Past Master
Loved by boy racers, hot versions of the original Impreza are fast becoming compelling modern classics. Dan Prosser discovers why
Subaru Impreza WRX Type R
It redlines at 7800rpm, which gives a wide power band and a thrilling top end to chase
During the Impreza’s heyday – roughly a 10-year period straddling the turn of the millennium – Subaru produced such a vast number of derivatives and limited-edition models that you’ll get a migraine if you try to memorise them all today. Quick versions were badged WRX and really quick versions WRX STI, which is simple enough, but then there were Type R and Type RA models that were intended to be built into competition cars, and models that were produced to commemorate World Rally Championship (WRC) victories. And that was just in a single year.
It’s all rather complicated. There is an easy way to distinguish a truly special Impreza from any number of more prosaic ones, though: count the doors. Back in the late 1990s, rally teams, including Subaru’s Prodriverun factory outfit, preferred the twodoor coupés to the four-door saloons because they were lighter and stiffer. Appropriately, the two-door models are the most sought after now.
The best-known versions are the 22B, which sells for in excess of £100,000, and the P1. There are others, though, such as this WRX Type R V-limited. Built in 1998 to mark Subaru’s WRC success the previous year, the model was limited to 1000 examples. This particular car, number 179, has been imported from Japan, having covered just 30,000 miles. It has been modified with a taller rear wing, a more prominent roof scoop and a bigger exhaust system, but otherwise it’s as it was the day it left the factory.
The Type R V-limited was one of those models that Subaru produced specifically for the purpose of being stripped out and built into a rally car. That’s why it has two-piston front brakes rather than four. As far as Subaru was concerned, the rally team that had probably bought it was invariably going to replace the roadspec brakes with competition parts.
That’s not to say it’s no good as a humble road car. In fact, it’s a hoot to drive and still feels alarmingly fast. The official power output is 276bhp, but most Impreza enthusiasts will tell you it produces more like 300bhp.
The warbling flat-four soundtrack is so distinctly Subaru that there’s no mistaking it for anything else and the turbocharged engine itself is a gem. You can feel it filling its lungs when you flatten the accelerator as the boost builds but, after a short hesitation, the car fires down the road with the intensity of a much more powerful car. Such boosty power delivery can trick you into thinking a car has more power than it really does.
What’s really exciting about this engine, though, is that it redlines at 7800rpm, which gives you a wide power band to use and a thrilling top end to chase. The manual gearbox, meanwhile, has a direct and very mechanical throw that’s just as satisfying to use.
Unlike many performance cars of the era, the Type R V-limited doesn’t feel softly sprung by today’s standards. Instead, it’s quite firm, with a relatively busy ride and short wheel travel. It feels so well balanced in corners, though, with a keen front end and a mobile rear – both on and off the power – that makes the car so adjustable. You can more or less do with it as you please.
There can’t be many cars at this price point that are shot through with such mouth-watering motorsport heritage. And, of course, the door count is just right.