Subaru Impreza WRX STI (Mk1, 1994 - 2000): review, history and specs of the rally icon

The Subaru Impreza is arguably slightly different to other Group A homologation cars. The Japanese company didn’t build 2500 special editions purely so that Prodrive could have a competitive rally car. Rather it produced a car – the WRX, known later as the GT in Europe and the Turbo 2000 in the UK – which Prodrive was consulted about, but which was also designed to sell in large, commercially successful numbers.

Unlike the Escort and Celica of the same time there were no monster wings and no bags under the rear seats. Instead there were four doors and a price (less than £20k in the UK) that made it an absolute performance bargain. Yes, there was an aluminium bonnet with a scoop in it, but it was a very demure-looking car on the whole.

> Toyota Celica GT-Four (1988 - 1999) review – the forgotten Group A rally icon

The more special WRX Type RAs, of which we have one in this test (a rare Version 1 STI Type RA from 1994), were homologation cars not for Group A, but for the lesser Group N. Under N regulations you couldn’t change things such as gear ratios and differentials for competition, so the close-ratio ’box, short final drive and the driver-controlled centre differential (DCCD) had to be available in a road car. Most of the STI models and special editions such as the 200-run (too few for homologation purposes) Series McRae edition were a case of special road cars being inspired by successful rally cars rather than the other way round.

Anyway, the Impreza road cars that first appeared in 1992 were a replacement for the Leone, but on the WRC’s special stages the Impreza was the successor to the Legacy. And here there are some similarities with Ford because, like the Sierra Cosworth 4x4, the Legacy was really too large and heavy. But like the Escort Cosworth, the new Impreza 555 (as it was officially known) leaned heavily on the development work done by its predecessor, using much of the running gear that the older car had developed. Subaru even built a shortened Legacy test bed, like Ford did with the Ace.

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Initially there was a curious competitive transition period for the rally team between new and old cars on the stages. Colin McRae won in New Zealand in 1993 in a Legacy. At the next round, the 1000 Lakes in Finland, the Impreza arrived and Ari Vatanen took it to a fine 2nd place (Markku Alén had a slightly more ignominious start, rolling his Impreza out of the rally on the first stage). At the following round in Australia all the Subaru drivers were back in Legacies again…

The Impreza went on to take three victories in 1994 and then had its annus mirabilis in 1995, winning both the drivers’ and manufacturers’ titles before taking the manufacturers’ title again in 1996 (whilst developing the all-new, non-Group A WRC car for the following year). It was, of course, McRae who secured that 1995 drivers’ title, and his staggeringly skilful flamboyance arguably did the most to create the Impreza’s legendary status. He certainly ensured that blue cars with gold wheels will forever be cool in certain people’s eyes.

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What we said

'...the staggering sparseness of the STI is initially bewildering. The driver’s door appears to weigh next to nothing, the frameless glass within it quivering nervously and a two-penny plastic winder the method of lowering it. It’s small, almost naively simple inside, and when I turn the flat-four into life there’s no offbeat rumble, because owner Dean Wilson has refitted its original ‘pea shooter’ twin-pipe back box for this gathering in the interests of originality. (He’s also fitted some OZ Racing gravel-style wheels and a Subaru sump guard – he’s clearly taking this very seriously.)

From the moment I let the clutch out with that mysteriously awkward sproing so redolent of Subaru’s all-wheel-drive system, the Impreza is straining to be driven absolutely on the limit. The motor’s job is made all the easier in this regard thanks to the shortest gearing I’ve experienced since an S1 106 Rallye 25 years ago: 3500rpm in top is good for around 60mph. The result is that a brush of throttle in fourth or even fifth elicits an instantaneous and forceful punch in the back, and the EJ20 motor also offers the benefit of an elevated rev range, so while it takes a fair few revs to hit its stride, unlike, say, the Cosworth, the STI keeps spinning and howling with its TIE fighter-esque whine until nearly 8000rpm. For a car with ‘just’ 271bhp it feels shatteringly quick, and the tight, slick gearshift mechanism is just as well given how frequently you’ll be swapping cogs in and out.

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That feral response extends to the rest of the car, because the Type RA is a beguiling mix of manic enthusiasm and real delicacy. Give the Nardi wheel a deftly positive nudge and the Impreza wants to change complete lanes or dive for an apex like an industrial magnet on the inside of the curve has just been switched on, and suddenly the whole car feels even lighter than its kerb weight of 1200kg suggests. Whoa.

The run to Hexham leaves the forests behind and soon funnels us rapidly between dry-stone walls in fast sections, punctuated periodically with 90-degree lefts and rights. It’s clear the Impreza has a hilarious ability to turn every drive into a ‘maximum attack’ session, but I gain almost as much enjoyment from seeing the pugnacious snout of the Lancia bobbing around in my mirrors. By the time our gloriously mud-splattered duo pull up next to the pumps I want an early hardcore Impreza so, so badly.' – Adam Towler, evo issue 271

Subaru Impreza WRX STI Type RA specs

This story was first featured in evo issue 271.