On this episode of Ignition
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MotorTranscript
00:00 It was the late '90s, and Subaru was looking to celebrate.
00:04 The company had just turned 40 years old, and its World Rally team had won three Manufacturers
00:08 Championships back-to-back and won overall win.
00:12 And so Subaru built this, the Impreza 22B STI.
00:18 A special version of the standard STI, the 22B made more power and was significantly
00:23 wider, designed to evoke the look of the Impreza 555 race car.
00:29 It was also sold in extremely limited numbers, just 400 for Japan and another two dozen or
00:34 so for the UK and Australia.
00:37 Although it was never imported to the US, it managed to amass a large fan base due to
00:41 its performance and distinctive styling and rally heritage.
00:45 And recently, when we found out there was one in the country, we had to get our hands
00:49 on it.
00:49 [MUSIC PLAYING]
01:01 The Subaru 22B is so recognizable for the way it looks.
01:05 It took so much influence from the World Rally Championship race car and really set
01:09 the stage, or set the pace, for Subaru design.
01:13 Now, there's so much cool stuff to talk about.
01:15 The front bumper is, of course, new.
01:17 I love these fog light covers right here.
01:19 And how much this part of the bumper sticks out, you really don't notice it until you're
01:23 right up close.
01:24 Above that, we have the pink STI badge.
01:26 Very cool touch.
01:28 Slightly different hood with these vents.
01:30 And in here in the scoop, you can just see the nozzles that spray water onto the intercooler
01:35 to keep that temperature down.
01:38 And then we get to the fenders.
01:40 Now, this car is over three inches wider than the standard WRX of its time.
01:44 And it looks so much more impressive because of that.
01:47 It has such a road presence because of how far these stick out.
01:51 It looks great.
01:52 Beneath that, we have the gold wheels, which also became sort of a design staple for Subaru.
01:57 These are over an inch wider than the standard WRX wheels.
02:00 And they really help fill out those fenders.
02:02 We have a different badge here.
02:05 And then we have a radio antenna, which is great because this car doesn't have a radio.
02:10 It's a great little touch.
02:13 Then we get to the quarter panels, which look just as nice as the fenders.
02:16 And they really give this car such great proportions.
02:19 This car as a whole looks really great.
02:22 It's probably one of the best-looking cars Subaru ever did.
02:25 And that's interesting because it has such a big greenhouse and some other touches.
02:28 But this thing just looks so great when it's going down the road.
02:31 On the back, we have this massive and adjustable wing.
02:35 It has a couple screws there, which you can use to change the angle of it.
02:39 And on the back, of course, we have a 22B badge.
02:43 Now we come to where Subaru got the name from.
02:45 What they did is they took a 2-liter flat-4 from the WRX, bored it out to 2.2 liters--
02:50 there's your 22-- and then B was the internal designation for turbocharging, so 22B.
02:57 Now looking at it, there's not a lot different from a standard WRX.
03:00 It's just a lot more things are painted red, which is always faster.
03:05 Up here, I like this little touch of the Shred Tower Brace.
03:08 It looks like it may be real carbon fiber.
03:09 I'm not 100% sure.
03:11 But the Fuji Heavy Industries Aerospace Division's placard on there is very cool.
03:16 You'll notice we don't have ABS.
03:18 In place of that is a water reservoir for the intercooler sprayers, which is a very
03:23 nice touch.
03:24 Altogether, this thing spins to 8,000 RPM and makes 280 horsepower or so on the way,
03:31 so they say.
03:32 Remember, this was the time when Japan was self-imposing a restriction to 76 horsepower
03:37 thereabouts.
03:38 But some reports say this was making as much as 300 horsepower.
03:41 And when you have a 2,800-pound car, that's a really nice mixture.
03:45 [MUSIC PLAYING]
03:48 I'm driving on the wrong side of the car.
04:00 But that's OK, because in the 22B, I am so happy.
04:07 This is an absolutely wonderful car for so many reasons, so many that I actually don't
04:14 know which one to start with first.
04:15 Let's just talk about first impressions.
