Subaru's 600HP STi

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For the 2016 Isle of Man TT, Subaru put driver Mark Higgins in a special STi, with the express purpose of setting a course record that would be tough to beat, with this being Subaru's last year of sponsorship for the event. 

 

Two years ago, Subaru set a then-record with a lap time of 19:26 and 116.47 mph.  This year, they upped the ante with a beastly 600 horsepower STi, that Higgins pushed to a new-record time of 17:35.1 around the 37.7-mile Snaefell Mountain Course. 

 

The legendary Prodrive race shop, winners of four Lemans 24 Hours, three FIA WEC titles and the Le Mans series took a standard Subaru WRX STi, and turned it into a 600-horsepower monster.  Torque comes in at 590 ft-lbs from a production-based (stock block and heads) 2.0-liter turbocharged boxer engine out of the STi.  From there Prodrive got very creative with the engine, transmission (a six-speed semi-automatic) that Prodrive created along with transmission gurus at Xtrac.

 

The tires are 245/18 Dunlops that come straight from the British Touring Car Championship, and are mounded on Speedline rims.

 

Aerodynamics are mostly typical rally-car.  A deep front bumper and fender flares are used with a mostly stock body.  Prodrive added an active rear wing, which is activated by a button on the driver's steer wheel to reduce drag. 

 

Below is a short video of the record-setting lap.

 

 

Subaru, Zero-Landfill, and Why it Matters

Subaru has long been committed to the preservation of the planets resources.  The Subaru plant in Lafayette is the first of its kind to be designated as a zero-landfill factory.  This is an amazing achievement for a facility of its size and production. 

 

Now, Subaru has turned its attention to the U.S. National Parks Service and is working with them to help make our parks zero-landfill as well.  As one can imagine, this is a huge undertaking, considering the millions of visitors the parks host on a yearly basis.  The first such park in this project is Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska.

 

Denali poses unique challenges.  First is its massive size.  Denali is over 6 million acres, compared, for example, to Yellowstone National Park with 2.2 million acres.  Also, with it being in Alaska, there is little in the way of readily accessible recycling infrastructure because there are no major urban areas nearby.  The park sees roughly a half million visitors per year. 

 

 

 

The Denali community has rallied around the initiative, and are committed to its success.  If Subaru and the National Parks service can have success at Denali, there is no reason to think that it couldn't be accomplished across the country.  It is estimated that over 100 million pounds of trash are generated in our National Parks every year. 

 

The National Parks Zero Landfill Initiative is one more way that Subaru is "Showing the Love" by giving back to our country and the planet.