And in today’s episode of “As The Camshaft turns” …

OK, as you know, Honda bailed from F1 racing with about 17 hours notice. ‘Too expensive’ they cried. ‘World economic downturn’ they moaned. Although actually it is looking more and more that getting their rear wings handed to them by the likes of Toro Rosso and Toyota had more to do with it than just plain money. Shoot, even the good crew over at Axis of Oversteer is saying that ‘BMW calls Honda girly men for quitting Formula 1′.

As they were leaving, Honda did say that if they could find a buyer, they’d be more than willing to sell the team and it’s assets (you know, little trinkets like rolling road wind tunnels and server farms you’d ordinarily find in places like Fort Mead) if anyone was interested.

‘F1 team for sale?!?!’ said Dave Richards.

There’s more, after the jump.

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Has it been a year already? The calender says so, but it seems closer, two months ago, maybe four, that the news that Colin McRae, one of the worlds great rally drivers was killed in a helicopter crash along with his son and two others.

Private aviation seems to be about as forgiving of racing greats as it is of musicians. McRae went the way of Stevie Ray Vaughn and Graham Hill and Lynyrd Skynyrd and Alan Kulwicki and nearly the same as his friend and fellow Scot David Coulthard.

McRea was a rare race driver, uncommonly brave, blindingly fast, and completely committed to his sport; committed to the point that when an offending finger of his left hand was not healing quick enough to allow him to race, he asked his doctor to amputate if it wasn’t healed by the next rally.

Spontaneously last year, McRae fans that were also Subaru owners from across Britain drove towards his hometown in memorial of his passing. They will do the same again this year this coming Saturday, August 30, led by Colin’s father, Jimmy, who will be driving his son’s famous, championship winning 555 WRC Subaru from the family home in Lanark to the Prodrive factory in Banbury, southern England.

All the reserved slots are taken, but more info can be found here and if there are any readers out there that are going, take some photos and let us know what it was like.

Godspeed Colin.

Source: Autoblog

How long, O Lord, how long?

Usually you’ll find me pining away for things that only Europeans get of the Ferrari/race-car/WRC-car vein, but in this case, my pining turns towards the more practical.

This case, happens to to be Subaru’s UK versions of the Impreza and Forester that feature diesel engines. Originally, Subaru’s 2.0L oil burner was seen in European Legacys and Outbacks, with the now standard everywhere 5 speed gearbox (BTW, did you know that in Europe, only 5% of the cars have automatics and 95% have manuals, the exact reverse of transmission demographics in America?), but the new Impreza and Forester get an an all new 6-speed manual gearbox.

Supposedly, Sube will bring their diesel line to the states, they’ve been promising it, and rumors have been flying around the world wide car web for months, and also supposedly, they will bring in the 6-speed tranny AND a CVT option.

Other rumors include Subaru considering a Prodrive version of the diesel Impreza, a company spokesman saying, “It is fairly obvious that it’s something worth looking at.” No definite plans yet, dammit.

The potential downside is if the costs of the UK Impreza are translated over to our side of the pond. In the UK, the diesel Impreza will cost £22,495, which translates into round about 40 thousand dollars … I know, cars, and especially non-Euro cars, are heavily taxed, so the diesel variant should cost considerably less in the US.

Source: Edmunds

Now this is the kind of news I like to hear. I like it when a car company actually gives me more in the new model (especially more power), and I really like it when they see fit to not charge me an arm and a leg for it.

The upcoming 2009 Subaru WRX will get a 41-horsepower increase to 265hp at 6,000rpm and 244lb-ft at 4,000rpm thanks to fitting a larger turbocharger, bigger exhaust and low-density catalytic converter. The newly minted Impreza 2.5GT gets the old 2008 WRX 2.5-liter flat-four, rated at the same 224hp at 5,200rpm and 226lb-ft at 3,200rpm. The new WRX only comes with a five-speed manual, while the 2.5GT gets a 4-speed auto box.

The new WRX also gets suspension upgrades as well. Lower-profile summer performance tires, at 225/40-17 versus the outgoing model and 2.5GT’s 205/50-17 all-seasons. Sube has uprated the steering box to help deal with the new, larger tires and also added 43 percent stiffer springs up front and 42 percent stiffer in the rear along with 1mm larger stabilizer bars front and rear.

