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Fenrir's journey

From the lot to 350 whp

How a stock WRX became Project Fenrir, one step at a time.

Don Hickey leaning on the open door of Fenrir

The builder

Don Hickey

Lancaster County, PA · Driver and builder of Fenrir

Fenrir isn't my first build, just the most complete one. Clean OEM+, every part functional, nothing just for show.

The name comes from Norse mythology. Fenrir is the giant wolf the gods tried to chain, and every chain broke. Every mod on this build breaks another one.

2026 was a fresh start for me, and Fenrir grew right alongside it.

Most weekends you'll find me on the back roads of Lancaster County, filming drives for the channel.

The chains are officially broken.

November 6, 2025

Day one

Picked up a Magnetite Gray WRX with a 6-speed manual, bone stock and still on dealer plates. That night it came home.

November 11, 2025

First mod: tint

Five days in, the windows went dark. 5% all around with an eyebrow, done by Nabil at Opaque Auto Works.

December 2025

First snow

Still stock, red WRX badges and all, and it didn’t have a name yet.

March 3, 2026

Exhaust day

The first big parts went on in the bay, all from one deal: the Invidia Q300 catback with polished quad tips, the RAE intermediate pipe and the ETS intake. The stock parts came off in a pile.

April 2026

The orange comes in

The red trim came off and the orange came in. Sport grille, orange star badges, LED tag lights, and the COBB Accessport loaded with a DMann off-the-shelf tune on April 10. That first tune is where the chains started to break.

Late April 2026

Blacked-out rear

Smoked taillight covers and the F1 brake light from JDMuscle, plus the Billetworkz shift stop and brass bushing inside.

May 8, 2026

The lip

The AeroFlow Dynamics V1 front lip went on, months before AeroFlow became a sponsor.

May 16, 2026

Top-mount intercooler

The AMS top-mount intercooler went on in the yard with the crew. Two days later it came back off at Penny Hill so the AMS charge pipe could go in, and both went on together. Cooler air, steadier power, and the start of the real power build.

June 11, 2026

Fenrir gets its name

The day the Instagram page started, the car got its name: Project Fenrir, after the wolf that breaks his chains. That is where the motto started: the chains are officially broken. The next day, June 12, the orange Billetworkz Fusion knob went in.

June 13 to July 15, 2026

Knocked down, built back

On June 13 a driver jumped a curb and hit Fenrir's front end. The car spent the next month at the body shop. It came home on July 15 with the front end fully restored and went straight into the next phase of the build.

July 2026

Orange inside and out

Orange overlays on the steering wheel, Rally Armor mud flaps, and a fresh set of Continental ExtremeContact DWS06 Plus tires. The look started to match the plan.

August 26, 2026

Tune day

Back from the body shop, the Overtake turbo inlet went in. Then Fenrir was strapped down at Felix Performance for the DMann 93 PROTune. 350 whp and 375 wtq, and the chains were fully broken.

August 31, 2026

JDMuscle

JDMuscle became Fenrir's first sponsor. A lot of what they sell was already on the car, bought at full price before the deal: the AMS intercooler and charge pipe, the sport grille, the smoked taillights and F1 light, and the Billetworkz shifter parts and knob.

September 2, 2026

Overtake

Two days later Overtake signed on. The Overtake turbo inlet had been on since July, bought at full price. The Overtake parts and banners went on.

September 27, 2026

Boxerfest

Fenrir’s first big show, with the show board and the whole crew. Three days before, the ETS logo on the intake went orange.

October 2, 2026

AeroFlow Dynamics

AeroFlow Dynamics made it three. Their V1 front lip had been on since May 8, bought at full price months before the deal. The AeroFlow window visors followed on October 23.

October 30, 2026

A real wheel

The stock wheel came off for a FactionFab carbon and suede flat-bottom wheel. The orange star emblem and the orange WRX moved right over with it.

Today

Still going

All seven Overtake drivetrain lockdown parts are in hand and go on next, pitch stop included. Then flex fuel.

See the full build sheet Download the build guide (PDF) The road ahead

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