For years, the United States seemed doomed to receive only the cast-off leftovers of the foreign world. Nissan kept away the Silvia and the Skyline GT-R, giving us the 240SX. Mazda kept producing the third-generation RX-7 long past the kill date in the U.S. Subaru finally gave in to logical thought at the turn of the 21st century opening up a new age of factory turbo tuning with the Impreza WRX. The only thing was, the Japanese manufacturer continued to keep a little bit something special in reserve just for the Land of the Rising Sun.
Stuffed to the brim with extra words in its name, the Subaru Impreza WRX STi Spec C is the edgy, race-ready, performance demon we wished the U.S.-destined STi had been born with. Where the USDM 2.5L STi is a big-bore hot rod that points and shoots, the Spec C carves with little abandon. With the Spec C, little thought has been given to the ways of emissions-driven engine displacement requirements or to luxury, plush ride quality. The Spec C demands revs and boost to be driven to its fullest, and is the true and rightful contender to Mitsubishi's Lancer Evolution.
With such a pedigree for speed, it comes as no surprise that JDM tuner Auto Produce Boss decided to build this amazing Spec C Time Attack car. Having already built some seriously tuned turbocharged demo cars - a 493hp Supra and a 520hp S15 Silvia - Auto Produce Boss went into the Subaru build fully focused on bringing home some quick lap times at the Tsukuba circuit.
For the rest of the story, along with technical specifications, photos, and more, pick up the June 2006 issue of Turbo & High Tech Performance, on news stands now!