04:19 The thing I noticed immediately when I hopped in the car is how light it feels everywhere.
04:25 This is 400 pounds, 500 pounds maybe lighter than a standard WRX.
04:30 It's about 2,800 pounds.
04:31 And you feel it throughout the entire chassis.
04:35 The steering wheel, too, feels extremely light.
04:39 It comes off center very quickly.
04:40 You can almost drive it with your fingertips.
04:43 But there's so much accuracy and precision through the front axle that you don't mind.
04:47 There's a lot of feedback, too, from the road.
04:50 It tells you exactly what the front tires are doing.
04:53 Now I also notice it's quiet.
04:55 Well, we have a lot of road noise.
04:57 We have a lot of tire noise.
04:58 We hear a lot of things bouncing off the bottom of the car.
05:01 But you don't hear the engine.
05:03 And that's a good reminder that cars of this era didn't have active sound enhancements.
05:09 When you put a turbocharger on a four-cylinder, it makes it quiet.
05:13 When you put a turbocharger on any engine, it makes it quiet.
05:16 And that's just what happens.
05:17 You can go full song in this thing, 5,000 RPM, full throttle, and barely hear a thing.
05:28 In fact, that can get you in some trouble, because this car is capable of going very
05:33 quick.
05:36 Now we have around 280 horsepower.
05:39 Remember, this was the day in Japan where they had a gentleman's agreement restricting
05:44 horsepower to 276 or so.
05:47 Reports say that this may have around 300.
05:50 But anywhere in there is pretty healthy.
05:52 And when you weight 2,800 pounds, that gives you a pretty decent power-to-weight ratio.
05:58 This car doesn't feel extraordinarily fast, but it feels quick.
06:02 It has just the right amount of power that it needs to get its job done.
06:08 And I like the power delivery of it, too.
06:11 When they bored this 2-liter out to give it 200 cc of displacement, it somehow gained
06:17 this nice mid-range.
06:19 So there's pretty much nothing happening below 3,500 RPM.
06:22 But once you get it on boost above 3,500 to about 4,000 RPM, there's a big, thick, meaty
06:28 mid-range that you can ride through corners.
06:31 And that gives you quite a bit of revs to play with in the power band, because your
06:35 redline is 8,000 RPM.
06:37 It's a wonderful thing.
06:40 Now, even though this car is over a decade old, I don't feel any lack of confidence through
06:47 it.
06:48 I don't have any fear leaning on this thing.
06:52 There is something in this car that makes me want to drive it hard, makes me want to
06:57 push it.
06:58 It's not just the absolute grip.
06:59 It's how the chassis responds.
07:00 It's how the entire car feels.
07:01 This is a very, very good driver's car.
07:02 [MUSIC PLAYING]
07:02 On balance, the 22B would seem to be a rather simple car.
07:31 A wide-body STI with a bit more power.
07:33 And yet, it offers so much more than the sum of those parts.
07:37 It's a very satisfying car to drive.
07:43 Its light but accurate steering, strong, torquey mid-ranging visibility give you plenty of
07:48 confidence.
07:49 But even when it's parked, it gives off a cool aura of motorsports-derived functionality.
07:55 Aside from looking good, it also looks special.
07:58 That's perhaps why it's evolved as a sort of benchmark in the minds of enthusiasts,
08:02 a guide for future WRXs and STIs.
08:08 It sets a good path to follow, sideways through the dirt.
08:17 Oh, Japan.
08:18 That's right about where I'm going.
08:20 You know, it's funny.
08:21 For how conservative of a culture Japan is, like, they came out with this.
08:25 You know, it's blue and gold and pink.
08:29 And it has a big hood scoop and a big wing.
08:31 And like, how did this conservative country come out with this kind of car?
08:36 I'm not really sure how it happened, but I'm so happy it did.
08:39 So happy it did, because this is so great.
08:43 Our car mounts.
08:44 Yeah, well, you know, people are dumb.
08:47 And we're chasing down motorcyclists in a-- what does that mean?
08:54 A 15-year-old Subaru.
08:56 This is a 15-year-old Subaru we're chasing down motorcyclists.