Which Subaru is a rally car?
The Subaru rally car most closely associated with the brand is the Impreza WRX STI, especially in its World Rally Championship form as the Impreza WRC.
Subaru's rally heritage
Subaru earned a strong reputation in rallying by pairing symmetric all-wheel drive with turbocharged engines. The Impreza family became the core of Subaru's factory rally efforts, turning a practical street car into a celebrated competition machine across the 1990s and 2000s. The lineage is most iconic in the WRX STI and the World Rally Car variants used on the global stage.
Here are the core Subaru models that became rally cars or served as the basis for Subaru's rally program.
- Impreza WRX STI — the production-based rally car built from the Impreza platform, forming the backbone of Subaru's rally efforts and widely used in national and international events after modification.
- Impreza WRC — the purpose-built World Rally Car developed for WRC competition by the Subaru World Rally Team (through Prodrive) for top-level rallying.
- Impreza 22B — a limited-edition homologation model produced to support the rally program, renowned as one of the era’s most iconic road cars associated with Subaru’s rally era.
These models illustrate Subaru's approach: start with a practical, all-wheel-drive base and evolve it into high-performance rally hardware capable of competing on the world stage.
Current status of Subaru's rally program
Subaru ended its factory World Rally Championship involvement after the 2008 season. Since then, any competitive rally efforts have been carried out by private teams using older Impreza WRC or WRX STI rally-spec machinery, rather than a factory-backed program. The Impreza line remains the emblem of Subaru's rally legacy, even as the company refocuses its factory racing presence.
Summary
In short, the rally car most closely associated with Subaru is the Impreza WRX STI, with the World Rally Car variant (Impreza WRC) representing the pinnacle of the brand's rally factory effort. The iconic 22B homologation model also stands as a landmark in Subaru's rally history, which remains influential among enthusiasts even years after factory participation ended.
