LAST BLAST

Not so fast, BEVs: Prodrive is giving the turbo Subaru WRX a big send-off

With the launch of the latest WRX, Subaru Tecnica International (STI) has pressed pause on its turbo-petrol road cars while it regroups for a new generation of battery electric vehicles (BEVs).

But Prodrive, the UK company that created and ran Subaru’s competition machines in its World Rally Championship (WRC) heyday, is signing off the internal combustion engine (ICE) era of the WRX STI in extravagant style.

It plans to reveal a (very) limited-edition model called the P25 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed on June 23. The two-door P25 will be the lightest and most powerful WRX ever made . . . by a long way.

Its 2.5-litre four-cylinder engine is tipped to offer more than 300kW, while extensive use of carbon fibre will keep the weight close to 1000kg.

While it won’t technically (Tecnically?) be an STI, it’s clearly a spiritual successor to the 1998 Impreza WRX STi 22B: widely regarded as the greatest WRX ever made and a model that Prodrive helped develop.

People that worked on the 22B, including stylist Peter Stevens and technical director David Lapworth, have also contributed to the P25 project.

No price has been announced as yet, but given that it’s a bespoke model and just 25 examples will be built, it will be seriously expensive and an instant collector car.

“The original 22B Impreza is considered the most iconic of Subarus and highly sought after,” says Prodrive chairman David Richards.

“We wanted to enhance everything that made that car so special by applying the very latest technology to create our own modern interpretation of a car that’s established a place in motoring history.”