The Complete History of Subaru's Performance Subsidiary.
Was it the stunning yellow-on-blue coupe that ravaged through the twisty stages of Monte Carlo? Was it the sheer determination and, quite frankly, balls of a certain Colin McRae as he keeps on ploughing through damp Welsh terrain in a four-door Legacy that barely resembled the look of one? Was it their recent achievements in the grueling 24 Hours of Nurburgring? Or was it just a lasting impression as your wee eyes locked on to a World Rally Blue sedan with three distinct acronyms badged in pink? Subaru Tecnica International has undoubtedly become a major tour de force the sports car industry. A constant search of improvement and numerous conquests both in tarmac and gravel has indeed embossed the performance branch for being responsible to the creation of a handful of iconic performance cars remembered and celebrated by automotive enthusiasts, but it wasn't always like that in the beginning. Subaru Tecnica International was just an idea, in fact a reserve team, before eventually becoming what it is known today.
The history of Subaru cars entering motorsport venues and events had long existed even before the conception of STI. Even as early as 1963, Fuji Heavy Industries (as was the company name of the time) had already scored a 1st place best using their popular Subaru 450 in the very first inauguration of the Japanese Grand Prix, driven by none other than Subaru's test driver at the time, Noriyuki Ozeki. In 1964, they further bested their achievements with a 1-2 finish in Class T-1 using a Subaru 360, a smaller counterpart to the 450 but nonetheless the same car. In two years time, Ozeki would enter the '66 Japan Alpine Rally using a Subaru 1000, before claiming eventual victory in 1968. In 1970, the decorated Subaru test driver would again prove the prowess of their cars in a deathly gamble at the Baja 500 using a Subaru 1300G, while also competing and in fact winning the '70 Japan Alpine Rally for the third time, in the same type of car nonetheless. Fast forward a good three years, and it was at this time where to-be president of STI, Ryuichiro Kuze, battled in the Australian Southern Cross Rally using the well known Leone. Another year passed by as Subaru yet again claimed another win on the now regularly-dominated Japanese Alpine Rally.
Soon enough, the 80s rolled, and before 1981 had a chance to turn up, Subaru scored yet another victory in motorsports, this time achieving a 1st place best in what was considered to be the world's toughest rally stage; Safari Rally. Though the numerous trials on Subaru cars in less than favorable conditions proved their austerity and grit, Fuji Heavy Industry executives would only consider such achievements as experimental studies and company personnel hobbies, as at the time, even if those race cars were indeed factory backed to some extent, there was simply no need for any motorsport marketing due to limited advertising costs and management resources. It wasn't until 1987 where Kazuyuki Narita, promotion department manager of Subaru, proposed a plan to create a performance division for the oval star brand. This was in consideration that other Japanese automotive manufacturers have already used motorsports-rooted performance subsidiaries to further improve marketing of automobiles. Case in point being Toyota's TRD or Toyota Racing Development, Nissan's Nismo or Nissan Motorsports, and Mitsubishi Motor Company's Ralliart. With the coming introduction of their new Leone successor, the Legacy, and with the need of a sporty image to appeal to the global market, the potential for a performance division could no longer be dismissed. As such, in April of 1988, Subaru Tecnica International was born, led by none other than Ryuichiro Kuze himself, who was already appointed as the director in charge of Subaru vehicle development, and Hiroaki Ogawa.
Where TRD, Nismo, and Ralliart had motorsports image, be it on loose surface or tarmac, Subaru, with their infant-aged STI, still had nothing to prove for; They needed to, and fast. Not only looking for good image, but also as an additional extra to the Legacy's marketing campaign. At first, they ought to test themselves in the infamous Paris-Dakar rally raid, seemingly confident after they have demonstrated cars that could indeed survive the damp, excruciatingly rigorous conditions of the African-set rally. However, due to exceedingly expensive entry fees and a lack of experience in building a rally raid car, the idea was eventually dropped down. This didn't stop Subaru's searches quite frankly, and they were able to promptly have their eyes set on one particular record breaking event: The 100,000 km FIA World Land Endurance Record. The premise was relatively simple, in a nutshell, the entrant was to drive a car that could reach the highest average speed over any vehicle within a distance of 100,000 kilometers, and what better car to use than their brand new Legacy sedan? It was at this moment where Subaru's efforts with STi had became serious. Their main office soon moved to Ebisu, Tokyo, and Kuze was soon joined by a supporting crew working on experimental units under the Fuji Heavy Industries brand, one of the crews being the famed test driver Ozeki. Two people were in charge of domestic and overseas relations, with Koji Tsuda being in charge with domestic affiliations and partnerships in Japan, and Koji Kuroshima in charge of overseas and international. This team soon became known as the "Record Attempt Project".
