Chicago 2009: Subaru and Vermont Sports Car build the Pastrana WRX STI

Subaru may have halted its World Rally Championship campaign, but that isn't stopping the automaker from playing to the hopes and dreams of its enthusiast base and one of the sports' most visible characters. At the Chicago Auto Show, Subaru will take the wraps off the Impreza WRX STI Travis Pastana Edition, a one-make road-going rally machine almost entirely created by raiding the STI and SPT parts bin.

Subaru worked with Pastrana and Vermont Sports Car to create a mildly tuned variant of the STI, beginning with a custom down-pipe and a tweaked ECU. A front strut brace and a SPT lower chassis brace work in conjunction with satin black 18x9-inch Work Evolution wheels wrapped in BF Goodrich G-Force Super Sport A/S tires (sized 275/35 all around).

The rest of the mods are typical SEMA fare, including the yellow paint scheme, sticker job, carbon fiber hood and rear wing, along with a mesh grille, front chin spoiler, exhaust tips, mud flaps and PIAA 2100 HID driving lights. Inside, blue alcantara upholstery joins yellow piping, "199 Pastrana" embroidered logos, matching shift boot, steering wheel and parking brake handle and carbon fiber trim. Although the rally map light, short-throw shifter and passenger side metal foot rest may fool some rally fans some of the time, the Eclipse head unit, mass of Kicker speakers and Xbox 360 make it clear that this one-of-a-kind STI is little more than a show piece designed to draw attention to an otherwise spartan booth. Hit the jump for all the details.

PRESS RELEASE

Subaru Designs Custom Impreza WRX STI for Rally Champ Travis Pastrana

• Pastrana Won His Third Consecutive Rally America National Championship for Subaru in 2008
• Special WRX STI Fortified with SPT and STI Parts
• Carbon Fiber Hood and Rear Wing
• Custom Interior with High-Power Audio System and Xbox

CHICAGO, Feb. 9 -- Subaru of America, Inc. will show a one-of-a-kind Subaru Impreza WRX STI designed for its factory rally driver Travis Pastrana at the Chicago Auto Show, February 13-22 in McCormick Place. Subaru worked with Pastrana to create a brilliant yellow "199" liveried WRX STI to commemorate his third consecutive Rally America National Championship. Pastrana is scheduled to appear at the Chicago Auto Show to sign autographs in the Subaru booth February 14th and 15th.

Winner of nine X Games Gold Medals, two for X Games Rally competition, Pastrana's street ride had to be as formidable on the road as his racing WRX STI is on the rally circuit. The Travis Pastrana WRX STI is not only a visual stunner, but also amps up performance capability of the stock production Impreza WRX STI. Vermont SportsCar, technical partner for Subaru and builder of the team's rally cars, customized the WRX STI using an array of Subaru Performance Tuning (SPT) and STI parts, along with unique custom pieces. The SPT and STI engine, exhaust, chassis and interior parts showcased on the Travis Pastrana WRX STI are available for any WRX STI through authorized Subaru dealers.

Travis Pastrana: Rally Star

Pastrana was already a motocross champion and X Games gold medal winner when he launched a rally career in 2003. He began driving for the Subaru-backed Vermont SportsCar rally team in 2004.

On August 5, 2006 Pastrana won the gold medal in the first rally car competition at the X Games and was signed to lead the new Subaru Rally Team USA in 2006. Pastrana secured his third consecutive Rally America National Championship driver's title with a win at the 2008 Rally Colorado round of the championship.

Pastrana WRX STI: Back-Road and Highway Star

Commissioned by Subaru, Vermont SportsCar started the Travis Pastrana WRX STI with a stock 305-horsepower 2009 Subaru Impreza WRX STI. Pastrana's new WRX STI delivers even sharper handling response than the stock model. An SPT front strut tower brace and SPT lower chassis brace help to further tighten handling response. The stock wheels and tires are replaced by BF Goodrich G-Force Super Sport A/S 275/35 ZR18 tires on Work Evolution XD-9 18 x 9-in. wheels in custom satin black. Red STI Brembo brake calipers with white "STI" decals are visible behind the spokes.

The rally-bred WRX STI exterior design lights up with custom yellow paint and graphics. The carbon fiber hood and carbon fiber rear wing are unique to the Pastrana's WRX STI. As on the stock production WRX STI, the functional hood scoop streams outside air to an intercooler. The Sport Mesh Grille is available for all WRX STI owners. Likewise, the STI front chin spoiler and the exhaust finishers are available through Subaru dealers. A set of PIAA 2100 HID driving lights and rally-spec mud flaps underscore the aggressive rally-bred design of the 5-door WRX STI.

Engine Compartment

Under its custom carbon fiber hood, this WRX STI is equipped with a number of modifications including a performance-tuned ECU and custom Down Pipe to unleash a bit more power from the DOHC 2.5-liter intercooled turbo Boxer engine. A turbo boost gauge facilitates tuning. The SPT billet aluminum battery hold-down and billet aluminum oil cap are rendered in the trademark SPT blue color.

Interior

The custom blue Alcantara interior upholstery, the trademark of the original U.S.-spec WRX STIs, is accented with Pastrana's traditional yellow piping and "199 Pastrana" embroidered logos in yellow thread to match vehicle exterior. Likewise, custom yellow stitching is used to accent the steering wheel, shifter boot and parking brake handle boot. An STI short-throw shifter provides an even more direct connection to the 6-speed manual gearbox. Carbon fiber patterned interior trim highlights the dash, doors and console. A rally map light and co-driver foot rest bring a bit of Pastrana's Subaru Rally Team USA car into his new street WRX STI.

During a rally, Pastrana listens to a continuous stream of navigation commands from his co-driver. In his new custom WRX STI, he can listen to anything he wants -- loudly. The audio system is based on an Eclipse AVN 6620 navigation/DVD/CD/MP3 stereo head unit and uses Kicker amplifiers and speakers, including:

Kicker ZX700.5 4x75 watt and 1x400 watt stereo amplifier
Kicker RS65.2 6.5-in. component speakers, front
Kicker RS56.2 5.25/6-in. component speakers, rear
Kicker Solo-Baric L5 10-in. subwoofer in a custom subwoofer/amplifier enclosure

An Xbox 360 is also mounted under the front passenger seat, rounding a package that is as entertaining as its owner. Pastrana and his co-driver can play the Colin McRae DIRT video game using custom yellow controllers.