A turbo engine that revs at 9,500 rpm is not bad at all!
Car brands are denying themselves enormously. For decades they have been carefully building their image. They make special technological choices based on a certain conviction. They are dismantling their carefully built image in no time. Of course, it is most noticeable with BMW: atmospheric six-in-line engines, rear-wheel drive and Hofmeister kinks are no longer certainties. As are double headlights, L-shaped rear lights or two kidney grilles.
The reason that car brands do this is mainly due to type approval (environmental and safety requirements) and the taste of the consumer. They want a car that is clearly new. Apart from that, it doesn’t really matter, as long as it is a shapeless crossover. It is easy to get in and always handy if you want to go on safari.
Subaru WRX Project Midnight
At Subaru, the purists have it a little easier. For example, the brand still sells the BRZ, with a four-cylinder boxer engine and rear-wheel drive! Now, that drive is not typically Subaru, but the engine layout is. In combination with a transaxle, it is the perfect way to apply four-wheel drive. Where an inline engine is very long and high (like in an Audi), the boxer engine is much shorter and lower. Subaru still applies this principle to a lot of cars.
But what we want is a WRX STI. A compact sedan with a big spoiler, lots of power and an acceptable price tag. For years, that was the recipe for golden sales figures. There is a Subaru WRX, but that is a bit of a Volvo S60 Cross Country-like thing. Nevertheless, Subaru has been busy for us with the ‘WRX Project Midnight’.
It is a device with a look that Rick Brandsteder would describe as ‘heavy’. Now that is a rear spoiler. No half-baked stuff with lips and strips, but an extreme wing. As long as they are iconic, then it is allowed.
9,500 rpm!
The technical specifications are also intense. The engine is a neat 2.0 four-cylinder boxer engine, but with a huge turbo and a whole series of modifications. The end result? 670 hp! The torque is, if possible, even more impressive: 920 Nm! The maximum speed is no less than 9,500 rpm. This is clearly a competition engine, not a downsize block. You can also see that in the wheels: only 18 inches in diameter, but 280 mm wide.
The Subaru WRX Project Midnight will make its public debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed ​​that opens its gates soon. Former Red Bull driver Scott Speed ​​(best name for a driver ever?) will be driving the WRX Project Midnight around the track in search of an extremely fast time. Given the light weight of the car (just 1,120 kg) we imagine that there won’t be many faster cars. The car seems to have been built specifically for this purpose.
The intention is that elements of the WRX Project Midnight will eventually make it into a production version. Before you cheer too soon, Subaru has a real knack for making great concepts, studies and prototypes look like Slovenian budget rental cars.
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