was in love with the idea and how the end result looked.

I think Motul’s brand identity is really unique. Not only the heritage it has in motorsport but also the design language it uses. It’s very simple yet powerful. To my eyes Motul is the “supreme” of the automotive business [laughs]. And I haven’t even started to talk about the products. Since running 300V the car has been running so smooth and when we opened the block up, it was spotless inside. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I’m really proud of supporting the brand with the livery on my car and the design is a real head turner on both events and on the streets.

Yes, the previous version of the car was a more classic build, but I wanted the car to have a unique style, so I went more in the direction of a “stance” car with air suspension and the result was amazing. Especially the way it drives. My initial fear was that the air suspension would ruin the handling but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. I actually met a few guys who do track days with the same suspension I have on the car right now.

Well, I haven’t done too much to the engine apart from the exhaust. A few years ago, I wanted to start with the engine build but when we opened the car up, we had seen it had already been rebuilt with completely new headers and pistons. I want to start pushing the power but since I have no idea how it was rebuilt, I’m a bit nervous to give its more power because I’m not sure it can take it. We’ll have to discover that by trial and error, I guess.

Picture credits: Jonathan Tesoro - @takara.style