See this off-road racer? It doesn’t look much like a Subaru, does it? Well it is. Or at least it has the heart of one.
Set to take part this coming weekend in the Baja 500 is a custom desert rally raider powered by a Subaru boxer engine.
Technical details haven’t been disclosed, but the engine is said to have been borrowed from a Crosstrek – the Impreza-based pseudo-crossover which (in US spec) packs a 2.0-liter flat four rated at 148 horsepower. You can bet the competition version produces a bit more, but the Class 5 regulations to which it was built to comply are pretty open when it comes to powertrain.
The open-wheel racer was built by the rally experts at Crawford Performance, the Fuji Heavy specialist which may be best known for building Ken Block’s hoonmobiles. It’ll be fielded by Grabowski Brothers Racing in this weekend’s 49th running of the SCORE Baja 500 in Esenada, Mexico.
“Subaru has historically competed in off-pavement racing like stage rally and rallycross, so putting this Crosstrek to the test in desert racing will once again show our fans the performance and durability of the Subaru BOXER engine,” said Subaru Motorsports spokesman Rob Weir. “We’re excited to be involved with Grabowski Bros racing, and be entered in the Baja 500.”
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