Quote:
Originally Posted by chunder
Why develop a car from scratch when you buy almost off the shelf proven winners? Unless you have a bottomless pit.
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I think this has hit the nail firmly on the head. If Subaru or Mitsubishi had a works team in Europe (in the same way Citroen do for example) then I feel sure that the Impreza and Evo could, or rather would, be competitive rallycross cars. You just need that initial funding and R&D push that a manufacturer (or loaded privateer!) can provide.
We know that the Subaru lump (in both EJ20 and EJ25 form) can produce the required power for ERC as there a huge number of tuned Impreza's running big BHP on these shores (I appreciate that these cars are tuned for different purposes, but its proof the engines can reliably handle that sort of power). The issue with parts is a fair one, though I have heard that Mitsubishi's are particularly bad for spares. There are certainly no shortage of tuners for Subaru over here; Prodrive, Roger Clark Motorsport... all with the expertise (in my opinion anyway) to make a rallycross Impreza work - sadly all very expensive companies to deal with though!
Citroen have always annoyed me in that they don't reflect their motorsport success in their roadcars - there is no "RS" or "STi" in the showrooms. You can't argue with the fact they continually pour money into - and succeed - at building successful rally and rallycross cars (as well as providing global sponsorship for rally series). Subaru are a company that has gained massive commercial success through motorsport, yet Subaru Europe don't seem willing to fund any major motosport programmes over here - very frustrating!
I'm looking to see what sort of car Subaru America can turn out for this years X-Games rallycross (and the subsequent US rallycross rounds later in the year). If Subaru America can put something decent together then put it in the hands of
Isachsen, I'll be very interested to see how it shapes up against the Olsberg prepared Fords - and whether it persuades Subaru Worldwide to get their finger out and start participating in the ERC!