1997 Subaru Impreza (wgn) ** No Reserve ** on 2040-cars

Auto blog

What it’s like to blast up the Goodwood rally stage in a Subaru rally car

Chichester, U.K. — “YouÂ’re not supposed to drive at the marshal,” quipped a young woman dressed head-to-toe in the official Goodwood Festival of Speed white marshalÂ’s uniform. She smiled wryly at 17-year-old Oliver Solberg in the driverÂ’s seat, only half-joking about his rather enthusiastic approach to the starting line. I sat pinned into the Subaru WRX STIÂ’s Recaro bucket seat on my side, mentally preparing myself for the madness that was to come. Solberg waits for the go ahead to launch, then he begins stabbing the accelerator pedal aggressively. Brap, brap, brap – the acrid smell of burning rubber fills the cabin as the Subaru zings to the first corner. The car leans as Solberg flicks it in — itÂ’s tricky as the pavement transitions to gravel mid-corner, so grip is hard to come by here. The abused hay bales on the outside of the corner attest to that. Before we started off, Solberg told me the tires were too warm from previous runs. “I wonÂ’t be able to push,” Solberg said matter of fact-like. Taking it easy isnÂ’t a Solberg trait, though, and I learned that quickly. Perhaps the Goodwood Forest Rally Stage isnÂ’t what you think of when someone mentions the British motoring event. Instead, you picture hay bales lining a picturesque driveway with fancy people in hats drinking champagne and cheering at the jaw-dropping, ear-piercing metal racing by them. The rally stage is not this. In fact, IÂ’d wager to say itÂ’s the complete opposite of the traditional hill climb. Dirt and dust fill the air and lungs. ThereÂ’s a fair bit of hiking on uneven ground involved for spectators. Drivers lose control of their vintage rally cars and smash them into things. Hell, thereÂ’s even a jump. Subaru brought us here specifically for us to experience what going up the rally stage in its new STI rally car felt like with a proper racing driver behind the wheel, and boy are we glad to have done it. The 17-year-old son of rally legend Petter Solberg may not seem like the pro driver youÂ’d expect, but racing drivers seem to be getting younger and younger these days. Just look at the success that Max Verstappen has enjoyed in Formula 1 since he began. His father was a Formula 1 racing driver before him, and Oliver is similarly pursuing the same career as his father. “I always dreamed of driving rally cars,” Oliver Solberg said while gathered among media at Goodwood. He certainly enjoys racing up the rally stage, too. “ItÂ’s very, very technical.

Is the Subaru BRZ STI being teased really only a tS version?

Teaser images of a purported Subaru BRZ STI were uncovered last night and sent the internet into a collective state of hysterics. That's not hugely surprising, though, considering the reverence that the BRZ, along with its fraternal twins, the Scion FR-S and Toyota GT86, have garnered from the automotive media. The sole sticking point, really, has been its mere 200 horsepower. People have been chomping at the bit over a higher output version of the sublime rear driver.
Those same people may be in for a disappointment, though. See, the BRZ STI that was teased last night might not be a real STI. Instead, it's looking like it might be a BRZ tS. According to 7Tune.com, the timing of the photos posted on Subaru's website lined up with Subaru's 86 Festival at Fuji Speedway, where the Subaru BRZ tS debuted. Despite wearing STI badges, the tS isn't the full-tilt STI model we've been hoping for. Instead, you can think of the relationship between tS models and STI models as sort of like the difference between a BMW 3 Series M Sport and a BMW M3.
Certainly, the speccing of the tS supports that idea. The engine of the BRZ remains untouched in both tS models, which is one of the primary things we expect a full-bore STI to address. A number of interior and exterior styling items have been added, along with Bilstein suspension pieces and six-pot Brembo brakes. The tS sports two different trim levels, with the higher end using Recaro seats, black alloy wheels, and a carbon-fiber rear spoiler. The base tS features silver wheels, standard seats, and all the same suspension and brake upgrades. Adding fuel to the fire that these are not the true STI models is the limited production run - Subaru will only build 750 tS cars.

Subaru debuts tougher-looking Outback for Australia [w/poll]

If you're going to name a car after a specific location or region, you'd better make sure it's taken seriously in the place it's named for. You're not likely to see a Chevrolet Monte Carlo in Monaco, and the Alfa Romeo Montreal was never even officially offered in North America, but the Subaru Outback is another story.
Subaru apparently takes the Australian market, whose wilderness its jacked-up Legacy wagon is named for, very seriously. So it is apparently rolling out a revised version of the current Outback in Australia itself. The updated Outback, which arrives less than a year before the all-new model is expected to bow, answers Aussie customer feedback with a more rugged look. It's got new roof rails, body cladding, wheel arches, mud flaps, underbody protection plates and blacked-out headlight surrounds and grille trim.
The Motor Report reports that the AUD $2,500 worth of extra equipment - around $2,300 USD - comes with just an AUD $500 ($468) price hike. As far as we can tell, though, there are no plans to bring this latest look to our shores - Subaru has already detailed North America's Outback for the 2014 model year, and these changes aren't mentioned. Should this look be offered in our market? Vote in the poll below and then have your say in Comments.