At last year’s Frankfurt Show, Subaru wowed the crowd with the concept version of the Impreza STI WRC. A week ahead of the Acropolis Rally in Greece, the final car to compete for the remainder of the 2008 season has been unveiled.
This will be the first time the Subaru World Rally Team utilises a hatchback design and silver on blue colour scheme (instead of luminous yellow on blue). Better suited for the gruelling stages of the WRC, the new car features a longer wheelbase and shorter front and rear overhangs, while power comes from the familiar four-cylinder boxer engine that produces in the region of 220 kW.
Although SWRT has not released any technical details concerning the WRC2008, Prodrive chairman David Richards seems optimistic. “(The WRC2008 Impreza is) the most radically different Subaru World Rally Car in 15 years. We’re looking forward to seeing how it fares next week,” he said.
The Subaru World Rally Team was able to claim the manufacturers’ championship three years on the trot (1995-1997) and clinch the drivers’ championship with the late Colin McRae behind the wheel in 1995, the late Richard Burns in 2001 and Norwegian Petter Solberg in 2003.
Hopefully this year’s drivers (Solberg and Australian Chris Atkinson) can put in a respectable challenge – if the car is reliable and quick – as Atkinson is just 12 points adrift of standing’s leader and defending champion, Sébastien Loeb of Citroën-Total World Rally Team.
Refer to the wallpaper gallery for wallpapers of the Subaru Impreza STI Concept.