Stepping into the Prodrive P25 for the primary time introduced on waves of nostalgia—for what I concurrently knew properly and had by no means actually skilled. 

Like many in a cohort of car-obsessed Gen Xers, I turned conscious within the Nineties that there was extra to motorsports than NASCAR, System 1, CART, and the Humorous Automotive and monster truck races occurring Sunday, Sunday, Sunday. The one much more attention-grabbing to look at—on TV, or in particular person once I might—was rally racing. 

The mid-to-late ‘90s represented a heyday of kinds for Subaru motorsports, because it racked up rally wins with Richard Burns and Colin McRae. Subaru’s efficiency pedigree at present wouldn’t be almost as thrilling with out the Impreza 22B STi as a forebear. Made in 1997 to rejoice Subaru’s fortieth anniversary, it provided a direct connection from the rally stage to manufacturing.

But it’s a automobile that was by no means bought in Subaru’s largest single market, the U.S.

From a distance, the Prodrive P25 is all however a doppelganger of that icon of the Subaru rally stage, of which simply 424 had been made globally, most bought in Japan. However for individuals who wish to hold one thing very particular of their garages for observe days or back-road blasts, the P25 is much more unique. The P25 prices 460,000 British kilos (proper round $600,000) as a place to begin, not counting tax, supply expenses, non-UK registration charges, import duties, or different bespoke requests. And solely 25 or so will likely be made.

For reference, the most fascinating of the unique 22Bs now have market costs larger than that. A restricted variety of these which have been pushed have been imported to the U.S., and even the well-used ones are fetching costs past $200,000.

Prodrive P25

A Subaru supercar not made by Subaru

So right here I used to be at one of many dealing with programs at England’s Millbrook Proving Floor, behind the wheel of a automobile that appears each bit the ‘90s half. However for many intents and functions, it’s a Subaru supercar beneath. 

Those that have clocked some miles within the era of Impreza Coupe on which that is based mostly—me with the two.5RS Coupe—the inside goes to concurrently really feel each acquainted and totally different. The carbon fiber all through, the utterly totally different pedal pads and footwell, the dearth of a shift knob and the large paddle alongside the steering wheel all instructed me that this was one thing extra. So did the well-bolstered sport seats. However the tight flooring contour and splayed legs wanted to suit comfortably felt similar to the lodging in different Imprezas of the period.

The P25 isn’t a reproduction, stresses Prodrive. It’s based mostly across the unique Nineties-era STi bodyshell however is its personal creation—a restomod that at lower than 2,700 kilos, is a pair hundred kilos lighter than the unique, performs higher than it, and doesn’t maintain again in tapping into two and a half many years of perspective and motorsports engineering prowess. 

Prodrive, it’s price noting, isn’t a part of Subaru. Vehicles are solely a part of its motorsport and know-how enterprise, though it’s a venue that exhibits off the corporate’s fluency with weight-saving composites. 

Assessment: Prodrive P25

P25 packs a Subaru boxer pushed to Professional

The engine within the P25 is and isn’t a Subaru creation. It’s a Prodrive-built 2.5-liter turbo-4 based mostly on the Subaru EJ25 engine from current mannequin years. 

Upping the displacement to 2.5 liters helped with torque versus the two.0-liter Prodrive had been working with, Tomasz Jermolaj, the P25’s engine growth engineer, defined to Motor Authority. It then created its personal bespoke connecting rods and pistons, and whereas it used the present valvetrain as a place to begin it created its personal valves, springs, and camshaft. 

Prodrive has stored creating and refining the P25 since its introduction final yr on the 2022 Goodwood Competition of Velocity, and with launch management it might now ship a 0-60 mph time of lower than three seconds; final yr Prodrive estimated a 0-62 mph time of lower than 3.5 seconds. 

Prodrive took a difficult method to serving to be certain that the P25 at all times feels on prime of its increase. A part of it’s sending an additional spoonful of sugar—that’s high-octane gasoline—to the Garrett turbo to maintain it spinning on elevate, however there’s extra to it: merely utilizing extra throttle than the engine will ever want. 

“As a result of we hold a lift reserve pre-throttle, and the turbocharger might be double the pace it needs to be, so once you add throttle you may have that prompt torque,” Jermolaj mentioned, including that utilizing a throttle that’s nonetheless at in all probability 50% of its capability on a full load helps, too—despite the fact that it’s not essentially the most fuel-efficient approach to do issues.

Prodrive P25

Prodrive P25 is geared for the facility plateau

Energy is diminished and accelerator inputs softened within the Highway mode I first tried. Driving the P25 flat-out—one thing I didn’t do—would take intense focus, and timing your shifts is an enormous a part of that despite the fact that you don’t want to fret concerning the left pedal. However I bought sufficient of a pattern in Sport mode to inform that P25 feels extra at dwelling with itself when pushed laborious. Then, it produces 440 hp from 5,500 rpm all the best way to its 7,000-rpm redline, and Prodrive recommends you upshift at 6,500 rpm to extract essentially the most from this “energy plateau” with its gearing, which is able to then drop you again to five,500 rpm. In the meantime the torque plateau (official quantity nonetheless TBA) is from 3,000 rpm to five,500 rpm, so even for those who shift properly earlier than you need to out on the course, the increase at all times feels prefer it’s approaching robust and it’s laborious to catch the engine flat-footed. 

