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Up close and personal with David Higgins' 2012 Subaru WRX STI Rally Car [w/video]

Zach Bowman — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 14:58:00 EST

Filed under: Aftermarket, Motorsports, Performance, Videos, Hatchback, Subaru, Racing

Riding Shotgun With The Four-Time Rally America Champ

There's nothing quite like the sound of a high-strung boxer engine in full rage. Each dip of the throttle sends the opposed four-pot barking and popping like some sort of caffeinated prehistoric beast as David Higgins shoots his very unique 2012 Subaru WRX STI through a tight section of chicanes on the back side of the DirtFish Rally School's 315-acre playground. He's traveling at the approximate speed of a Japanese bullet train, if bullet trains spent the majority of their time sideways and on ball bearings.

An hour ago, this car was cleaner than a sundress on Sunday.

The cacophony can likely be heard all the way from Snoqualmie Valley to the hipster bars in downtown Seattle, but situated as I am in the passenger side of the car, all I hear is the rush of gravel pelting the machine's underbelly and my own laughter. Higgins has just sent his hyperactive triceratops pirouetting around a teardrop-shaped hairpin, pivoting the nose on a group of photographers at the apex. He took time to give the group a friendly thumbs-up before grabbing another gear and leaving them all in a cloud of Washington State silt.

An hour ago, this car was cleaner than a sundress on Sunday, meticulously prepared by the guys at Vermont SportsCar. We caught up with the team who built the machine that Higgins drove to his fifth Rally America Championship win last month for a look at what makes this car so damn fast.

Continue reading Up close and personal with David Higgins' 2012 Subaru WRX STI Rally Car [w/video]

Up close and personal with David Higgins' 2012 Subaru WRX STI Rally Car [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 01 Oct 2012 14:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pastrana puts competition on ice at Rally America Sno*Drift

Christopher A. Smith — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 02:15:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports, Ford, Subaru

Rally America Sno*Drift 2010 - Click above for high-res image gallery

Travis Pastrana has no shortage of critics who claim the daredevil is skating on thin ice. Okay, that was a terrible segue into this year's Sno*Drift, the opening event in the Rally America Championship series, but yes, Pastrana and co-driver Christian Edstrom did skate to a fourth straight Sno*Drift victory on Saturday, trumping the second place team of Antoine L'Estage and co-driver Nathalie Richard by more than a minute. Not too bad for a guy who just had surgery for a broken collar bone. Meanwhile, William Bacon and Peter Watt finished third overall as the highest-placing privateers. Ken Block, sporting his trademark goatee and a new Ford Fiesta rally car, retired after just seven stages due to suspension failure.

Organized around the snowy gravel roads of Northern Lower Michigan, Sno*Drift 2010 wasn't so much with the snow thanks to a warm spell and thorough soaking of rain, followed by a quick dip into sub-zero temperatures-all within a week of race day. Roads turned into rivers of glare ice, and since studded tires aren't allowed in the series, automotive hilarity reminiscent of Snoopy on Ice was the order of the day. Just ask Pastrana's team mate Dave Mirra, who crossed the final mark literally dragging his Subie's front bumper and headlights thanks to a late-stage disagreement between himself, Sir Issac Newton, and a tree.

More to come on Pastrana, Block, and Rally America; in the meantime spy the Rally America gallery while we search Wikipedia for frost bite remedies and tips on removing champagne from blue jeans.

Gallery: Rally America SnoDrift 2010

Pastrana puts competition on ice at Rally America Sno*Drift originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 31 Jan 2010 02:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Ken Block and new Ford Fiesta rally car meet - it's love at first drift

John Neff — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 11:28:00 EST

Filed under: Motorsports, Videos, Hatchback, Ford

2010 Monster World Rally Team Ford Fiesta - Click above for high-res image gallery

We know, it's going to be weird watching Ken Block rally in a Ford Fiesta. We're so used to watching him ply his craft in a Subaru Impreza WRX STI. Gymkhana and Subaru became synonymous thanks to Ken. After the announcement earlier this month that Block was dropping Subaru for Ford this season, as well as competing on the big stage of WRC for the first time, we knew the day would come when we meet Ken's new ride for the first time, and that day is today.

This is the 2010 Monster World Rally Team Ford Fiesta that Ken will be driving in the Rally America Championship this season as well as the 2010 X-Games. The RAC's first race this season will be the Sno*Drift Rally on January 29-30 in Atlanta, Michigan, and we'll surely be paying close to attention to see how Ken performs in his very first outing with the new Ford. In the meantime, check out a couple shots of his new rally car below, as well as the video after the jump.

Gallery: Ken Block's Monster World Rally Team Ford Fiesta

[Source: Monster World Rally via YouTube]

Continue reading Video: Ken Block and new Ford Fiesta rally car meet - it's love at first drift

Video: Ken Block and new Ford Fiesta rally car meet - it's love at first drift originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 26 Jan 2010 11:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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