WRX 22B STi Type R
Special edition of the Type R with hand built body and a 2.2 litre version of the Impreza turbo engine to celebrate the 40th aniversary of the creation of Subaru.
Production process
The 22B is a limited edition Impreza based upon the Japanese domestic WRX STi Type R version 4 Coupe (phew!) During its transformation the bodyshell, parts and engine are removed from the standard Impreza production line no less than 6 times, and 3 different facilities used for modification.
The car starts off as a donor shell from an Impreza WRX STi type R version 4 Coupe.
STi then modifies the front and rear wheel arches by cutting away the existing ones and rewelding and extending them so that the body is some 80mm wider.
The body is then seam welded and repainted by a specialist (as the body is too wide and does not fit through the normal painting production line at Subaru)
STi takes the engine and bores out the normal 2 litre lump to 2.2 litres. This will allow more torque at lower revs.
The clutch plate and disk are replaced with an STI ceramic/metal twin plate competition clutch with dumpers, for better release action.
The suspension is replaced with a special Bilstein and Eibach set, (much firmer than the normal one), and the track is widened to suit the wide body.
WRC styling is added by the addition of a huge adjustable rear wing, a front bumper that looks like it has bene lifted strainght from the WRC, and different engine bay bonnet vents again copying the WRC. These modifications produce a replica to the WRC car.
Finally the car is fitted with a unique blue interior and aluminium alloy BBS wheels.
Background
The first Subaru Impreza was revealed by Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI) at the November 1992 Tokyo Motorshow, as a car with a definite motor-sport orientation towards the World Rally Championship (WRC) circuit, up against the likes of Ford Escort, Mitsubishi Lancer and Toyota Celica. The previous steed up until this date had been the much larger Legacy.
WRC success came in 1995 when an Impreza driven by Colin McRae won both the Driver's Championship and along with Carlos Sainz, the Manufacturer's championship. The Manufacturer's championship was again won in 1996 and also 1997 which saw a new Impreza built in the UK by Prodrive to the newly introduced World Rally Car formula.
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Subaru, a limited run road going WRCar was announced to the unsuspecting world at the 1997 Tokyo Motor Show. It would be based on the newly released Version 4 Type R Coupe but would have a larger engine with more torque and the bodywork would be highly modified to give it the appearance of the current WRC rally cars of then current drivers, Colin McRae and Pierro Liatti.
The car itself had started some months before as an in house project for Prodrive as a basis of a super Impreza for the road. This was shown to Fuji officials as a road going concept, but due to lack of resource or maybe a wish to bring the project in house it was wholly taken over by STi for manufacture in Japan.
Exact details to the public remained sketchy until nearer the March 1998 release date with rumours of sequential gear boxes, twin turbos and a 2.5 litre engine circulating the internet news groups and mailing lists. By February it had been established that a 2.2 litre engine was to be used and the name had now changed from WRCar to 22B. Magazine articles started to appear with rumours of 350 bhp in place of the Japanese gentlemans agreement of 278bhp.
It has been said that when the launch did happen, the allocation of 400 cars sold out within 30 minutes, with over 6000 deposits being taken, and cars were then going for speculative amounts. Contradictory to this, others have said that cars were sitting in showrooms unsold after an initial rush. Priced at 5 million Yen, they were approximately two thirds more expensive than the WRX STi type R version 4 (3 million Yen) they were based upon. At the time this equated to around £23,500 which was a lot less than the £40-50,000 being asked by UK importers for the privilege of owning one! Subaru Japan awarded Colin McRae and Nicky Grist one each for their achievements in the World Rally Championship.
A total of 425 cars were produced, and although only 399 were officially built for Japans domestic market another 26 were assembled for overseas distributors. Colin McRae and his co-drive Nicky Grist received a car each and these were both numbered 000/400. There is also a third car with 000/400 which is the development car owned by David Lapworth, Technical Director at Prodrive. Unlucky number 13 was thought not to have been produced but it has now been confirmed this 22B exists as a demonstrator for Subaru USA. Of the "missing" 22, it is known that five off 22B have been imported to Australia as show or competition vehicles, whilst the United Kingdom was awarded 16 off cars to be rebadged 22B-UK.
The Story of the 22B
By modern standards, Subaru are a small vehicle manufacturer. The company was started in 1958 and is predominantly owned by Fuji Heavy Industries, a major Japanese industrial company.
For years, Subaru cars were the choice of farmers, throughout the world. The tough build quality and excellent four wheel drive system made them ideal for use on the land. It was not until the 1990’s that the excellent design and low centre of gravity of the flat four boxer engine, together with its symmetrically equal length drive train, began to be fully exploited in motorsport.
A young Colin McRae started his Subaru years in a Prodrive prepared Legacy Turbo and his success gave feed back to FHI for the design of the Impreza Turbo, or WRX as it is known in the southern hemisphere. What happened after that is legend and 1995 saw McRae and Derek Ringer become the first ever British World Rally Champions. Subaru have since taken the constructor’s title in all but one of the following years, with 1997 heralding the Peter Stevens designed Subaru Impreza WRC car on the world’s stages. All WRC drivers still today acknowledge this car as the most beautiful entrant in the WRC line up.
