1000 Subaru Impreza Owners to Pay Tribute to the late Colin McRae

Almost a year has passed since that wretched day on September 15, 2007 when Rally Champion Colin McRae and three more passengers including his five-year old son died in a tragic helicopter accident near his hometown in Scotland.

In order to pay a fitting tribute to Colin McRae, the Subaru community is planning to gather a world record 1,000 Imprezas at Prodrive, the home of Subaru World Rally Team, where Colin spent the most successful years of his rallying career, first winning the British Rally Championship in a Subaru Legacy in 1991 and 1992 and then becoming Britain’s first world rally champion in 1995. -Continued

A convoy of more than 1,000 Imprezas led by McRae’s 1995 World Rally Championship-winning Impreza 555, will leave Colin’s home town of Lanark at 10 am on Saturday 30 August arriving at Prodrive on the same day.

On Sunday August 31, after setting a world record for a gathering of Subarus, the group’s aim is to then set a world record for a parade of Subarus, as all the cars circulate around the 2 mile test track. As a final mark of respect, Subaru owners will park up on the mile-long straight to spell out the name Colin McRae in letters more than 100 feet tall and visible to anyone flying into nearby Birmingham International airport.

The McRae Gathering is only open to Subarus and to take part, all cars must bear the special ‘McRae Gathering’ plate. There is an entry charge of £10 for each car with all proceeds going to the McRaes’ nominated charities.

Prodrive Gives Police Officers Lessons on the Subaru Impreza GB270

The “loveable” fellas at the UK Essex Police ANPR (Automatic number plate recognition) team, also known as the ‘Interceptors’, have been taking high performance driving tuition from motorsport specialists, Prodrive. The Interceptor team, which consists of 21 members, recently replaced its front wheel drive cars with the Prodrive prepped Subaru Impreza GB270s that are equipped with a turbocharged boxer engine developing 270Hp.

Subaru to Showcase Stella Plug-In Electric Concept at G8 Summit

Subaru has revealed the first details of its Plug-in Stella Concept model, a prototype electric vehicle (EV) that combines the EV system employed in the R1e with the Japanese market only mini car, Stella. The 3.4 meter long concept is powered by a 40kw strong electric motor that develops 150Nm of torque and is capable of covering a distance of 80km or 50miles with a single charge of its lithium-ion batteries. The front wheel drive mini car’s top speed is 100 km/h or 62 mph. -Continued

The Japanes carmaker will provide five units of the Plug-in Stella Concept for use at the Hokkaido Toyako Summit to be held July 7 through 9, 2008. Four of the five cars will be used to transport government officials and other participants at the summit, while one vehicle will be displayed at the Environmental Showcase and it will also be available for a test drive. In addition, Subaru will provide one Stella Concept model to the Japan Post group for use in mail collection and delivery in the vicinity of Toyako during the summit.

Subaru plans to use the Plug-in Stella Concept in the development and test-marketing of the next generation of EV in Japan in the near future.

Subaru Exiga 7-Seater Minivan Officially Unveiled

The Exiga is Subaru’s proposition in the (Japanese & European) mid-size minivan segment. In typical Subaru style, the Exiga looks more like a station-wagon with a higher roofline rather than a typical MPV. And as with many other products from the Japanese carmaker, the Exiga provides further proof to as why we beleive that Subaru seriously needs to reassess its design language or rather, the total lack of it...

Based on the Impreza’s underpinnings but with an extended wheelbase (2.750 mm) to accommodate seven passengers in three rows of seats, the Exiga measures in at 4,740mm in length, 1,775mm in width and 1,660mm in height.

The Exiga is offered with two powertrain options; a naturally aspirated 2.0-liter boxer unit developing 146Hp / 6,000 rpm and a maximum torque of 19,5 kgm / 3,200 rpm combined with a 4-speed automatic transmission; and a turbocharged 2.0-liter boxer with 221Hp / 5,600 rpm and a maximum torque of 33,2 kgm / 4,400 rpm matted to a 5-speed auto. Both models come with standard symmetrical AWD systems. -Continued

A key feature of the Exiga is the large panoramic glass roof that fully covers area above the second row of seats. Notably, the three rows of seats are laid out at three different heights, like gradually elevated theater seating, placing the first and second rows slightly lower than the third to allow all passengers better outside views.

For the time being, the Exiga is offered solely in the Japanese market with sales starting from today, June 16, 2008.