Behind the engine is Prodrive’s motorsport ECU administration system—the identical one which it places in its Dakar off-road rally racer. Sport Plus mode alters the middle diff conduct and provides launch management. There’s additionally a WRC-style handbrake that bypasses the middle differential, which was primarily transplanted immediately from rally racing. 

The P25 will get a 6-speed sequential gearbox, with limited-slip entrance and rear differentials and an electronically managed lively middle differential. A very powerful lesson about the right way to drive the P25 concerned the 6-speed sequential-shift gearbox, which is sort of an evolution from the 5-speed guide on the 22B. Launching from a standing begin and coming again to a cease are the one occasions when it is advisable to fear concerning the clutch pedal because of the lengthy paddle mounted to the steering column. Pull the large paddle nearer and also you upshift; push it ahead and also you downshift; maintain it ahead from first and also you get to impartial. 

If there’s one other lesson, it’s that it is advisable to hold your foot in it. Within the temporary straightaway of the course and in a single different level via a nook and exit, I really feel the middle diff doing its job with distribution, and I acquire extra confidence within the enormous six-piston entrance and four-piston rear AP Racing brakes (there’s no energy help). There’s quite a lot of whine and driveline lash when going gently, and I study to not elevate too shortly, however all these different sounds seemingly disappear once you step into it. I dip into full throttle briefly and discover it intoxicating—together with the sound from the Akrapovic exhaust and its lively bypass that’s loud however not overbearing. One other three laps and I’d be pushing my very own capabilities however not the automobile’s.

Prodrive P25

After which Higgins exhibits us how

I get that some minutes later, as I hop into the passenger seat with professional rally driver Mark Higgins. He makes the automobile dance simply the correct amount for what should be a heck of a lap time. We’re pulling quite a lot of lateral Gs as we slingshot round that very same nook with grace and he finds a approach to barely pivot every means and with out an excessive amount of drama for a fast left-right ess curve alongside the observe. The transfer makes it really feel like an invisible hand momentarily gave us a nudge, and it’s a testomony to each the motive force, in fact, and the toolset this automobile offers. 

Higgins pushes the automobile far tougher via these laps, in fact, and I begin to scent the clutch, the brakes, the indicators of a automobile given a real exercise. 

I ask Jermolaj about what number of laps the P25 is designed to be pushed by a pilot like Higgins, and he replied that the check P25 has greater than 20,000 miles with little put on and no failures. It’s engineered to be resilient. The engine and clutch don’t want frequent service or changes, and if one thing blocks the radiator and the temperature spikes, it would dial itself again to highway mode after which return to sport if the temperature recovers. 

Prodrive vouches for its engine and says it isn’t constructed only for observe time—and could be up for the duty of each day driving, if that’s what the proprietor intends of a $600,000 automobile. Additional, that is neither a fussy supercar nor an older automobile, and its format, with a powertrain field designed by Prodrive and constructed by Bosch, means there are not any fuses and no ancillaries that want their very own diagnoses. House owners can merely contact Prodrive and get a fast reply.

Assessment: Prodrive P25

Bespoke for the highway, the observe, or each

The P25 might be the one restomod on the earth that’s being totally homologated as if it had been an everyday manufacturing mannequin, Prodrive mentioned. It’s operating its lights, suspension, and extra via British homologation, and it’ll have a TÜV SÜD approval certificates for Germany and the EU. And yup, a few of them will find yourself within the U.S.

As examples of what it might do on a bespoke foundation, prospects can select their very own colour (P25 blue is the launch colour), select their very own wheel colour, add a carbon Tarmac splitter, do away with the again seat, or choose to go away some components of carbon bodywork uncovered, just like the mirrors, roof, or the rear wing’s gurney flap. 

The P25 is offered in left- or right-hand drive, however the tester I had a flip in was right-hand drive. Prodrive has already accommodated some “bespoke” wants, like making the chassis and its Bilstein dampers slightly softer for some prospects.

The agency had mentioned it will do 25 automobiles plus three testers, and all 25 manufacturing automobiles are spoken for. However with testing consolidated into one automobile, it hinted, there could also be room for an additional buyer automobile or two. 

What’s obvious after driving the P25, after standing again and soaking all of it in, and after speaking to a few of the individuals who created it, is that this isn’t a storage queen, and someway it’s a connector between the present WRX and at present’s competitors automobiles. It’s designed to be pushed laborious and loved—on no matter rally stage that nostalgia factors to.

Subaru paid for airfare and lodging for Motor Authority to current this firsthand report.