New Impreza WRC2006 breaks cover in Monte Carlo New Impreza WRC2006 breaks cover in Monte Carlo
January 19, 2006
In Monte Carlo today the Subaru World Rally Team officially unveiled the Impreza WRC2006, the latest version of the iconic Subaru World Rally Car.
The car, based on the 2006 model year Impreza, will be used by team drivers Petter Solberg, Chris Atkinson and Stéphane Sarrazin as they tackle the gravel, asphalt, snow, ice and mud of this year s sixteen round FIA World Rally Championship season.
Like its road going cousin, the Impreza WRC2006 features Subaru s dynamic new corporate look, styled by Subaru s chief of advanced design, Andreas Zapatinas. But changes to the WRC2006 go far deeper than the striking new appearance. A whole raft of improvements to the engine, transmission, chassis and electrical systems make this the most advanced, and safest, Impreza WRC ever built.
A base car shaped by 13 years of WRC competition
The starting point for the new rally car is the 2006 model Impreza road car. As the basis of a rally winning machine, few cars can match the competitive pedigree of the Impreza. First launched in 1992, the road car has developed in tandem with its rallying counterpart and over the last twelve seasons, and 46 WRC victories, lessons learned on the rally stages have been fed back into the production model.
Subaru has built an enviable reputation for reliability, long engine life and accessible performance through the design of its horizontally-opposed, all aluminium boxer engines. This flat-four cylinder layout gives a lower centre-of-gravity for enhanced cornering grip. It is also ideal when mated to Subaru s trademark symmetrical all-wheel drive system because of its compactness, light weight and ability to connect with the AWD transmission in a straight line.
Already renowned for its agile handling, leech-like roadholding and symmetrical all-wheel drive security, the latest Impreza forges even stronger links with its World Rally Championship stablemate.
Like the preceding model, both rally and road versions were styled in Japan by the FHI design team led by Andreas Zapatinas. Externally, a key new feature is the spread-wings mesh front grille with a centre section resembling an aeroplane fuselage and sweeping outer sections mimicking the wings. Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd, the manufacturer of Subaru, has its origins as an aircraft maker.
New headlamps have a 3-D effect with cylindrical lamp units. The rear lamps are also 3-D, with similar cylinders encircled by claw-type strakes. Revised front bumpers with concave horizontal corner spoilers smooth the airflow down the side of the car. In addition, the saloon features vertical air intakes at the side of the bumper for enhanced brake cooling.
A new design of side-skirts adds to the sports stance, being better integrated with the overall body design and featuring sweeping swage lines that continue to flow into the rear bumpers. Also new is a roof vane covering the top half of the rear window. This compliments the massive high-rise boot spoiler by deflecting airflow from the top of the roof under the boot spoiler, increasing downforce and high speed stability.
It s extremely significant that Subaru, STI and the rally team are all connected in the process of designing a new car, said Zapatinas. There is a strong relationship, and it s a two way street. We learn from the rally car, we put our knowledge into the production car and the rally car also learns from
