Subaru’s brand identity has a strong link with the sport of rallying. 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.
Now there’s a new Subaru rally car. 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.
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.
“On this car we have reused a lot of the concepts of the ‘old’ car,” Bertrand Vallat, VSC’s vehicle engineering manager, told RACER. “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.”
Refinement is very much a theme with the new car. 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.
“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. “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.
“There are some small improvements in every area that for sure helps the driver to get the best out of it.”
The engine, naturally a four-cylinder Boxer mated to a six-speed SADEV transmission, is another big improvement. It traces its roots back to the powerplants developed for the latest Subaru Gymkhana cars — themselves evolutions of VSC’s championship winning rallycross engines. But thanks to ARA regulations, it runs a much smaller 33mm restrictor as well as a reduced 22psi boost limit. Nevertheless, it still puts out 320hp and 380 lb-ft of torque.
Subaru is unveiling the new car during something of a quiet spell in U.S. rallying following six-time champion Travis Pastrana’s decision to sit out this season to focus on Nitrocross and a tilt at the Daytona 500, 2020 champion Barry McKenna choosing to only run a partial campaign and Ken Block’s untimely passing at the start of the year. Despite that, the brand still feels the discipline is worth committing to.
“Although 2022 was quiet after the loss of Ken, and with Travis and a few other competitors sitting out we still believe rallying is on a big upswing right now,” VSC’s chief marketing officer Chris Yandell tells RACER. “Fan attendance and overall entries are solid, we are just missing factory teams and other big players.
“But with the new ARA ruleset that aligns with Rally2 specs along with real interest and progress for a WRC round to come to the USA soon, it’s clear rally has a chance to grow and attract both more international established entries as well as entice more homegrown talent to join the series. Subaru has always supported rallying and it fits so well with their brand, their vehicles and the Subaru community as a whole.”
Given Subaru’s prominent position in U.S. rallying, there are big expectations for the new car. Brandon Semenuk has already mathematically wrapped up the 2023 national title — his second in succession — with two rounds to spare driving the outgoing VA WRX, a car that’s brought Subaru and VSC much success stateside, and places a lot of weight on the new machine’s shoulders.
Since 2015, the VA has notched up a remarkable eight U.S. rally titles from a possible nine, with 48 overall rally wins courtesy of David Higgins, Pastrana, Patrik Sandell, Oliver Solberg, Block and Semenuk. In fact, it was so quick, that when VSC wanted to enter it into Wales Rally GB back in 2015, the FIA allegedly forbade it for fear of a much cheaper, “not-fully-FIA-class-legal” car outperforming WRC cars.
It also spawned a number of non-rallying variants. As a rallycross machine, the VA won seven rounds in Americas Rallycross and Nitro Rallycross, and was the car to beat in the final year of combustion engined top level rallycross in the U.S. as Pastrana beat teammate Scott Speed to the 2021 Nitro RX title after a tight season-long battle.
The 600hp rallycross engine was also put into the rally car for successful attempt at the Mount Washington hillclimb record in 2017, before a no-holds-barred 862hp bespoke version of the car dubbed the VT20g “Airslayer” — which starred in Hoonigan’s 2020 Gymkhana video — obliterated that record in 2021.
While VSC has left the door open for the venerable VA to continue in some capacity, either being leased out or driven by additional drivers within VSC and Subaru’s own stable, it has now effectively been consigned to the history books. The win tally has been reset to zero, with the first opportunity to add to the WRX rally legend coming on Aug. 25-26 when Semenuk and co-driver Keaton Williams will debut the VB at the Ojibwe Forests Rally in Minnesota.
“The release of the new car will bring an exciting future along with it,” said Semenuk. “This platform has been completely re-engineered and the car looks and feels more dynamic, which will translate to an even better show for the fans.”
Pastrana will join Semenuk in 2024, as Subaru returns to a full two-car assault on the U.S. championship as well.
“I’m so excited about the 2024 ARA rally championship,” said Pastrana. “The new Subaru platform is amazing and the chance to battle again with two-time and defending champion Brandon Semenuk is going to be so much fun.
“When Brandon joined the team, I was the veteran. But the tables have turned and I’m looking forward to learning a lot and hopefully getting back to the top. I’ve only been away from the sport for a year but a lot has changed and I’m ready for the new challenge.”
Semenuk added: “Not only is it more fun having a teammate, but you learn so much more with a two-car team and this will be important for the ongoing development of the platform.”
Before that, Subaru will release a six-part documentary mini-series called “Next Stage,” which will detail the car’s design, build and testing. The first episode will go live on Subaru of America’s YouTube channel on Aug. 9.