A good 6 months after intensive driver training, three endurance record cars were flown to the Arizona Test Center on the 11th of December, 1989, favored for its dry conditions, mild climate, low rainfall probability, and the fact that it was set in an English-speaking country (which could mean a boost in sales). Their goal was to initially beat the record that they have set in 1986; an average speed of 213.299 km/h (132.537 mph) and a target of 50,000 miles if not 100,000 km. It was Alfa Romeo who held the record at 50,000 km, and Subaru were more than determined to smash the competition. On New Year's Day, 1989, precisely at 11:27:09, R/A Project finally set off to set a mark on the World Endurance Record. The first few days went smoothly for the three cars, with none of them running any issues thus far. It was on the 3rd day when conditions worsened with the arrival of, unexpectedly, heavy rain. On the 5th day, car No. 3's rear left wheel bearing subsequently went loose, and had to pit in for repair. In lieu of the troubles that occurred, Kuze ordered car No. 2 to pick up the pace, now aiming for a record average speed run rather than a record distance attempt. On the 11th day, all three cars have successfully beaten Alfa Romeo's 50,000 kilometer record, and with all three still being in relatively prime condition, the quest for 100,000 kilometers continued.
On the 12th day, car No. 2 suffered from engine problems right after refueling, to which it took 6 hours for the mechanics to repair. But that didn't stop the Subarus from marching towards victory. Eventually, on the 21st of January, at precisely 15:11:56 Arizona time, car No. 2, which was driven by Ozeki, ran 10,891 laps and scored a record 100,000 km with a speed of 223.345 km/h (138.780 mph), 10 km/h and 6 miles faster than the record set in 1986, and a record that was only able to be beaten by Mercedes-Benz a good 30 years after. Fuji Heavy Industries had finally done it, they have made a mark on Subaru Tecnica International's image, a world land endurance record to be more precise. Soon, advertisements for the Legacy centered upon their victory and record beating statistics on that fateful day. The path of STi was just beginning, and with their image now established, it was time to move to bigger leagues, and what could be better than to re-visit the motorsports principle they know very best? Rallying.
The Japanese were already familiar when it came to the World Rally Championship, be it with Toyota Team Europe and their dominating Celica GT-Four, Mazda with their high-tech 323 Familia, or Mitsubishi Ralliart Europe with their Galant VR-4 sedans, all trying to catch on what was then the crowned king of WRC, Lancia's Delta Integrale. Two months after the events of the Record Attempt Run, Kuze was yet again dispatched into the Safari Rally as surveillance, gathering information about the teams that competed in the rally, upon returning, he concluded that Subaru would need a competent technical partner if they want to come close to the likes of Toyota's TTE and Mitsubishi's MRE. This is where a certain Jonathan Ashman comes in. Ashman, who was then an official at the British RAC Rally, recommended Kuze to hook up with what could be the beginning to one of rallying's most iconic pairings, Prodrive. At the time, David Richards' race workshop had already shared a fair amount of success, with them being a technical supplier to BMW and their E30 M3s winning the Corsica Rally. Simply put, their resume was splendid. However, BMW had withdrew from the championship series early in '88, and Prodrive was now in search of a manufacturer willing to partner up with them. In such a bizzare coincidence with Subaru's search of a competent race car builder, Kuze stopped by Prodrive's headquarters to meet Richards himself, to which he'd requested a Legacy to be brought into the workshop for further analysis.
A month passed after the supposed discussion with Richards, and soon Kuze received a report from Prodrive's technical director, David Lapworth, who handed down a report containing a thorough potential analysis of the Legacy if it were to be converted into a Group A rally car. It's low center of gravity, high rigidity, and similar wheelbase length to the previously dominating Peugeot 205 T16 Group B rally car meant that it was, on paper, an effective package for rallying. Staff member Norio Fukue, who joined STi in 1989, was quoted: "If this is the case, you could win!", and such started the partnership between Subaru Tecnica International and Prodrive. Upon releasing Subaru's first STi tuned car, the Legacy RS RA, the aircraft company's blooming automotive branch soon entered in the 1990 Safari Rally, considering their expertise in this particular rally event. Unfortunately, even with local hero Ian Duncan behind the wheel, both Group A cars retired. However, Group N Legacies showed strong results with a 1-2 finish by Jim Heather Hayes followed by Patrick Njiru. Over the following years, the four-door 4WD sedan showed strong dominance over a number of rallies. In 1991, it placed 2nd on the Swedish Rally, it was also at this year when Colin McRae joined the team, in which his arrival could be considered as yet another one of rallying's greatest pairings. In 1992, McRae brought home another 2nd place best on the Swedish rally, and it was at this year where he defined his image of "flat out, on the limit driving" with his spectacular two-time rollovers in Rally Finland.
