WRX STi WRC2005
The latest evolution of Subaru's Impreza World Rally Car will debut on March 11 at Rally Mexico, the third round of the 2005 World Rally Championship.
The Impreza WRC2005 has been jointly developed by the Subaru World Rally Team (SWRT), Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI), the maker of Subaru vehicles, and Subaru Tecnica International (STI), the brand's performance arm.
The new car is wider (1800mm) - an increase of 30mm in the front and rear, meeting new regulations for 2005. The suspension arm is extended and the front and rear struts, plus anchorage points, improved. The body shell has been re-designed, including the front bumper and the front and rear fenders. The shell was designed by the Advanced Design Team at FHI, taking account of aerodynamics, cooling and driving performance in rallies.
The design team at FHI, led by Andreas Zapatinas, finalized styling in close collaboration with SWRT.Composite material is newly adopted for the front and rear fenders to make the shell stiffer and lighter.The horizontally opposed EJ20 engine offers enhanced performance to remain competitive and effective in the WRC.
A wide range of performance upgrades includes a direct water injection system and a larger turbocharger housing for stable engine combustion, plus a lighter flywheel and other lightweight components.
FHI and STI have established a motor sport engineering development project called "MSi", promoting rally car development and using facilities and technology for production car development.
Its work contributes to the development of a "quick and strong" rally car and also the performance and design of production cars.
The Impreza WRC 2005 is a development of the 2004 car designed under the guidance of ex Formula One car designer Ed Wood (UK). The 2004 model won five events in 2004, driven by Petter Solberg (Norway), the 2003 WRC Driver's Champion.
Solberg added another win on its final event, the second round of 2005 WRC, Rally Sweden.
Main characteristics of the Impreza WRC2005
- 1800mm widened body, bodyshell design change around the front and the side areas
- Light and rigid composite material adopted for the front and rear fenders
- Engine performance upgrades including direct water injection system, IHI turbocharger housing and a lighter flywheel
- Reliability of the gearbox is enhanced with a new mechanism for the front differential
- Refined cooling system including V-mount radiator
- Improved suspension to balance with the widened body and enhance reliability
- Forged aluminium wheel made by BBS
- Improvements inside the car to lower the centre of gravity and for better serviceability
- Adoption of DENSO spark plugs
-RSportsCars.Com
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Originally Posted by Disoblige
