New Subaru Impreza WRC 2008 Revealed

New Subaru Impreza WRC 2008

Debut at Acropolis Rally, Greece

By Frank de Leeuw van Weenen
May 21, 2008 10:47 AM
Filed Under: Japanese, Motorsport, Subaru

Subaru has laid the finishing touches on their Subaru Impreza World Rally Car 2008 and the car will make its World Rally Championship (WRC) debut at the upcoming Acropolis Rally in Greece (starts May 29), round 7 on the WRC calender.

The Subaru Impreza WRC2008 is based on the hugely successful Subaru Impreza STI and will be piloted by Australian Chris Atkinson and Norwegian Petter Solberg. This is the first time that Subaru will use a hatchback model as their WRC representative and has been called ‘the most radically different Subaru World Rally Car in 15 years’ by the team. Subaru has painted the WRC car in a bold new color scheme which is still blue.

The new WRC 2008 is powered by a 2.0 liter horizontally opposed four-cylinder boxer engine producing 224 kW or about 300 hp. The car also features a longer wheelbase and shorter front and rear overhangs than its predecessor.

Subaru World Rally Team (SWRT) hopes to relive its glory days from the mid nineties when they took three consecutive manufacturers titles (1995, 96 and 97).

Source: Subaru

Press Release (Click to expand)

New Impreza World Rally Car is Hatched

Subaru has unveiled its stunning new generation All-Wheel Drive Impreza World Rally Car 2008, in time for its competitive debut at this month’s Acropolis Rally in Greece. For the first time, Subaru World Rally Team (SWRT) will use a hatchback design, incorporating a bold new colour scheme prominently featuring the famous Subaru constellation logo. Following a successful research, development and testing phase, the Impreza WRC 2008 will be driven by Australia’s Chris Atkinson and Norwegian Petter Solberg in the Acropolis Rally starting 29 May.

The car features a longer wheelbase, with shorter front and rear overhangs than the previous model. The rear wing is fitted to the tailgate of the new car, for optimum aerodynamic performance. It is powered by a turbocharged 2.0 litre horizontally opposed four-cylinder boxer engine producing around 224 Kilowatts of power. The car is an in-house design by Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI), the maker of Subaru vehicles.

All SWRT materials, including driver and support crew suits, are being revised to reflect the new team identity in time for the Acropolis Rally. The new Impreza WRC is based on the iconic road-going Impreza WRX STI, which has been a hit for Subaru since its February launch. Full technical specifications of the new rally car will be announced in Greece next week.

Previous versions of the Impreza WRC have enjoyed considerable World Rally success. SWRT won the World Rally Manufacturers’ Championship in 1995, 1996 and 1997, and the Driver’s Championship in 1995, 2001 and 2003.

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Comments

motoriety27

May 21, 2008 5:27 PM

It would've looked better with the old neon green/yellow stars and stripes vinyl.

Joe_Limon

May 21, 2008 6:15 PM

holy ricer body batman

carcrazy1234

May 22, 2008 1:32 AM

http://www.mike.vcn.com/tmp/ricer_civic_2.jpg that's a ricer buddy... not this... this is quite possibly the simplest body kit ever lol the simplest WORKING body kit in other words (rear diffusers and what not)

Joe_Limon

May 23, 2008 5:46 AM

well, lets see 5 vents, two of which may actually have some benefit for the engine. A huge double spoiler. Plastered with sponsor stickers. oddly cut off body molding behind the front wheels. And at the end of the day, it's still a four door hatchback.

Spyshot-73

May 21, 2008 7:54 PM

Again are you high? lol.

carcrazy1234

May 22, 2008 1:30 AM

who u speaking to....

atleast500hp

May 22, 2008 1:52 AM

Should've stuck with the body coloured rear wing!

Schizo0223

May 22, 2008 4:06 AM

Hahaha...better tell my friend that the neon green stars and Subaru sticker job he did on his new Imprezza is all wrong! He will be p!ssed off to see this.

BTW...Unlike most other cars the Imprezza looks better with stickers all over them.

Cootje

May 22, 2008 11:43 AM

Am I the only one who thinks that rear white lights look awefull on a car. This car must be designed by someone with a bling-bling Vauxhall Astra.

TRDartz

May 22, 2008 9:20 PM

this car looks like one person designed front, one person designed side and one person designed the rear. But that happens more often than not in autodesign actually

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