News
Posted Tuesday, February 13, 2024 at 9:59pm
For thirty years, Subaru has been synonymous with the Canadian rallying scene. The partnership made perfect sense: what better way to showcase the off-road capabilities of a company built on a foundation of all-wheel-drive grip than to have Pat “Rocket” Richard go flying down the gravel and launch his STI into low Earth orbit? Even after Mitsubishi conceded the field, Subaru stuck with rally, both as title sponsor for the Canadian Rally Championship, and with… Read More →
Posted Tuesday, February 13, 2024 at 9:57pm
I spent last weekend in Northern Michigan at the Sno*Drift Rally, a yearly stage rally that has been run in its current national format in Montmorency County since 1997. It’s the only winter event in the American Rally Association’s calendar where the cars don’t wear studded tires, and all 118 miles of the rally are conducted on (closed-off) public roads in a single county, which saves competitors time and fuel when traveling between stages. Read More →
Posted Tuesday, February 13, 2024 at 9:54pm
In our world, it’s the dream busman’s holiday. It’s some of the best roads on the planet in one of the most entertaining cars in rallying. It’s not hard to see why two-time American champion Brandon Semenuk took up the offer of a seat aboard a Subaru Impreza H6 on April’s Otago Rally. Semenuk and co-driver Keaton Williams will make their New Zealand rally debut on the famous South Island stages, offering yet more fan… Read More →
Posted Monday, February 12, 2024 at 10:04pm
All-action American hero Travis Pastrana was back in business at the Sno*Drift Rally, which ended in Atlanta, Michigan on Saturday night. But it was business as usual for Brandon Semenuk who took his 10th straight ARA win. The Canadian started the second day of this snow-turned-gravel event with a 1m25.9s lead over team-mate Pastrana, but was quickly reminded why the Maryland driver was a four-time Sno*Drift winner. The #199 Subaru scorched through the weekend opener, 1.9s… Read More →
Posted Monday, February 12, 2024 at 10:03pm
Small cars were just the ticket in the mean Malaise days of the late 1970s, and that’s exactly what Subaru had in its lineup. Malcolm Bricklin’s import gamble paid off, as Subaru navigated its way out of West Coast import obscurity and into the driveways of Americans who were not necessarily on the left coast. Read More →
Posted Sunday, February 11, 2024 at 10:01pm
The year might have changed, the snow might have disappeared and the team might be twice as big, but some things seemingly never change – Brandon Semenuk and Keaton Williams remain the class of the ARA field. Subaru Motorsports USA’s defending American champions hit the ground running at the 2024 Sno*Drift Rally, with a clean sweep of Friday’s evening’s six stages. The #1 Subaru built an impressive 1m25.9s advantage over Travis Pastrana’s sister car. Read More →
Posted Saturday, February 10, 2024 at 9:57pm
Brandon Semenuk won’t be chilling on the jumps in Michigan this week. His words. The defending ARA champion is, of course, entirely comfortable in the air (with two or four wheels beneath him) but Sno*Drift is going to be different. The conditions for the season-opener are radically changed from anything that’s been seen on the Lower Peninsula stages for more than two decades. There’s just not that much snow. Semenuk senses it might be time… Read More →
Posted Saturday, February 10, 2024 at 9:55pm
Driving this armoured station wagon feels like just that: something high off the ground and not particularly athletic in the corners, but incredibly smooth over beaten roads and potholes. The amount of travel in the suspension system is impressive as it simply takes the hits. I drove this thing during a generous portion of snowfall and the thing never flinched. Subaru is sometimes seen as the black sheep of the automotive industry. It’s an underdog,… Read More →
Posted Friday, February 9, 2024 at 9:52pm
Travis Pastrana is back. He’s back with a smile, a knee that’s working and a desire as strong as ever to land a seventh American title. After a year away from the ARA, Pastrana will carry the fight to team-mate and chief title rival Brandon Semenuk this season. And he’ll do it in a brand-new Subaru Motorsports USA WRX. A car he tested for the first time on Wednesday. The first time? Yes. Doctor’s orders.… Read More →
Posted Friday, February 9, 2024 at 9:52pm
As they sit, the Subaru BRZ and Toyota GR86 twins have distinct-ish personalities, with the Subie’s handling generally not as tail-happy as the GR’s, though both are sublime sports cars. In a way, getting an even better-handling, more planted BRZ makes sense given each car’s reputation, even if what we really want is a bit more underhood grunt. But we digress. Read More →
