Subaru Impreza 22B STI: The Original Rally Icon! - Ignition Episode Ep. 98 - video Dailymotion

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On this episode of Ignition

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00:00 It was the late '90s, and Subaru was looking to celebrate.

00:04 The company had just turned 40 years old, and its World Rally team had won three Manufacturers

00:08 Championships back-to-back and won overall win.

00:12 And so Subaru built this, the Impreza 22B STI.

00:18 A special version of the standard STI, the 22B made more power and was significantly

00:23 wider, designed to evoke the look of the Impreza 555 race car.

00:29 It was also sold in extremely limited numbers, just 400 for Japan and another two dozen or

00:34 so for the UK and Australia.

00:37 Although it was never imported to the US, it managed to amass a large fan base due to

00:41 its performance and distinctive styling and rally heritage.

00:45 And recently, when we found out there was one in the country, we had to get our hands

00:49 on it.

00:49 [MUSIC PLAYING]

01:01 The Subaru 22B is so recognizable for the way it looks.

01:05 It took so much influence from the World Rally Championship race car and really set

01:09 the stage, or set the pace, for Subaru design.

01:13 Now, there's so much cool stuff to talk about.

01:15 The front bumper is, of course, new.

01:17 I love these fog light covers right here.

01:19 And how much this part of the bumper sticks out, you really don't notice it until you're

01:23 right up close.

01:24 Above that, we have the pink STI badge.

01:26 Very cool touch.

01:28 Slightly different hood with these vents.

01:30 And in here in the scoop, you can just see the nozzles that spray water onto the intercooler

01:35 to keep that temperature down.

01:38 And then we get to the fenders.

01:40 Now, this car is over three inches wider than the standard WRX of its time.

01:44 And it looks so much more impressive because of that.

01:47 It has such a road presence because of how far these stick out.

01:51 It looks great.

01:52 Beneath that, we have the gold wheels, which also became sort of a design staple for Subaru.

01:57 These are over an inch wider than the standard WRX wheels.

02:00 And they really help fill out those fenders.

02:02 We have a different badge here.

02:05 And then we have a radio antenna, which is great because this car doesn't have a radio.

02:10 It's a great little touch.

02:13 Then we get to the quarter panels, which look just as nice as the fenders.

02:16 And they really give this car such great proportions.

02:19 This car as a whole looks really great.

02:22 It's probably one of the best-looking cars Subaru ever did.

02:25 And that's interesting because it has such a big greenhouse and some other touches.

02:28 But this thing just looks so great when it's going down the road.

02:31 On the back, we have this massive and adjustable wing.

02:35 It has a couple screws there, which you can use to change the angle of it.

02:39 And on the back, of course, we have a 22B badge.

02:43 Now we come to where Subaru got the name from.

02:45 What they did is they took a 2-liter flat-4 from the WRX, bored it out to 2.2 liters--

02:50 there's your 22-- and then B was the internal designation for turbocharging, so 22B.

02:57 Now looking at it, there's not a lot different from a standard WRX.

03:00 It's just a lot more things are painted red, which is always faster.

03:05 Up here, I like this little touch of the Shred Tower Brace.

03:08 It looks like it may be real carbon fiber.

03:09 I'm not 100% sure.

03:11 But the Fuji Heavy Industries Aerospace Division's placard on there is very cool.

03:16 You'll notice we don't have ABS.

03:18 In place of that is a water reservoir for the intercooler sprayers, which is a very

03:23 nice touch.

03:24 Altogether, this thing spins to 8,000 RPM and makes 280 horsepower or so on the way,

03:31 so they say.

03:32 Remember, this was the time when Japan was self-imposing a restriction to 76 horsepower

03:37 thereabouts.

03:38 But some reports say this was making as much as 300 horsepower.

03:41 And when you have a 2,800-pound car, that's a really nice mixture.

03:45 [MUSIC PLAYING]

03:48 I'm driving on the wrong side of the car.

04:00 But that's OK, because in the 22B, I am so happy.

04:07 This is an absolutely wonderful car for so many reasons, so many that I actually don't

04:14 know which one to start with first.

04:15 Let's just talk about first impressions.

