Personally, the WR1 is growing on me, and with DCCD-A, yummy!

Now, many of you don't think it's a very special "special edition" car.

So, my question to you all is:

What would you have put into the WR1?

 

A different colour and to get rid of those stupid "Bently-esk" grilles

 

and twin scroll

 

Does it have the dashboard instruments that the JDM has? Or it's it still the plain looking rubbish you would get in a bog standard hatchback?

 

Do you mean extra gauges? or the instruments whose needles swing when you turn on the ignition? if it's that, then I think it does.

What would I have done?

Well, the Ice Blue is growing on me, but I'd have offered other colors too, WR Blue, for obvious reasons, and maybe the orange that the S202 comes in, now that would be cool.

Twin scroll turbo would have been nice, plus gauge pack too.

Apart from that, there isn't much I would change.

OK, so it's not a really really special edition, but the only real special edition impreza is the 22B, the RB5, whilst nice, was really only a PPP'd car with special badging and paintwork, I don't think there was anything really exclusive on it that you could not have done yourself with dealer approved parts.

There is one thing people don't seem to have factored in when the price up making your own WR1 and that is the DCCD-A, I would be interested to know how much one would cost to obtain, and fit, I don't think it'd be that cheap TBH

 

I think it's good. They need it to stand out and as most people buy the normal Sti's in Rally blue an unusual colour was needed. Think I prefer the understated Ice blue to say a garish orange or bright green a la Fast and Furious. If it was too trick it would end up being 22B money which is not in line with the other UK rally special editions that have gone before.

 

You could always powder coat the grille black, or dump it, nasty nasty looking thing. Rest of the car's great though.

 

my wr1 would be the T25 in 2 door

 

Its available in red and wr blue as well, rumour has it


[Edited by chrisp - 1/12/2004 8:06:28 PM]

 

Possibly a meaner colour and 2 doors would of been nice!

 

Another incorrect rumour (that will no doubt be spread unless it's put to bed right now).

The WR1 is available in Ice Blue, and that's it. The European market "Solberg" car (which doesn't have the PPP, or any of the other Prodrive bits), is, however, available in all three colours.

 

rumour is wrong chris.

 

had a red one and a blue one anyway LOL

 

350-380 bhp on a 2.2lt engine


steve

 

And £30K !!!

 

i think we all would like £30K.

 

Better colour
Twin Scroll Turbo
Nitrid Crank
Tubular Headers
Oil Cooler
Back lit dials (comes with euro blue ones)

Shall I continue

 

Nathan, I was talking about what you'd want from a WR1, not what is on the modding list for your car

Please continue though.

 

Wish it ahd been a two door version

 

Colour did nothing 4 me or the grills,maybe DBM with FMIC and wide mouth frog bumper to show that FMIC off and carbon chin spoiler like the evo 8 had on at the show and last but not least the boot spoiler in coloured carbon/kevlar .MMMMM my my00 is DBM

Justin

 

For 30k I wouldn't say no to a chinese bag holder

 

I would have wanted it to look like this

 

Hmmm, I'm rather glad it doesn't, but to each his own.

 

- 2 door?
- wider arches?

i just think it should be special, i agree with the RB5 comments and understand that, but it's just that the car is meant to be a celebration of solberg winning the championship. so where has the effort gone? after a year of battling through the WRC they won it?? ffs show that you appriciate it subaru!

maybe it's because i'm a big solberg fan and i just think he deserved more recognition of his acheivement.

also the 22B/P1 have always been the top special editions i think alot of P1 owners are getting rid of there cars now due to them running out of warranty etc... isnt it time to give them a replacement???

it's just time for one of those special-special models.

maybe there waiting till they win the manufacturer's championship too??

be a while for that i think!

 

If you're referring to the pic above, it's a Photoshop job. If you're referring to what you would have liked the WR1 to be like, that was never remotely likely.

It is. Given the car's combination of features and UK warranty/dealer support, it's a unique package.

Er, what were you expecting? Solberg won the championship in early November, and it's now early-mid January. Just how much did you (and the other complainers) expect Prodrive and Subaru to be able to do in two months? Developing a roadcar isn't a five minute job. It was never going to be a 22B-style "re-engineered from the ground up" effort, despite some of the wilder rumours that were circulating about it being two door, wide arch etc. etc. etc.

Given the amount of time available, it was always going to be a "parts bin" job, just as most of the previous UK "specials" were. It's just as well that a number of DCCD equipped cars had already been earmarked for Europe, otherwise we wouldn't even have got what we've got.

He had success incentives in his 2003 contract, which he's no doubt benefitted from, and also has a payrise for 2004. He's received stacks of coverage in Norway and Japan, and would have received a lot more here if it hadn't been for Colin McRae trying to crash the party. I'm sure Petter is happy enough.

The P1 was a thinly disguised parts-bin job that nevertheless took a lot of testing and refinement before Prodrive and IM were happy to sell it to customers. The 22B is very much alone in being a "genuine" special.

It probably is, but what makes you think that's the WR1? For all we know there may be something else on the stocks...

As stated above, they won't wait for a championship win to decide to produce a really special "special", if they did, the car would be appearing a year or two after whatever they're supposed to be commemorating. If they're going to build a car like this, they'll decide they're going to do it, then worry about what they're going to call it later.

