This Subaru Was Faster Than A Corvette C8 Z06 Around The Nürburgring

Few cars have built a reputation as versatile as the Subaru WRX. Whether you’re threading through a wet mountain pass or watching a rally stage disappear in the rearview mirror, this compact all-wheel-drive sedan has always punched well above its weight class. Since it arrived in 1994 as the Impreza Turbo 2000 AWD, the small boosted sedan has proven it can tackle anything from twisting country roads to rallies across the globe.

Read Also

1 month ago

Tesla’s Cybercab Launch Fell Flat And The Feds Showed Up Immediately

84 autotech

But great as Subaru is at making small sedans, it was perhaps a stretch to think the WRX, with its four-pot boxer engine, would have a chance of taking on the world’s most prestigious mid-engined hypercars around Germany’s Nürburgring. Subaru clearly isn’t a company that thinks anything is impossible for the little sedan.

Building the fastest sedan around the infamous Nordschleife toll road became a priority at Subaru headquarters. The Japanese firm, with a little help from their old friends in England, built a special WRX for the job and headed to the 12.8-mile circuit one summer’s day in 2017 to see what it could do.

The WRX STI Type RA NBR Special Became The Fastest Sedan Around The Nürburgring

Highlight Of The WRX STI Type RA NBR Special

• Fitted with a modified 2.0-liter Subaru WRC-spec boxer motor
• More than 600 horsepower at 8,500 rpm
• Rear wing features a Drag Reduction System similar to Formula 1 technology

Read Also

2 month ago

The Coolest Cars Confirmed For GTA VI

77 autotech

The WRX STI Type RA NBR Special that rolled up to the Nürburgring entrance in 2017 was a purpose-built race car with a full roll cage welded into the standard WRX STI unibody for added strength and stiffness. That said, it wasn’t some mid-engined GT racer wearing an Impreza shell — the WRX was still powered by a 2.0-liter boxer engine and retained Subaru Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive.

Faster Than A Supercar Around The ‘Ring

Just in case anyone questioned the run, Subaru published video evidence of it shortly afterward. The footage shows the WRX frantically scrambling its way around the Nürburgring, hitting speeds of almost 180 mph on the straights. When the WRX crossed the line, the stopwatch showed 6:57.5.

To put this into perspective, this four-door Subaru — albeit not a production car — was more than 30 seconds faster around the ‘Ring than a C8 Corvette Stingray (7:29), and more than 12 seconds faster than a C8 Z06.

It was merely half a second slower than a Porsche 918 Spyder, a true hypercar and one of the fastest production vehicles around the Nürburgring. It was a second quicker than a Porsche 911 GT2 RS driven by Sport Auto Magazine and two seconds ahead of a Lamborghini Aventador SuperVeloce LP750-4.

The WRX now held the lap record for a four-door sedan.

Here’s What Hardware This Quick Subaru Was Packing

Subaru WRX STI Type RA NBR Special Specs

Source: Subaru

For the Nürburgring attempt, Subaru naturally had Prodrive on speed dial. The Oxfordshire-based company had worked with Subaru on its rally cars, and would go on to create the P25 restomod, making it the natural choice for this challenge. Prodrive started with a stock 2017 WRX STI and welded in a full roll cage.

The engine of choice was a modified 2.0-liter Subaru WRC-spec boxer motor, replacing the road car’s 2.5-liter unit. The engine uses a 75-mm intake, and the turbo runs a whopping 25 psi of boost to produce more than 600 horsepower at a dizzying 8,500 rpm, with gearing to allow the car to hit 179 mph.

This WRX Had F1 Tech Included In Its Aero Package

The WRC engine was mated to a WRC gearbox with an automatic clutch, modified with hydraulics for paddle-shift operation, with shift times of between 20 and 25 milliseconds. A redesigned aero package produced about 650 pounds of downforce at top speed, and 9-inch-wide slick tires all around kept the car glued to the track.

The rear wing features a Drag Reduction System similar to Formula 1 technology, using both electric and hydraulic actuation. The wing can deploy for full downforce and drag under braking or in fast corners, then open up for reduced drag on long straights. The driver has full control of the DRS via a steering wheel-mounted control, with the wing taking less than 20 milliseconds to change position fully.

Then Subaru Launched A Road Version Of The Nürburgring Record Car

Subaru

Subaru WRX STI Type RA Specs

Source: Subaru

Anyone who witnessed the astonishing record-breaking Nürburgring lap by the WRX STI Type RA NBR Special was in for a treat. Around the same time, Subaru launched a road car version of this hypercar-baiting sedan. As the video of the lap was released, Subaru product communications manager Dominick Infante said: “We brought the WRX STI Type RA NBR Special here to set a record and call attention to the WRX STI Type RA that we will launch later this year. The WRX STI Type RA promises a great deal, with improved performance and styling and even better handling dynamics than the current car.”

It Was Like The Nürburgring WRX…But Not Really

The 2018 WRX STI Type RA almost had as many suffixes as the record-breaking car, but it was seriously down on power. The RA designation stands for “Record Attempt” — a clear nod to the flying sedan — but for the road car, Subaru had (perhaps unsurprisingly) left the 2.5-liter boxer in place, rather than sourcing a few thousand WRC engines.

The turbocharged road car made do with 310 hp — half of the record-breaking car and a modest increase over the standard model. This power bump was achieved through an STI-specified cold air intake and a high-flow performance exhaust. A retuned ECU and stronger pistons also helped lift engine output, though the gain amounted to just five horsepower over the standard car.

Then there was weight saving. The numbered limited-edition WRX features a standard carbon fiber roof panel, plus the removal of the spare tire, a carbon fiber pedestal wing, and lightweight BBS 19-inch forged alloy wheels shod with 245/35R19 Yokohama Advan Sport tires. The six-speed transmission was fitted with a revised third-gear ratio paired with a short-throw shifter as well.

Handling Was Improved On The WRX STI Type RA Too

Handling was sharpened thanks to inverted front struts and rear double-wishbone suspension, all fitted with Bilstein dampers. The Brembo six-piston front calipers and dual-piston rear calipers received an exclusive silver finish and cross-drilled rotors for better heat dissipation.

Externally, the car received an exclusive Cherry Blossom Red accent around the front mesh grille and a new rear bumper cover, and an STI front under-spoiler was added for better stability at high speeds. A roof-mounted shark fin antenna and STI fender badges in a black finish are the finishing touches. Each of the 500 WRX STI Type RA cars produced featured an individually numbered plaque mounted on the center console.

Here’s How The WRX STI Type RA NBR Special Compares To Showroom Sedans

Porsche

The sub-seven-minute lap time produced by the WRX STI Type RA NBR Special is a staggering feat for a sedan, but it was a one-off car built with competition parts. In the years since, some manufacturers have closed the gap using standard showroom models you can drive every day.

Even though the Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S looks like a coupe, it set a new benchmark for four-seater production cars with a lap time of 7:25. The 505-horsepower 2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio also turned in a scorching Nürburgring lap, completing the loop in 7:32.

But it was the 2024 Porsche Taycan Turbo GT with Weissach Package that really raised eyebrows. This four-door luxury EV’s lap time around the Nordschleife was 7:07.55, just ten seconds off the Subaru’s record.

Source: Subaru.