What’s the first thing that pops into your head when Subaru is mentioned? No, other than head gaskets and dogs at auto shows. That’s right, it’s rallying. For decades, Subaru rally cars have helped build legends on loose surfaces, from the inimitable Colin McRae to the godfather of social media car culture, Ken Block. Although the Japanese automaker no longer competes in WRC, its American arm is still going at it in the American Rally Association’s Open-4WD class. Oh, and with a new generation of WRX on sale, you already knew what needed to happen. Welcome to the 2024 Subaru WRX rally car, built by Vermont SportsCar and set to take on all comers. Can I get a hell yeah?
You won’t find a stock 2.4-liter turbocharged FA24F four-cylinder boxer engine under the hood, but instead a two-liter turbocharged boxer four pumping out 320 horsepower and 380 lb.-ft. of torque on 22 psi of boost with a restrictor plate. Harnessing all that turbocharged grunt is a SADEV six-speed sequential gearbox spitting power to all four wheels in Subaru tradition. You just love to see it, don’t you?
Jumps and rocks can put serious stress on a car’s structure, so the team at Vermont SportsCar seam-welded absolutely everything on the unibody, then tube-framed the front end and fabricated a full steel roll cage. From there, new suspension links and hubs were added to deal with the stress of absolutely yeeting it through the woods, and new springs and dampers were fitted to soak up impacts. Seriously, just look at the droop on this suspension.
However, beyond all the awesome technical changes, the first thing most people will notice is the substantially reworked coachwork. The contentious black plastic cladding of the standard WRX has been thoroughly banished in favor of a complex aerodynamically-optimized widebody. The front fenders, quarter panels, and even the rear doors have been scooped all the way out for clearance, with various aero-friendly flics, contours, and profiling added along the way. It’s a radical change from stock but one that totally works, especially with the new matte livery. After all, most show cars aren’t race cars, but every race car is a show car.
The new Subaru WRX rally car will make its debut at this year’s Ojibwe Forests Rally on Aug. 24 with driver Brandon Semenuk and co-driver Keaton Williams in the cockpit, and that’s only the beginning of the excitement. For the 2024 ARA season, all-American action hero Travis Pastrana will be fielding a second, identical car. A new take on a legendary car with a household name behind one wheel of a two-car team? Now that’s something worth getting stoked on. I can’t wait to see this thing tear up the dirt, can you?
(Photo credits: Subaru)
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Ahh, the only vehicle to look genuinely happy when it is on anything but a stable road surface.
’bout time this became a factory effort.
If you aren’t familiar w/ Brandon Semenuk’s MTB slopestyle career, do yourself a favor and head on over to the youztuubz. You will not regret it.
steezin
To quote RCR’s The Roman: I wount it.
I have far too many RCR quotes etched into my brain, ready to be fired off in very specific situations
Hopefully the 2024 O4WD race is more competitive with Travis coming back. Brandon has been blowing the rest of the field out of the water this year, and I believe he’s got the championship sewn up already (in July!) for 2023. It would be great to see another factory team compete in the US…and I’m not holding my breath.
Shame there are no other factory rally teams in America
Brandon Semenuk has quite the gig, ripping rally cars around when he’s not busy being one of the best MTB riders on the planet.
Brandon in the new car:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CvcyHsMtyst/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Lets all meet a Dirtfish for hooning fun
Honestly, the WRX would be so much cooler if it looked more like this. Ditch the hideous cladding and add extreme fender flares.
You beat me to it. This looks soooo much better without the black cladding.
As far as I’m concerned this is the new WRX. I try not to acknowledge what Subaru is actually putting on the streets.
…the team at Vermont SportsCar seam-welded absolutely everything on the unibody, then tube-framed the front end and fabricated a full steel roll cage.
This thing looks sick, and I think Pastrana will be a serious draw. Now, how to (gently) explain to a friend that “yes, Subarus are rally cars, but you probably shouldn’t hoon your base model 2016 Impreza too hard on the backyard racetrack”
Counterpoint: Send it, breh.
Double down on the counter point: Hooning a stock wrx around a back yard racetrack is EXACTLY how Travis Pastrana learned to rally.
hell yeah
“What’s the first thing that pops into your head when Subaru is mentioned? No, other than head gaskets and dogs at auto shows.”
Vapes. Lesbians. Hippies. Flat brimmed hats.
Hippie lesbians wearing flat brimmed hats puffing on vapes and replacing head gaskets while their dogs wander around.
Aka: The platonic ideal woman
I enjoy Subaru’s divergent fanbases, and always wonder what the meet-ups must be like.
“Wait, you have a WRX?” “Wait, you don’t?”
I always think of this Venn diagram of subaru ownership, which basically covers everything Acrimonious said above
https://external-preview.redd.it/pPUVw9YelmgMrZ7Ib-OEm3xfi1jkKX0GiGNkRIFhdBI.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=905cf3597c40d978afbec817aafd8fbcc84475d8
The Coexist bumper sticker and DC hat just make it for me.
I wonder if, at vintage car shows 50 years from now, these will be accessories displayed with the vintage iron. “Really! My grandfather wore one just like this!”