Subaru Legacy Facelift Renderings

In one of its latest issues, Japanese car magazine “CarTop” revealed a couple of artist renderings that attempt to show us what the revised Subaru Legacy might look like. CarTop’s take on the facelift Legacy includes a new set of lights and a revised grille up front combined with minor changes to the rear and most importantly, an Audi-like waist-line and pop-out door handles. If CarTop’s renderings turn out to be true, we’ll have yet another Legacy that will be as interesting as watching two flies make out on a hot summer night. -One more pic after the jump

Source: CarTop , Via: Nihon

2011 Subaru / Toyota RWD Coupe: First Spy Shots

These are very first spy shots of the Subaru and Toyota joint-developed rear-wheel-drive coupe. The test mule seen in the pictures looks like it’s sporting many body parts from the Legacy, albeit it’s apparent that coupe is much more compact in dimensions. We’re not so sure about the platform but in a previous official statement issued by the two Japanese carmakers, the yet unnamed coupes will be based on an all-new platform with power coming from Subaru’s range of boxer engines.

Judging by our experience that could translate to a modified version of the existing Impreza platform and 2.0 / 2.5-liter naturally aspirated and turbocharged engines. Needless to say that we can’t make any assumptions about the coupe’s appearance from the test mule pics. However, since both coupes are slated to enter production in 2011, expect a Toyota and Subaru concept version to appear sometime in 2009 with the production version making its official appearance in a major car show in 2010. -More pics after the jump

Via: Camaro5 –Thanks for the tip Tim!

Subaru Impreza WRC2008 Finishes 2nd Place at Acropolis Rally Debut

Reigning World Rally Champion (WRC) Sebastien Loeb might have won this weekend’s Acropolis Rally in Greece with the Citroen C4 but all eyes were on Peter Solberg as he managed to finish second place with the all-new Subaru Impreza WRC2008 (video). Subaru World Rally Team chief David Richards said the team’s second place was proof that the decision to debut the new car in the Acropolis Rally before it was completely ready was the right one.

“Many thought our decision to come here was risky but I’d like to pay tribute to the tireless efforts of our test team whose efforts have been totally vindicated,” he said. “We are now onto the next stage of development for the WRC2008. We’ve completed the first event, and the many lessons we have learned here will stand us in good stead for the second half of the season.” -Continued

Final leaderboard on 55th Acropolis Rally
1. S. Loeb/D. Elena (Citroën C4) 3 h 54 min 54.7s
2. P. Solberg/P. Mills (Subaru Impreza) + 1 min 09.5s
3. M. Hirvonen/J. Lehtinen (Ford Focus) + 1 min 56.1s
4. U. Aava/K. Sikk (Citroën C4) + 4 min 19.7s
5. D. Sordo/M. Martí (Citroën C4) + 4 min 49.7s
6. M. Wilson/S. Martin (Ford Focus) + 6 min 11.3s

Video: Subaru Impreza WRC2008 at the Acropolis Rally Shakedown

Our friend Chris just sent us this video compilation from today’s Shakedown test for the Acropolis Rally in Greece where the all-new Subaru Impreza WRC2008 made its racing premiere. Behind the wheel of the Subaru Impreza WRC2008 were drivers Chris Atkinson and Petter Solberg who managed to set the fifth and sixth fastest times respectively at the Acropolis Rally pre-event shakedown.

Just for the record, Citroen's Daniel Sordo was the fastest of them all in the shakedown completing the 3.44 km test stage in 2 minutes 26.3 seconds. We’ll have more videos from the Acropolis Rally later in the day. -Video after the jump

Toyota’s Version of Subaru Co-Developed RWD Coupe to be Sold only in Japan

According to a report from Inside Line, while Subaru’s variant of the Toyota-Subaru jointly developed rear-wheel-drive coupes will be marketed worldwide, Toyota’s version will be sold exclusively in Japan. The report also notes that the joint Toyota-Subaru R&D team has picked the discontinued, front-wheel-drive Honda Integra Type R as its benchmark, due to the fact that the coupe’s styling, performance parameters and dimensions epitomize the development team’s goals.

The two affordable RWD sport coupes will share the same hardware (engine, chassis, suspension etc), but each one will have a different exterior design. According to an common statement from the two Japanese carmakers, the market introduction of both coupes is targeted for the end of 2011, with production set to take place at a new plant that will be built at Subaru’s Gunma Manufacturing Division in Japan.

Source: InsideLine , Photo: Holiday Auto magazine