Japspeed Subaru Drift car stolen (with a happy ending)

Our friends from Wrecked Magazine posted this up. I saw this all over Facebook. It was the Toyota 1JZ-GTE powered Drift Subaru was stolen from a Car Show in the UK this past weekend. After a crazy Social Networking blitz, they were able to find it with only a few stickers missing and minus the rear wing. So, how do these thieves think they were going to sell these parts? On NASIOC? “F/S: 1JZ Swap for a Subaru Kit”. Idiots. I’m glad that they found this Subie and I hope that we don’t have to hear any more stories like this!

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Here’s something cool… a drifting Saabaru from Wrecked Magazine!

Our friends at Wrecked Magazine took these pictures at a Club Loose drift event! What they captured is a drifting Saabaru. I don’t have much info on this wagon but it looks great going sideways!

We’re still alive… I promise you that

So, it’s been a little hectic here with myself. I know there have been a few things developing about the new Impreza and even in the motorsports world, things have been buzzing around. I’ll be blunt, I’m sorry for not doing as many updates as I should.

In light of what has been going on, I’ll be doing more editorial pieces when things are slow in the news world. It helps that (I know it sounds like I’m gloating, but I’m not… I swear) I know some people in the industry of motorsports and racing and I’ll get their perspective on things. I’ll try to get more insight on the GST Impreza and even talk to their driver, Jeff Westphal about their season.

Also, I’m still waiting on a few things to develop because two things are coming up. One, our 1 year aniversary is coming up fast (and furious… did anyone catch that 2011 STi drifting in the movie?) and two, Xgames is coming up and you bet your ass we’ll be doing a meet, cruise, and give away like we did last year.

I love this site, I love you guys, and I love talking, writing, and blogging about Subies. Hopefully in my personal life, I’ll be able to come up with a few things like shirts, stickers, and such so you can show your support and love for Subie-Life.com. Thank you all for sticking with us for about 10 months and I promise things will get better. I love you guys (and gals)!!!

2012 hatch at NY auto show

A pic shared on Car and Driver’s blog of the new 2012 hatch at the NY auto show.

Subaru of America teases the official debut of the new Impreza for New York Auto Show

This is what Subaruof America posted on their Facebook Fan page. They’re teasing us. We can’t wait to see these cars in the flesh.

Video: I’ll just leave this here for you to enjoy…

Here’s a little video for you guys to enjoy. This is for you GC Fans out there.

If you haven’t seen this yet, you have to see this

Safety is very strict in motorsports and for good reason. Jimmy Keeny was an unfortunate person who had to put the safety standards to the test. Autoblog had a quick triggered photographer that captured Jimmy’s flip at the recent Global Rally Cross. Luckily he walked away with no major injuries.

 

A behind the scenes look at Stephan Verdier’s Rally Cross STi

Ahh yes, Stephan Verdier. He’s been a really cool guy with us, taking time to talk to us and showing us great photos of his car and sharing his stories with us. Our friends at MotoIQ had an exclusive look at Stephan’s Rally Cross STi that was a former drift car. This car has seen a lot of action in the past few years but it looks like it’s going to stay as a Rally Cross car and we can’t be more excited for him!

Here are some images of the build:

The front end is business. Well, most of the car is business but it’s got a Crawford Performance built motor and also the entire front end is built for crash protection. Hence the whole entire front end is pretty much a bar. Of course it will covered by a bumper but this is pretty nice looking.

According to MotoIQ, Stephan had the whole entire chassis acid dipped to remove excess gunk, insulation, and debris to have a clean chassis. This actually lightens the chassis and you can see how “new” the car looks!

Suspension is vital in Rally Cross. Hence, Stephan went with the WRC Spec Tein Suspension. This is no ordinary coilover system too.

So what is this? Looks like an air conditioning unit? Maybe a tumble dryer? Nope! It’s the rear mounted radiator so it keep it from harm like some love taps that the cars get when they’re door to door against each other.

Want to see a super expensive transmission? Here it is. Dog engagement / sequential shifter keeps Stephan going around the track.

The cage is different from a standard roll cage. It doesn’t utilize a main hoop but it’s more of a enclosed cage. It’s supposed to disperse crash loads. Interesting since rally cars do roll intensely during competition.

Read more about it on MotoIQ HERE!

Ohhhh whuuuuuut? 2012 Impreza may make its debut at New York Autoshow (?)

So our good friends over at Autoblog had this great report stating that the 2012 Impreza with its new design team behind it may make it’s official debut at the New York Autoshow in August. Here’s what Autoblog reported:

In speaking with IL, Subaru of America’s executive vice president, Tom Doll, confirmed that the 2012 Impreza will go on sale in the United States in August, meaning that an official reveal at April’s New York Auto Show is very likely.

Autoblog, you made our day. We can’t wait to see what the production version will look like and how the STi version will complete our dreams!

Speedhunters shows us some of the top Subarus from Tokyo Auto Salon

Speedhunters have to have one of the best coverage when it comes to events and they didn’t disappoint this year when it came to the Tokyo Auto Salon coverage. For those who don’t know what Tokyo Auto Salon is, let me put it this way… all the cool stuff that comes out of Japan for Performance, Racing, and Styling is debuted at this show. So, when it comes to trends, this is the epicenter.

This Legacy probably represents the “styling” aspect of Tokyo Auto Salon. It’s wild looks, low stance, and mean demeanor set the trends.

And here’s the Performance part of TAS. This particular example is based off the STi tS. Beautiful carbon roof, lightweight components, and tuned for endurance for the 24 Hour of Nurbugring. According to Speedhunters, Subaru’s theme is “Proud of Boxer” which I couldn’t agree with more!

Here’s the same car in the “street Spec”.

When Speedhunters post up more stuff, we’ll do post it up here!

Source: Speedhunters