A redesigned Subaru WRX debuted for the 2022 mannequin 12 months, and Subaru has now launched a rally model.

The brand new WRX rally automobile will make its competitors debut within the American Rally Affiliation (ARA) championship’s Ojibwe Forests Rally working Aug. 24-25, changing vehicles based mostly on the previous-generation WRX platform.

Present Subaru factory-team driver Brandon Semenuk will drive the quantity 180 automobile with co-driver Keaton Williams, however they will be joined in 2024 by Travis Pastrana, making his return to the ARA collection after a one-year hiatus.

The WRX rally automobile is constructed by Vermont SportsCar, which additionally constructed earlier generations of WRX rally vehicles for ARA competitors, in addition to Pastrana’s Subaru GL Household Huckster and WRX STI Airslayer gymkhana vehicles. Beginning on the launch of the current-generation WRX within the U.S., the corporate spent 18 months designing and testing the rally automobile for its competitors debut.

The construct begins with a inventory WRX physique shell that’s totally seam welded and fitted with an FIA/USAC-compliant roll cage constructed from T45 metal. The inventory fuel tank is changed with a 21.6-gallon kevlar gasoline cell, whereas the driving force and do-driver sit in Sparco racing seats, once more designed to FIA security laws.

The automobile is designed to ARA Open 4WD guidelines, which permit for a big rear wing and widened fenders. These elements are product of carbon fiber, and the entire automobile wears Subaru’s conventional rally livery of WR Blue Pearl, with the automaker’s star emblem rendered in yellow.

Whereas the WRX street automobile is powered by a turbocharged 2.4-liter flat-4, class guidelines mandate a 2.0-liter model with an air restrictor and enhance limiter. Even with this handicap, the race engine makes 320 hp and 380 lb-ft of torque. That is 49 hp and 122 lb-ft greater than the street automobile. That energy is shipped to all 4 wheels by a Sadev 6-speed close-ratio transmission. The rally automobile additionally will get modified suspension, with R53 Suspension springs and dampers an crossmembers, hyperlinks, and hubs designed by Vermont SportsCar, managing the motion of 15-inch Yokohama Superior A053 rally tires.

Rallying has by no means been as in style within the U.S. as in different international locations, however Subaru believes the most recent ARA guidelines will appeal to extra competitors and in flip create an upswing in fan curiosity. The automaker additionally sees this as a possibility to introduce its well-known blue-and-yellow WRX rally vehicles to a brand new era.