Autoblog

It didn't take long for Japan's journalists to get the new STI and EVO X side by side, and the results are now officially in. Tsukuba circuit regulars Kazuo Shimizu and Manabu Kawaguchi spent an afternoon thrashing around the notoriously twisty short circuit just north of Tokyo and here (drum roll please) are the best times they could ring out of the AWD rivals:

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X : 1:06:46

Subaru Impreza WRX STI : 1:05:95

So there you have it. The new engine placed further forward in the engine bay of the EVO X than in the EVO IX has indeed proven to be a handicap, while the STI's "wheel at each corner" longer wheelbase plus new double wishbone rear suspension has proved its worth.

Neither car is quite as quick as its immediate ancestor though.

Check out this 15 year rivalry of the EVO vs the STI as recorded at Tsukuba after the jump.

[Source: CAR Top magazine]

The one and only time U.S. shores were blessed with Japan's premier motorsports event, Super GT, the folks over at Paramax were behind the scenes. Since then they've organized a number of events under the GT LIVE banner, as well as creating the XDL U.S. Stunt Riding Championship. Now, they've partnered with Subaru of America to bring more attention to one of the most entertaining and intense forms of motorsport around: Time Attack.

The Subaru Tsukuba Challenge will determine the quickest unlimited AWD-class Subaru team here in the States, and after running two qualifying events in the U.S. (Miller Motorsports Park and Virginia International Raceway), three teams will be picked to duke it out at Laguna Seca on November 10th. The fastest team will be sent to Japan to be the U.S. representative in a race at the famed Tsukuba circuit. Even cooler: Eiji "Tarzan" Yamada has been hired as a hot shoe for the teams.

Speed's got the skinny (more here too), and although the first event has already taken place and the second is coming up this weekend, you can still make it to the finals next month in Monterey.

[Source: Speed via Straightline]