Graham Robson - Subaru Impreza

First printed in paperback format in 2006.

First published in ebook format 2016 by Veloce Publishing Limited, Veloce House, Parkway Farm Business Park, Middle Farm Way, Poundbury, Dorchester, Dorset, DT1 3AR, England Fax 01305 250479 e-mail .

Ebook edition ISBN: 978-1-845849-23-8

Paperback edition ISBN: 978-1-845840-42-6

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Contents

Foreword

What is a rally? Todays events, for sure, are completely different from those of a hundred or even fifty years ago. What was once a test of reliability is now a test of speed and strength. What was once a long-distance trial is now a series of short-distance races.

In the beginning, rallying was all about using standard cars in long-distance road events, but by the 1950s the events were toughening up. Routes became rougher, target speeds were raised, point-to-point speed tests on special stages were introduced, and high-performance machines were needed to ensure victory.

Starting in the late 1950s, too, teams began developing extra-special versions of standard cars, these were built in small numbers and were meant only to go rallying or motor racing. These were the homologation specials that now dominate the sport. The first of these, unquestionably, was the Austin-Healey 3000, and the latest is any one of the ten-off World Rally Cars which we see on our TV screens or on the special stages of the world.

Although rally regulations changed persistently over the years, the two most important events were four-wheel drive being authorised from 1980, and the World Rally Car formula (which required only 20 identical cars to be produced to gain homologation) being adopted in 1997. At all times, however, successful rally cars have needed to blend high performance with strength and reliability. Unlike Grand Prix cars, they have needed to be built so that major repairs could be carried out at the side of the road, in the dark, sometimes in freezing cold, and sometimes in blazing temperatures.

Over the years, some cars became dominant, only to be eclipsed when new and more advanced rivals appeared. New cars appeared almost every year, but dramatically better machines appeared less often. From time to time rally enthusiasts would be astonished by a new model, and it was on occasions like that when a new rallying landmark was set.

So, which were the most important new cars to appear in the last half century? What is it that made them special at the time? In some cases it was perfectly obvious Lancias Stratos was the first-ever purpose-built rally car, the Audi Quattro was the first rally-winning four-wheel drive car, and the Toyota Celica GT4 was the first rally-winning four-wheel drive Group A car to come from Japan.

But what about Fords original Escort? Or the Fiat 131 Abarth? Or the Lancia Delta Integrale? Or, of course, the Subaru Impreza? All of them had something unique to offer at the time, in comparison with their competitors. Because they offered something different, and raised rallyings standards even further, they were true Rally Giants.

To a rallying petrol-head like me, it would have been easy to choose twenty, thirty or even more rally cars that have made a difference to the sport. However, I have had to be brutal and cull my list to the very minimum. Listed here, in chronological order, are the Giant cars I have picked out, to tell the ongoing story of world-class rallying in the last fifty years:

Car : Austin-Healey 3000

Period used as a works car : 1959-1965

Car : Saab 96 and V4

Period used as a works car : 1960-1976

Car : Mini Cooper/Cooper S

Period used as a works car : 1962-1970

Car : Ford Escort MkI

Period used as a works car : 1968-1975

Car : Lancia Stratos

Period used as a works car : 1974-1981

Car : Ford Escort MkII

Period used as a works car : 1975-1981

Car : Fiat 131 Abarth

Period used as a works car : 1976-1981

Car : Audi Quattro and S1

Period used as a works car : 1981-1986

Car : Peugeot 205T16

Period used as a works car : 1984-1986

Car : Lancia Delta 4x4/Integrale

Period used as a works car : 1987-1993

Car : Toyota Celica GT4

Period used as a works car : 1988-1995

Car : Ford Escort RS Cosworth/WRC

Period used as a works car : 1993-1998

Car : Mitsubishi Lancer Evo

Period used as a works car : 1995-2001

Car : Subaru Impreza Turbo/WRC

Period used as a works car : 1993-2006

Car : Peugeot 206WRC

Period used as a works car : 1999-2003

Car : Ford Focus WRC

Period used as a works car : 1999-2005

There is so much to know, to tell, and to enjoy about each of these cars that I plan to devote a compact book to each one. And to make sure that one can be compared with another, I intend to keep the same format to each volume.

Graham Robson

Introduction & acknowledgements

Introduction

This is really the story of two enterprises, and several cars, and I hope that what follows gives a flavour of what it was all about. Not only is this a book about a rally car the turbocharged Impreza but about Prodrive, which has run the works competition cars since the very beginning.

Subaru of Japan not only set up the STI division to develop high-performance versions of its cars, but over the years has been consistent in supporting the way that the four-wheel drive turbocharged Imprezas have become world-beating rally cars.

For nearly twenty years, Prodrive of Banbury, England, has provided the expertise, and the know-how, to help turn Subarus vision into success. I have always admired the ultra-professional, single-minded, and ultimately successful way in which Prodrive has gone about its business, and the ongoing Impreza rally programme has been a classic example of its work. It was for all those reasons that I chose to look at the Impreza family as a Rally Giant a car, a commitment, and a rally programme which was always intended to reflect what the Subaru company was all about.

Once Subaru decided to get involved in World Championship rallying, there was never any lack of ongoing interest on its part. Certainly it did not just design and develop the original car, before casting it out into the wide world to let it find its own level. Even so, when Subaru set out on this quest in 1989, can it have had any idea that the same basic mechanical layout a low-mounted turbocharged flat-4 engine up front, and permanent four-wheel drive would still be in use, still be being evolved, and still be competitive into the second half of the 2000s?

Like other cars also covered in this Rally Giants series, the Impreza soon became a real icon among enthusiasts. It wasnt just that it was fast, but that it made all the right noises. It wasnt just that a works Impreza was always so recognisable (that overall blue, with yellow livery has been consistent throughout, and every works car used Pirelli tyres), but that the personalities in the project were so famous, and successful, on their own account.