Wow, this stuff is great, thanks!!!

 

The Subaru Leone RX Turbo was initially released as a 4-door sedan, then a 3-door fastback/liftback.

The Leone RX Turbo was based off of the second and third generation Leone, while the twin-carb, 4WD Subaru Leone RX (see below the quote) was produced during the late end of the first generation Leone and the early years of the second generation of the Leone.

Leone 4WD RX turbo
SUBARU Philosophy | The third generation Leone (1984 to 1994)

Leone 3-door coupe 4WD RX Turbo
SUBARU Philosophy | Model history of the third generation Leone (Continued)

Leone 3-door coupé RX II turbo
SUBARU Philosophy | Model history of the third generation Leone (Continued)

Leone sedan GT-II full-time 4WD
SUBARU Philosophy | Model history of the third generation Leone (Continued)


silly stuffs below

some of Subaru's historic rally cars, most of them the Safari Rally variant

http://cf.juggle-images.com/fit/whit...ru-leone-5.jpg
Image Link


http://members.subaru.jp/blog/07.jpg
Image Link


http://www.subdriven.com/news/upload...90_car_big.jpg
Image Link


http://www.imcdb.org/i045924.jpg
Image Link
This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 691x576.Image Link


http://www.drivesouth.co.nz/files/user11/McRae.jpg
Image Link


http://www.worldrally.net/pakar/96/safsub.jpg
Image Link


http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_h3IRS9x8-R.../s400/sub4.jpg
Image Link


http://www.racingmodels.com/ekmps/sh...-43-7566-p.jpg
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http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3121/2...e82eea55_z.jpg
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final factory variant that Subaru would enter from SWRT into the Safari Rally
http://driveperformance2.subaru.com/...kends_main.jpg



Safari Rally 1992 : Ranjit Chager & Mo Verjee : Subaru RX Turbo.mov - YouTube
movie

Subaru Legacy RS at 1990 Safari Rally - YouTube

1995 Safari Rally SUBARU - YouTube

You forgot to add one of the first Subaru vehicles to enter any FIA rally event, the


Subaru Leone RX (non-turbo, instead a twin-carb)


equipped with the twin-carbureted EA engine (precedes the Leone RX Turbo), which seems to have been exclusively developed for rally-racing (with Subaru's top-level technology, just like Subaru's early turbo models of the Legacy and Impreza)

School me on EA81 DUAL-CARB engines - Old Gen.: 80's GL/DL/XT/Loyales... - Ultimate Subaru Message Board

Factory Twin Carb Subaru EA Engines were available on both the EA71 (1600) and EA81 (1800), Both engines were defined by a following "S" at the end on their engine codes. This was Subaru's way of calling it the Sports model. The engines were a completely different design to the standard models. The "S" models had Dual Ports and Opposite Valve configuration, which means different cams and rocker gear.

They were available in Japan in the Subaru Leone GSR and in the later RX Models. These engines has Higher Compression Ratio and had ~10% more power output. They were used heavily in the late 70s and early 80s Rally cars.

Unfortunately, the one who posted the mostly-unknown Subaru information used PhotoBucket to host the images, so the pristine Subaru advertisements and rally pictures cannot be seen







Summary of Subaru's rally-racing cars that competed in the FIA WRC:
Subaru Leone RX:

• first generation Subaru Leone [4-door sedan]
• second generation Subaru Leone [4-door sedan]

Subaru Leone RX Turbo:

• second generation Subaru Leone [4-door sedan]
• third generation Subaru Leone [4-door sedan and 3-door coupe]

Subaru Legacy RS:

• first generation Subaru Legacy [4-door sedan]

Subaru Impreza WRX STi:

• first generation Subaru Impreza WRX STi [4-door sedan] Subaru Impreza 22b STi-Version Premium Sports Coupe [2-door coupe]
• second generation Subaru Impreza WRX STi/Subaru Impreza WRX STI [4-door sedan]
• third generation Subaru Impreza WRX STI [5-door hatch]
• unsure if fourth generation will compete in FIA WRC

 

You are right, but Subaru did not enter the top level rallying until the RX Turbo as a semi-privateer team for the 1985 season (but only for round 7, Rally New Zealand), and was mostly used for testing and advertising. However, Subaru did compete and win a good number of rallies in the lower divisions back in the 80s. Can't find any vids of the Leone back then in action, though. Link added in first post anyways.

The Subaru World Rally Team (SWRT) was not officially formed until 1989 with the joint venture of Prodrive, and finally made an official debut as a Manufacturer team in 1993 with support from 555 cigarettes (which was how SWRT got it's famous blue and gold), with the first full season in the 1994 season.

 

Thanks for the history revisit. Solid gold!

 

I played them all at the same time and closed my eyes.

I died for a couple of minutes... they went in my car and the dogbox was gone and my ac was still there....

 

I played them all at the same time and closed my eyes.

I died for a couple of minutes... they went in my car and the dogbox was gone and my ac was still there....

:lol:

Thanks for posting this up Kaimino, perfect way to kill time at work:tup:

 

sugoi sugoi sugoi!

thanks for sharing!

 

wow,that's so cool!

 

This definitely needs a bump

 

Makes me kind of sad... I wish Subaru still did this stuff. Awesome thread though, really enjoyed watching these.