Although BAT failed to renew their sponsorship of the team at the end of 1998, the 555 years will always be remembered in motorsport. On any World Rally event, the crowds would be full of blue and yellow clothed fans. The 1999 and 2000 cars have retained the Sonic Blue and yellow livery although now with the Subaru “swoosh” and their lines and colour draw breath from all who see them in the flesh. Either for the first time, or the hundredth time. In 1998, Subaru declined a lucrative sponsorship deal, as it would have meant losing the Sonic Blue colour. Subaru Technica International, FHI’s in-house tuner, provided the bulk of the funding for the team.
1998 marked 40 years of Subaru and the marketing people in Japan wanted to celebrate the company’s success with a car like no other.
So was born the 22B.
The name itself is an enigma. Many journalists jumped to the mistaken assumption that 22 referred to the 2.2 litre engine and the B stood for Bilstein, the car’s suspension manufacturers. The truth is 22B is hexadecimal (number base 16, used in the coding of computer programmes where the letter A to F are used for the numbers 10 to 15) for 555.
(555 tobacco)
To prove this, take a calculator and add the following into the memory…
555 in hexadecimal = 22B
2x16x16 = 512
2x16 = 32
B = 11
Total = 555
(voir le Bleu et Or du 555:
http://images.google.com/images?complet ... =0&ndsp=21)
The technical specification of the car had to be a list of superlatives and the engineers at Subaru and Prodrive let their imagination run wild.
The engine was bored out to 2.2 litres, retaining the same stroke as the stock 2.0 litre engine. This had the effect of giving the car a torque curve that wasn’t even a curve. It is a steep climb and table like flat line, when plotted on a graph. The increase in mid range performance gives the car 70bhp more than its 2.0 litre brothers, at only 3,000 rpm. Such was the mid range power, that many respected journalists embarrassed themselves by stating that the car must produce over 350bhp. No 22B has broken the voluntary power limit, in standard form.
Although the engine still complied with the Japanese voluntary power limit of 276bhp, it is how and where it delivers this power that is so enjoyable… and the 22B delivers usable power like no other modern car. Its turbo is a large IHI VF23 roller bearing unit, providing huge volumes of compressed air, but with very low inertia properties. Its fuel rails are custom units, required to match the demands of such a highly tuned engine and the pistons are forged lightweight units, so as to minimise the weight of their 98mm bulk. Transmission is via the same gearbox as the STI IV type R, incorporating the driver adjustable viscous centre differential. The front and rear track were increased by 40mm and 80mm respectively. This was partially achieved by using BBS 17x8.5” wheels and by redesigning the rear suspension arms and driveshafts.
Most of the mechanical parts of a 22B are stock items on other Subaru cars, the 22B just uses the best of what was available. But the most interesting part is the shell.
Every car was hand made, starting with a lightweight 2 door WRX RA shell and then cutting off the rear arches. The new “blown” arches were welded in their place and the front of the car received similar appendages to cover to massive wheels and extra track. The dimensions of the car were now virtually identical to the car watched by millions, in the hands of Subaru’s new driver line up, Richard Burns and Juha Kunkkenhann. The rear spoiler has the same adjustable foil as the WRC car, for increasing down force on twisty tarmac events.
The brakes fitted were the standard Subaru 4 pot calipers with 292mm discs on the front and a new rear 2 pot caliper with larger vented disc on the rear. Both were painted in a bright red colour, looking very distinctive through the gold BBS wheels.
The car’s Bilstein suspension is the only part of the car that has not received universal acclaim, being designed for the smooth fast highways of Japan rather than the undulating B roads of Europe. Although the dampers carry a badge which says By Prodrive, Prodrive were quick to say the final spec was actually decided in Japan.
The interior of the car features a matt finished dash layout and specially embroidered seats. In front of the gear lever, a plaque denotes which of the initial 400 cars this particular one is.
I say initial as more than 400 were produced. A total of 426 were finally made. 3 cars are designated 000 and are owned by Colin McRae, Nicky Grist and David Lapworth, there is no number 13 and 24 cars were made for issue outside Japan. Of this 24, 16 came to the UK and were badged 22B Type UK and the other 8 went to the owners of Subaru concessions throughout the world. It is rumoured that a few of this final 8 went to private collectors, such as The Sultan of Brunei.
At the time of writing, I am very lucky to have driven 24 different 22B cars and doubt that anyone outside of Subaru has been so privileged. My most memorable time was when Anders Skarsten handed me the keys of his 22B for me to use on the 1998 Tour d’Ecosse. Just over 2000 miles of driving, half of this spent on the fantastic roads of Scotland’s west coast.
Every 22B I have driven has been different, each reflecting the hand built nature of the cars. Every one has brought a devilish smile to my face and envy of the fortunate owners, who enjoy the amorous glances and dropped jaws of the public on a daily basis.
une familliale pas si papy que ça!
