Where else can you experience over 200 vehicles driving at full speed for 24 hours around the longest racetrack in the world? It’s the Nurburgring 24-hour race, and Subaru is ready to make it two wins in-a-row in the new 2016 WRX STI race car. Subaru is competing for the 9th consecutive year and has won the grueling race three times, in 2011, 2012, and 2015. Can they make it two in-a-row again? Five new improvements could help them do it.
Subaru Tecnica International (STI) the motorsports division of Subaru made four improvements to the 2016 Subaru WRX STI Nurburgring race car. STI isn’t standing pat with last year’s winning car. Subaru will defend their title in the SP3T class (for sub-2 liter turbocharged vehicles). Last year they won won the race in convincing fashion. Subaru’s WRX STI finished in first place 37 minutes and 11 laps ahead of the second place Lexus RC.
5 improvements made to WRX STI
The 2016 Subaru WRX STI NBR gets new improvements and will get a lighter body, reduced inertia moment, better aerodynamics and enhanced front downforce. The new WRX STI also gets new tires. STI had to change the engine settings suited to smaller restrictors resulting from regulation changes. Subaru says the new changes to the WRX STI NBR car will make optimum use of the low center of gravity and superior balance of the horizontally opposed engine to improve cornering speed.
No driver changes
Once again Hideharu Tatsumi, STI team manager, will be responsible for both development and operations of the 2016 Subaru WRX STI Nurburgring team. The four-man driver lineup remains the same as last year’s class-winning team: Hideki Yamauchi (Japan), Marcel Lasee (Germany), Carlo van Dam (Netherlands), and Tim Schrick (Germany).
Can STI pull off another win at the Nurburgring 24-hour race in Germany? The 2016 Subaru WRX STI gets new improvements and will be ready to defend their title. The race is May 28-29, 2016. Stay tuned.
Check out the Subaru x STI STILE video below.
Source: Subaru Motorsport