By Jeff Glucker
I am going to put a string of words out there that seem like they’d only be vaguely connected. Subaru. Ferrari. Rally. California. Oregon. Some of those seem related, but for this story, they all fit together amazingly well. That’s because the video above shows a 2004 Subaru WRX STI fully built up for rally racing and the power comes from a V8 engine plucked from a Ferrari California. The Oregon part relates to where the owner lives, and also the Oregon Trail Rally stage shown in the video.
There’s an ARA class of racing that allows for V8 engines under 4.5 liters. A Ferrari California engine is 4.3 liters and delivers 454 hp. It also sounds wicked thanks to the flat-plane crank. Paired with a sequential gearbox and all the awesome rally bits you can throw at an STI, this beast is built for running hard and fast.
The video above provides an awesome angle of Special Stage 5. You get the view, the throttle and speed information, and the co-drivers pace notes. Oh, and the wail of that Ferrari engine spinning its magic.
One thing to note in the excellent video is when the rally positions are shown near the end. Look at the list of entries to find Lia Block’s name and the class in which she’s running. She’s impressive as hell, right?
That’s an insanely well made video. And what a sound with all of that excess power!
The whole time I was trying to make sense of what she was saying. The only thing I figured out was that she was always a couple of turns ahead and the number after the right or left seemed to correspond to the angle of the turn. Nothing else made sense.
I can’t imagine being so focused that you can keep track of info 2 or 3 turns ahead while doing a 4 wheel drift at 70 MPH on this turn and keeping it out of the weeds.
Fun to watch and it sounded great.
Damn, that’s freaking cool.