this is a picture of Solberg's Impreza WRC from the Chicago 03 show. what i noticed is that this doenst seem to be the real one. for one, the spoiler is different on a WRC. there are probably other things i didnt really bother looking for. so is this just some kind of 'knock-off'? what is the deal here? i know america doesnt have as many rally fans as europe, but the ones it does have will notice things like that. they basically throw in a STi with all the logos and such, dont they?

 

I'd have to see the interior to be sure, but I doubt that it has all the electronic gizmos the WRC car has too. I wouldn't be supprised, either, if it has a 2.5L USDM STi motor rather then a real WRC engine.

The real WRC car costs something like $500,000 per car, where as this probably cost less then $60,000. Its just a show car, no big deal IMO. It was probably cheaper to dress up an STi then ship a real WRC car over to the US for a show.

Also, there are some interesting little things with the stickers. There is a sticker for the Subaru rally team USA that doesn't appear on the WRC car (www.rally.subaru.com on the roof near the rear window). Probably added due to the fact that it was being shown in Detroit. The Subaru of France URL (www.subaru.fr) was also taken off the back bumper. No need to advertise for the SOF in America. On the side skirts, sometimes it should say subaru-global.com, not swrt.com. The swrt.com sticker should be on the hoodscoop, and only visible from inside the car looking out (for the TV cameras mounted incar).

Anyways, I'd actually be more suprised if a real WRC car showed up at a car show. Thats a lot of wasted money.

EDIT: The wheels and side mirrors also don't look like the ones used on the real WRC cars.

 

The car in the picture is a real WRC car used for promotions and run-down testing. Except for the small differences you guys have noted the rest of the car is rally specific including drivetrain, suspension, exhaust, electronics, etc. It's fully functional as a competition car if they chose to do that.

A quick note on the exhaust- FHI and SOA would not go through the trouble of dressing up an STi for show purposes and spend money on modifying the exhaust on it. It's clear that a stock STi has the exhaust exiting on the left, not on the right.



A few images from last year. Aside from the rear spoiler everything is visually identical.

 

NICE CATCH....you really are a fanatic

 

Good catch with the exhaust. I didn't even notice that

I guess I could buy that Prodrive sent one of their preped 03s, but it seems a little cost-inefficient. Team managers are always complaining about the shipping costs of cars on non-european rallies.

Also, if it is a Prodrive preped 03 WRC car, they took the time to localize the stickers to the North American audience, but they didn't take the time to swap on the cheese grater spoiler?

I'd need to see more pictures before I'm convinced that this is a real WRC preped car.

 

Well even if it is a real rally car or not, I think we can all agree it's a sweet looking subie!

 

kinda off topic, but what size are the wheels on the wrc car for tarmac use? 17s or 18s?

 

Does the exhaust on the STI's come out on the right side? I know the WRX's exhaust comes out on the left side? What gives? Is this how the WRC car is?

 

The exhaust on the WRC exits on the right to reduce backpressure. It allows for a straighter exhaust flow and a larger power increase. This is the reason the gas tank is eliminated and a fuel cell mounted inside the car. On a stock vehicle the gas tanks are shaped to allow clearance for the exhaust to exit on the left. Which answers the question about STi exit point, it still has the muffler on the left just like every other factory car. This would definitely be a costly modification on a street car but, if you managed to do it it would give you a hell of a power boost, especially since rally cars use either high flow catalyst or none at all. Also the same reason you see the small fire ***** exit the muffler during downshifts, makes for a nice flash effect but illegal on the street.

Hope this clears up the exhaust question.

 

The tarmac wheels are cast magnesium OZ 18 inchers that weigh in at only 17.4 lbs. The brakes are Alcon 14.4 inch rotors with 6 pot calipers in the front and 12 inch rotors with 4 pot calipers in the rear.

Gravel and snow events are run with 15 inch wheels and the front brakes are changed to 12 inch rotor with 4 pot calipers like the rear.

 

i just want to know who changed the subject line to that? i really dont want it to be that way, can i ask that it be changed back?

 

Subject lines need to be descriptive of their content. Generic headers are discouraged.