When Subaru’s opportunity to take over Ken Block and Ford’s Gymkhana arose with the help of Travis Pastrana, the Vermont Sportscar and Subaru Motorsport team started building the heaviest STI before the paint dried on the contracts. Subaru had a year to develop the car and prepare for massive filming, only to complete filming in Pastrana’s hometown, Annapolis, in just four days. This is a narrow window to any standard, not to mention an 862 horsepower STI driven to unknown limits.
The Gymkhana 11 STI is built from a Subaru WRX STI 2020 body that is cut and drilled full of holes for lightness. The end result is closer to a tubular silhouette, with a flat bottom, complete protection cage and the more complex active aerodynamic drift-ready package that rallycross experts have ever created in the wind tunnel. The body is made mostly of Kevlar and carbon fiber prepreg, while the engine uses the Subaru rallycross car’s strong low-stroke crankshaft with the larger 2.5-liter block to finish off as a 2.3-liter. The icing on the cake is the 3D printed Inconel exhaust through the hood.
Building a race car without having to obey any rules is the dream of every engineer, and the WRX STI’s longer wheelbase really resulted in a better handling machine, even with almost 900 horsepower in a flat-four. To deal with wild force and torque, the gearbox gained wider gears, while custom electronics gave Travis Pastrana buttons like Send It, Shake and Bake.
Apparently, Bake is for flames, crackles and crashes, while Send It optimizes speed and the rear wing for jumping. Despite the furious turbo, the engine has been tuned to offer good handling, something you need when performing stunts on the edge.