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Written by Words by Peter Knivett • Photography by David Wigmore
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Whaaaaahhhh, bang, brrrawhaaaaahh!!! The shape is familiar, as the white, bestickered Impreza rips violently down the back straight of an otherwise deserted Llandow, Wales, racing circuit; but the noise certainly isn’t. Imagine a dash of Subaru rumble, mix a slice of Skyline howl and add a smattering of heavy artillery, and you’ll be in the ballpark. Trouble is, this violent soundtrack is making me nervous, and with good reason; because the car that’s producing it is arguably the fastest Subaru Impreza in Europe, and I’m just about to drive it.
Why the agitation? Well, I’m going to sample Litchfield Imports’ time attack championship-winning 600 bhp missile on a very damp, unfamiliar track, and I’ve just noticed it’s on dry tires. Even worse, the unnervingly relaxed Iain Litchfield adds fuel to my mental fire by telling me the car is now up for sale, which means binning into a barrier would definitely not be a good idea. I’m already reaching for my excuse book, because high-horsepower, big-boosting race cars are notoriously tricky to just get in and drive, aren’t they?
Not this one, according to Mr. Litchfield and his partner in crime, Powerstation’s Dirk Hale. This time attack weapon isn’t purely a high speed marketing exercise, as it’s been an important development tool for Litchfield’s new Type 25 road car, one which has tested Powerstation’s considerable Impreza tweaking expertise to the limits.
But let’s rewind to the autumn of 2005, where the story of this car begins, when Litchfield Imports was invited by exhaust suppliers Milltek to attend the Tuner GP at the Donington Park circuit. Never ones to duck out of a challenge, the top tuners at Powerstation (based right next door to Litchfield’s premises) told Iain that if he supplied a car, they would prepare it for outright victory in the “fastest saloon” class.
“We entered a 2.0-litre Spec C Impreza,” Iain says, “plus this car as a Type 25 Spec C to win the ‘Fastest Saloon’ class, because we were told that the level of competition from foreign tuners would be high.” High enough, indeed, to merit a serious amount of pre-event preparation to ensure that Litchfield and Powerstation would put on a good show.
“The plan was to fit my original Type 25 engine into this car, with a larger turbo, a front mounted intercooler and a MoTeC ECU,” Iain recalls. “But then the build escalated and it just ran away with itself.”
It certainly did, because Iain and Powerstation rightly placed safety as a priority for the project, which given the potential track speeds of a 400 bhp plus lightweight Impreza meant fitting a rollcage. Despite the extra mass of the tubing, this offered a number of advantages for the project, as Iain explains.
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