Louie Minette

What’s up everyone?! My name is Louie and I have been here at 4 Wheel Parts for about 6 months and so far I love it. Being an avid off-road enthusiast and a gear head, 4 Wheel Parts is a very good fit for me. I haven’t always been an off-road enthusiast but have always had a passion for cars and making them perform better.

My first taste of off-road driving came in 2005 when I went on a camping trip with some friends. At the time I had a 2004 Subaru WRX and it handled great on the street. Then we came across some red clay fire roads and I was hooked! It was crazy at the time, sliding sideways with 4 people in the car and a fully loaded trunk, but it was a blast.

Fast forward 2 years, a totaled car, and one mistake later to when I purchased my second Subaru, a 2000 Subaru Impreza 2.5RS. This car was destined to be my off-roading beast. I bought the car in February of 2007 and within 2 weeks I attended the California Rally Series Rally School and participated in the rallycross that followed. My addiction grew even stronger from that point on! I attended every race that year and ended up taking home second place in the stock class. Not bad for a rookie with no organized racing experience and a car with autocross tires.

I also joined DirtyImpreza.com. This forum helped me to connect with other off-road & rally enthusiasts and further cemented me in the rally community. We held 2 DI meets that first year, the second of which was at Gorman OHV. This is where my car caught air for the first time. I was surprised at how level the car flew and how smooth the landings were. Even though the car felt good, there is always room for improvement so that winter I began to modify the car in preparation for the next year's RallyX season. Check out my next post to see the first modification I made to my Subaru.

Dirty Impreza Video