The amount of time and effort involved in engineering a proper job means that the lead-times have to be lengthened dramatically. IIRC the internal green light for the 22B was given something like two years before the car was publicly announced, and the P1 (despite the fact that it was based on an existing Japanese model) was tested over here for several months.

With this background, you can see why the WR1 isn't more "special" than it is. What else would you expect Prodrive to come up with in two months, given whatever the produced would have to be fully tested and robust enough to satisfy IM's warranty?

It'd be interesting to find out, for example, how long it was between Iain Litchfield having the idea for the Type 25, and the first customer-ready cars being available. I'd imagine it'd be a bit longer than nine weeks.

 

Cars like the 22B have never been built on a UK special edition type phylosophy.

Just look at the history of the UK special editions.

Series McRae: UK turbo with diferent colour, 16" wheels (UK was 15" then), McRae decals, Uplifted interior with sunroof. Technically it was no diferent than a standard UK turbo. 200 produced.

Catalunya: UK turbo with diferent colour, Colour coded mirrors, 15" wheels taken from the Impreza Sport and painted Gold, Catalunya decals, Uplifted interior with A/C, shorter gear **** (not a quickshift). Technically it was no diferent than a standard UK turbo. 200 produced.

Terzo: UK turbo with diferent colour, 16" Gold wheels, Terzo decals, Uplifted interior with A/C, Cat 1 alarm. Technically it was no diferent than a standard UK turbo. 333 produced.

RB5: UK turbo with diferent colour, colour coded exterior, uplifted interior, 17" speedlines in pewter (UK turbo was 16"), Driving light conversion, a/c. Technically it was no diferent than a standard UK turbo except for a quickshift.

RB5 WR Sport: UK turbo with diferent colour, colour coded exterior, uplifted interior, 17" speedlines in pewter (UK turbo was 16"), Driving light conversion, a/c, High rear wing, embossed dash clocks. Technically it was no diferent than a standard UK turbo except for a quickshift and PPP. 444 RB5/RB5 WR Sports produced.

UK300: UK turbo with exclusive body kit including WRC copy headlamps, uplifted interior, 18" wheels (UK turbo was 17"). Technically it was no diferent than a standard UK turbo. You had the option to buy the PPP which wasnt available at release on the UK turbo. 300 produced.

When the above were released the only way to get an STi was to import one using the grey route.

Non UK turbo based specials

22B TypeUK: Based on the JDM only 22B limited edition with higher final drive ratio, delimited, height adjust headlamps, driving lamps, Cat1 alarm, EU spec facia for radio, 4 speakers, MPH Speedo, filler neck restrictor, rear fog lamp. 16 produced.

P1: Based on the 4 door STi5 running gear but using a 2 door body shell as used in the STi5 Type R. P1 bodykit, UK spec suspension, Driving lamps, Euro spec facia, a/c, quickshift, front strut brace, 17" wheels (STi5 was 16"). 1000 produced (originaly 500)

When the above were released there was still no STi available for the UK buyer.

Based on that history the UK special edition was never going to be anything other than an uplifted UK spec car. If there is going to be a one off supercar built, such as the 22B was, then it will be a JDM model and maybe the UK would get a few as we did with the 22B Type UK.

Now lets look at what we are getting with the STi WR1 based on what i know so far (the press releases are not acurate, the full spec hasnt been released yet).

It is based on the STi TypeUK with the following changes.
One off colour.
320BHP PPP. (standard is 265BHP)
13:1 quickrack (standard is 15:1)
DCCD-A Transmition system with a 65%R/35%F torque split electro-magnetic clutch pack centre diff with active or manual control switchable by the driver giving a rear wheel drive biased chassis. (standard is 45%R/55%F torque split non adjustable Viscous coupling centre diff giving a front wheel drive biased chassis)
Plated LSD rear diff (standard is VC)
Driving lamps
Uplifted interior
WR1 graphics
18" wheels (standard is 17")
Prodrive Spring and bump stop suspension kit (25mm lower than standard)
500 produced.

Unlike all the UK special editions in the past (22B Type UK excepted), the WR1 has significant improvements that will change the cars charicteristics in a major way. It may look very subtle and not have the bulging arches of the 22B, but under the skin it's a serious step up in performance for the UK market. It follows the phylosphy of all the previous UK specials but technically goes further than we have seen before.

There are obviously areas i would like to see improved upon, but being realistic about how Subaru deals with the EU market this car is a very good spec and does have the important components on it that the STi Type UK needs to compete with cars like the EVO8 FQ series.

 

P1 hasnt got quickshift as far as i know

Seemed a longer throw than my typeR.

 

sorry i spoke

 

why?

 

Agree with the general thrust of what I think you're saying John, but a couple of factual issues...
That's a little disingenuous, isn't it? While the drivetrain is as per the UK cars of the time, the RB5 did get the JDM spec WRX shell with the fixed rear bulkhead. Thus, unlike some of the UK cars that only became "special" when they went through paint and interior fitting, at least the RB5 was different right from the early stages of the production line.

Are you saying that the centre diff on the "normal" STi Type UK is different to the other viscous ones John? Normal centre diff has 50/50 inherent torque split, no?