04:19 The thing I noticed immediately when I hopped in the car is how light it feels everywhere.

04:25 This is 400 pounds, 500 pounds maybe lighter than a standard WRX.

04:30 It's about 2,800 pounds.

04:31 And you feel it throughout the entire chassis.

04:35 The steering wheel, too, feels extremely light.

04:39 It comes off center very quickly.

04:40 You can almost drive it with your fingertips.

04:43 But there's so much accuracy and precision through the front axle that you don't mind.

04:47 There's a lot of feedback, too, from the road.

04:50 It tells you exactly what the front tires are doing.

04:53 Now I also notice it's quiet.

04:55 Well, we have a lot of road noise.

04:57 We have a lot of tire noise.

04:58 We hear a lot of things bouncing off the bottom of the car.

05:01 But you don't hear the engine.

05:03 And that's a good reminder that cars of this era didn't have active sound enhancements.

05:09 When you put a turbocharger on a four-cylinder, it makes it quiet.

05:13 When you put a turbocharger on any engine, it makes it quiet.

05:16 And that's just what happens.

05:17 You can go full song in this thing, 5,000 RPM, full throttle, and barely hear a thing.

05:28 In fact, that can get you in some trouble, because this car is capable of going very

05:33 quick.

05:36 Now we have around 280 horsepower.

05:39 Remember, this was the day in Japan where they had a gentleman's agreement restricting

05:44 horsepower to 276 or so.

05:47 Reports say that this may have around 300.

05:50 But anywhere in there is pretty healthy.

05:52 And when you weight 2,800 pounds, that gives you a pretty decent power-to-weight ratio.

05:58 This car doesn't feel extraordinarily fast, but it feels quick.

06:02 It has just the right amount of power that it needs to get its job done.

06:08 And I like the power delivery of it, too.

06:11 When they bored this 2-liter out to give it 200 cc of displacement, it somehow gained

06:17 this nice mid-range.

06:19 So there's pretty much nothing happening below 3,500 RPM.

06:22 But once you get it on boost above 3,500 to about 4,000 RPM, there's a big, thick, meaty

06:28 mid-range that you can ride through corners.

06:31 And that gives you quite a bit of revs to play with in the power band, because your

06:35 redline is 8,000 RPM.

06:37 It's a wonderful thing.

06:40 Now, even though this car is over a decade old, I don't feel any lack of confidence through

06:47 it.

06:48 I don't have any fear leaning on this thing.

06:52 There is something in this car that makes me want to drive it hard, makes me want to

06:57 push it.

06:58 It's not just the absolute grip.

06:59 It's how the chassis responds.

07:00 It's how the entire car feels.

07:01 This is a very, very good driver's car.

07:02 [MUSIC PLAYING]

07:02 On balance, the 22B would seem to be a rather simple car.

07:31 A wide-body STI with a bit more power.

07:33 And yet, it offers so much more than the sum of those parts.

07:37 It's a very satisfying car to drive.

07:43 Its light but accurate steering, strong, torquey mid-ranging visibility give you plenty of

07:48 confidence.

07:49 But even when it's parked, it gives off a cool aura of motorsports-derived functionality.

07:55 Aside from looking good, it also looks special.

07:58 That's perhaps why it's evolved as a sort of benchmark in the minds of enthusiasts,

08:02 a guide for future WRXs and STIs.

08:08 It sets a good path to follow, sideways through the dirt.

08:17 Oh, Japan.

08:18 That's right about where I'm going.

08:20 You know, it's funny.

08:21 For how conservative of a culture Japan is, like, they came out with this.

08:25 You know, it's blue and gold and pink.

08:29 And it has a big hood scoop and a big wing.

08:31 And like, how did this conservative country come out with this kind of car?

08:36 I'm not really sure how it happened, but I'm so happy it did.

08:39 So happy it did, because this is so great.

08:43 Our car mounts.

08:44 Yeah, well, you know, people are dumb.

08:47 And we're chasing down motorcyclists in a-- what does that mean?

08:54 A 15-year-old Subaru.

08:56 This is a 15-year-old Subaru we're chasing down motorcyclists.

Subaru Impreza 22B STI: The Original Rally Icon! - Ignition Episode Ep. 98

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