![]() ![]() Subaru is unveiling the new car during something of a quiet spell in U.S. Nevertheless, it still puts out 320hp and 380 lb-ft of torque. But thanks to ARA regulations, it runs a much smaller 33mm restrictor as well as a reduced 22psi boost limit. It traces its roots back to the powerplants developed for the latest Subaru Gymkhana cars - themselves evolutions of VSC’s championship winning rallycross engines. The engine, naturally a four-cylinder Boxer mated to a six-speed SADEV transmission, is another big improvement. ![]() “There are some small improvements in every area that for sure helps the driver to get the best out of it.” “The rule changes also applied to the outgoing car from the beginning of the year - which you can see if you compare with the 2023 versus 2022 season cars, with the 2023 car having much less aero - but on this car we optimized the handling of the car in order to improve its driveability. “The ruleset is now more closely aligned with FIA Rally2, so the performance of the car is comparable to a modern Rally2 class vehicle,” Vallat explained. With ARA rules placing restrictions on engine and aerodynamic performance in the Open class to encourage competition and bring the category more in line with regulations used in Europe, particular focus was paid to extracting more performance by making the car easier to drive instead. Refinement is very much a theme with the new car. “The powertrain is a small evolution, optimizing the packaging in order to improve the weight balance and the serviceability, while the suspension, developed with R53 suspension, is adapted to the new chassis and has been optimized in terms of weight and efficiency.” “On this car we have reused a lot of the concepts of the ‘old’ car,” Bertrand Vallat, VSC’s vehicle engineering manager, told RACER. While initial design of the car began in early 2022 when the team first got its hands on a new WRX - which is built on Subaru’s new “Global Platform” - the new VB WRX rally car is actually the culmination of years of development from VSC. Based on the latest VB chassis WRX that hit showrooms last year, it’s called the VT23r and it’s been built to compete in the American Rally Association’s premier Open class by long-time factory partner Vermont SportsCar. It doesn’t matter that the Japanese car manufacturer hasn’t been present in the World Rally Championship’s top flight since 2008 - those images of Colin McRae, Richard Burns and Petter Solberg flying Imprezas through forests in the 1990s and early 2000s have endured. Subaru’s brand identity has a strong link with the sport of rallying. ![]()
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