1993 soon came along, and the Legacy was finally retired, with its final victory being an impressive 1st place podium on the New Zealand Rally. In its replacement, was a car that subsequently made Subaru, STi, and Prodrive a living legend in the rallying world, the Impreza WRX. Even with a rocky start at the Great Britain Rally, the compact sedan which was smaller in size than its previous rally predecessor soon showed its true colors at Rally Finland, where it grabbed a 2nd place podium whilst snatching 3rd on the manufacturer's title. It wasn't until 1995 when McRae finally brought home 1st place for the manufacturer's title and driver's title for Subaru, starting a three-time consecutive winning streak of first places all the way to 1997, and to some hardcore Subaruists and rally fans alike, marking the golden age of Subaru/Prodrive's rallying era. Throughout the remainder of the 90s, Subaru still showed a strong presence by winning 3rd, 2nd, and 3rd place respectively in the '98, '99, and '00 seasons, before ending the podium winning streak to 4th in 2001. However, it was at this year when Richard Burns would score 1st place in the driver's title for Subaru, becoming the first Englishman to win the World Rally Championship. In 2002 throughout 2005, Petter Solberg would soon reign supreme as he finishes in the high podiums of second and third on the driver's title, while also contributing to 3rd place in the manufacturer's championship.
In the last few years of '06, '07, and '08, Subaru unfortunately had little success in claiming the driver's title, but, they were more than happy to be able to retain 3rd in the manufacturer's championship, before eventually pulling out of the WRC due to the economic downturn of the time and the simple fact that Subaru and STI had achieved their sporting and marketing goals in rallying, thus ending a 20 year love relationship with Prodrive and the WRC itself. But this wasn't an "end-for-all" decision. After their success in rallying, Subaru and STI ventured on to circuit racing, where their next goal is to conquer another one of motorsport's unforgiving event; the Nurburgring 24 Hours Endurance. A grueling endurance race set on none other than the "Green Hell" itself. Fortunately for STI, their experience with the Nordschleife had already been established ever since the early 90s, with continuous testing and improvement of WRX STI RA models of the past. Although off to a rocky start in 2009, the team continued to push further to eventually grab SEVEN-time SP3T class victories in 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2019, further proving the durability of Subaru cars that had been established almost four decades ago. Of course, having achieved major success in possibly the world's most intense endurance racing league wasn't enough for STI and Subaru. As such, their current outings on the domestic Super GT (or previously known as JGTC) have established yet another successful campaign on their motorsports division, with the Toyota co-developed BRZ GT300 race car, taking 5 pole positions in the 2013 season and outright winning the championship recently in the 2021 season. Be it on loose surface or on tarmac, Subaru and STI has proved that they can do both without breaking a sweat.
STI isn't always about the wins and the victories. They're also known for their cars too. The iconic Subaru Impreza WRX STI models have long since provided to-be racers and drivers with performance that was extracted from both rallying and circuit experience. STI tends to make their performance cars feel well sorted, yet refined. A fine balance between pure performance and comfort, although if you do want to taste pure hardcore Subaru performance, the Spec C and Spec C Type RA models are one to pick, being the most performance oriented trim model of the series, or if you want a little bit of finesse, the S-series Subarus can also give you adequate performance with a more luxurious touch, and less is spartan. There's always something for everybody in the STI range, be it the average performance car enjoyer, the seeker of pure, uninterrupted performance, the luxury sports crowd, or top trim model aficionados, and that's what makes the STI trim a special breed amongst other performance trims across multiple manufacturers. In March 9, 2005, Ryuichiro Kuze sadly passed away, leaving behind a handmade stage time chart he made for his love with rallying and undoubtedly the future legacy of Subaru Tecnica International, which, to put it quite frankly, has been well preserved throughout the times, and even to this day.
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