-Geoff

 

They do. It's called Rally America, which is no where as prestigious as WRC imho, although both Subaru and Mitsubishi still unofficially participate in WRC-3 until the switch to the newer 2011 rules in 2013.

Due to the economic recession, along with the knowledge of the WRC rule changes in 2011 and dismal 2006/2007/2008 seasons, Subaru pulled out of the sport in 2008, probably indefinitely, but not sure if the 2015 WRX will have anything to do with the return, since the new WRC rules banned center diffs and longitudinal transmission placement (which indirectly bans Subaru's boxer layout), unless FIA loosens the rule.

 

The sport still has a strong following in Europe and Asia but it struggles to pique American interest besides some improvement in later years. Heck, even the F1 couldn't do it in the end. Y'all like to turn left too much!

The FIA has been trying real hard to lower the costs of running in WRC for years, in hopes to "save the series" around the world and bring back the privateers since most of the manufacturers left. A typical FWD econobox layout modified into AWD is cheaper in the end and also puts everyone on the same level. Although I'd like Subaru to return to WRC, the new WRX/STi has NOTHING going for it to be able to successfully compete in the WRC. It's obviously not what Subaru wants to do. Sad but true. It would look like a fat Skoda that doesn't belong (we remember those don't we ?). :tdown:

Group N, although less spectacular, is where the true battle rages on worldwide. That class includes still Subarus and Mitsubishis, lest many forget it, proving in every event that they can still kick butt over the other makes. They also are way more related to our cars than the $500K+ WRC purpose built machines. In that aspect, I say screw WRC, and go support your local rallies. Watch all them guys not afraid to pay to play hard, very hard. They deserve the respect! :tup:

 

The FIA has been trying real hard to lower the costs of running in WRC for years, in hopes to "save the series" around the world and bring back the privateers since most of the manufacturers left. A typical FWD econobox layout modified into AWD is cheaper in the end and also puts everyone on the same level.

I pretty much agree with you, but I feel the FIA is trying too hard to lower costs. The revised WRC-spec after the 2010 season (or more like since WRC-spec inception) is a little too strict to where innovation (which is arguably a defining trait of having different Manufacturers) is no longer a thing. The World Rally Car regulation might as well be a Spec series with a different shell and too much of a drivers race, creating less and less of an identity for the Manufacturers.

The WRC WAS the innovative proving grounds for many of the major manufacturers. Harkening back to a much less strict pre-Group B (or even Group A and B), you got Lancia making the killer kit car MR Stratos, Ford developing the amazing FR Escort RS, Audi making AWD work with the Quattro, the amazing hatchback of the Peugeot 205 T16, Toyota making the Celica Coupe work, and Mitsubishi's advanced AWD with the Lancer Evolution sedan. Subaru was the last real "different" manufacturer with the boxer and symmetrical layout and semi-auto gearbox. There is simply none of that now, can barely tell apart the Ford Fiesta, Volkswagen Polo R, and Citroen DS3 because of how similar their technologies and aerodynamic bodies are, so this itself can also potentially bottleneck the WRC to death.

 

Yeah I meant that I wished that WRC was still what it used to be and that Subaru was still fighting to be on top. Even if you didn't enjoy watching the stuff which is hard the imagine, I think it produced a lot more innovation. IMO It's the reason why there were major mechanical changes all 4 years with the GD. The GR only had major changes once over its entire 7 year life span which was in 2011. This is just my take on it, but I think that goes to show that Subaru doesn't take things like Rally America nearly as seriously as they took WRC.

-Geoff

 

World Rally Championship Debut Rounds of Each Impreza World Rally Car

1997 Rally Monte Carlo (Round 1 of 14) - Debut of brand new WRC1997
<no video found yet >

1998 Rally Monte Carlo (Round 1 of 13) - Debut of WRC1998

1999 Rally Monte Carlo (Round 1 of 14) - Debut of WRC1999
<no video found yet >

2000 Rally Portugal (Round 4 of 14) - Debut of WRC2000

2001 Rally Monte Carlo (Round 1 of 14) - Debut of WRC2001

2002 Rally Tour de Corse (Round 3 of 14) - Debut of WRC2002

2003 Rally Monte Carlo (Round 1 of 14) - Debut of WRC2003
<no video found yet >

2004 Rally Mexico (Round 3 of 16) - Debut of WRC2004

2005 Rally Mexico (Round 3 of 16) - Debut of WRC2005

2006 Rally Monte Carlo (Round 1 of 16) - Debut of WRC2006

2007 Rally Mexico (Round 4 of 16) - Debut of WRC2007

2008 Rally Acropolis (Round 7 of 15) - Debut of WRC2008

 

Memories in animated GIF form!

 

1 vid added for GD.

1 vid replaced/refreshed for GD.

 

1 pic replaced/refreshed for Impreza 555.

2 vids added and 1 vid replaced/refreshed for GD.

1 vid deleted for GE.

 

1 vid added for GE.

 

1 vid deleted from GD.

Revised nomenclature for Leone RX Turbo, Legacy RS, and Impreza 555.

 

New vid added to first post.

"Test Subaru WRC 06"

Last GC vid deleted. Uploader made the video private.