Subaru WRX STI Rallycross monster revealed

Subaru will reveal its wild WRX STI-based 2015 Rallycross weapon at this week’s New York auto show.

Built by American race car specialists Vermont SportsCar with help from STI, the racer codenamed VT15x boasts a unique wide body covering fatter tracks front and rear compared to the ordinary STI road car.

It’s also more powerful despite using a smaller 2.0-litre turbo boxer four instead of the 2.5-litre unit found in the top-shelf STI weapon.

Peak power is a massive 432kW, deployed through all four wheels via a six-speed Sadev sequential gearbox.

The result is a faintly insane 0-96km/h (60mph) time of just 2.0 seconds. In Rallycross the speeds are generally quite low, so acceleration is everything.

Compared to last year’s VT14x racer, this new car features better optimized weight balance, centre of gravity, suspension geometry and aerodynamics.

The engine was also fiddled with to give more power and better response, allowing for that frightening acceleration figure.

Subaru is confident it has the driver and car package to win this year’s Rallycross championship, claiming its only goal is to win.

Bucky Lasek and Sverre Isachsen are joined by Travis Pastrana and David Higgins in team Subaru. They’ll compete with the likes of Ken Block in his race-tuned Ford Fiesta ST and Tanner Foust in a (fast) Volkswagen Beetle, among others.

Other cars in the championship include race versions of the Citroen DS3, VW Polo, Hyundai Veloster and the Chevrolet Sonic – known in Australia as the Holden Barina.

These rally weapons are designed to be quick across tarmac, gravel and mud while capable of flying over 70 foot jumps and withstanding pretty heavy contact with the other racers – not like F1, then.

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