In spite of all the new goodies the 2009 WRX will be priced under $25,000, according to Edmunds. Last years went for $24,995 including a $645 delivery charge.

Source: Left Lane News

Supposedly (oh PleasePleasePleasePleasePleasePlease) Subaru is actually thinking of putting this into production.

“This” is a Prodrive built Impreza WRX STI, known as the 380S. As you hopefully know, Prodrive is the outfit that runs Subaru’s factory WRC effort, having last won the drivers crown with Petter Solberg (form child disco-dance champion of all of Norway) (I’m not kidding, go look that one up), and also campaign those fast and gorgeous Aston Matins at Le Mans; you know, the ones that seriously worry the Corvettes that are run by the largest car company in the Known Universe.

In short, Prodrive knows how to build quick cars that can take a god-awful beating. They’re not some tuner shop that bolts on turbos, head down to the local bracket drags and calls themselves a race team. Prodrive has to throw down where the difference is between staying on the road or plummeting into a 200 foot deep ravine. At night. In freezing rain. At 140 MPH. So this is a car I’d take very seriously.

The WRX STI 330S features a complete engine rebuild by Prodrive that cranks out 380 PS. You also get other trick goodies like an uprated suspension, exhaust system, an enhanced body kit and either gold or silver BBS alloy wheels with 245/40 tires. Hopefully the WRC Blue paint will be available as standard.

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It was May of 2006, my 1995 Maxima’s check engine light came on. The car had plenty of body problems but had run great in my three or four years of owning it. The only thing that had needed replacement over that time was the idler pulley. I knew the car was ten years old and was about due for a slew of problems to hit. So, after a few years of driving in Iowa, I knew winters kind of sucked if you had two wheel drive. I really enjoyed driving, and wanted to own a manual transmission for the rest of my life. I think it connects the driver to the car in a way automatics don’t do. So there were my two main qualifications: clutch car and all wheel drive.

From there, I hit the web. After conversations with a very happy Subaru owner, I thought I’d check out their site. I really liked the WRX since it had enough power and didn’t really scream, “Rice me out!” So I sent a dealer inquiry through their site. I got a response a few hours later from Jim Miller Subaru here in Cedar Rapids. He said they had a shiny new 2006 STi in stock and I could come down at any time to check it out. I grabbed my parents since this would be my first major purchase in life and we went out that night to do some test driving. The STi was the first one we got in. It was interesting they didn’t keep the shift knob with it; the salesman said it was a theft risk. So we got in and started it. The car had a rumble that warmed the soul. I was a bit taken back by the wing that followed me while I drove but the car was amazingly responsive and had loads of power. Next I got in the WRX. Well, the STi was a six speed, the WRX was a five speed. It had a quieter cabin but didn’t talk to me like the STi did. So, I thought about it for a couple of days, then went down that Saturday and picked up an STi with 19 miles on it. Payments were $670 a month but that was fine since I was single but dating and had minimal expenses. Also, my interest rate was a really low 4.9% because of some college graduate deal Subaru had going at the time.

Life was great, I drove the car everywhere, including a trip to south Texas and back. People asked how my teeth were after the trip. The car had performed marvelously and was the easiest long trip I’d ever taken. To put it succinctly, I loved my car. I was a proud papa and it was my child. My wife and I married that August. Things really changed in March of 2007 when we found out my wife was pregnant. It was early May when I ran the numbers on upcoming bills and the STi was a huge drain every month, especially when my wife stopped working after the kid was born. That and the stupid jokes about having a kid in the car were dumb. C’mon guys, come up with something that’s actually funny. So I called the same salesman at Jim Miller up again and asked him what my options were. They had a 2007 Legacy base model in stock and with the $1500 incentive to buy, I could help cover up my negative equity in the car. Well, I looked at it and the color was awful, even my wife didn’t like it. A couple of days later, he called me back and said they’d just gotten in a 2006 Legacy GT Limited. It was an automatic but I got to keep the turbo and it had a lot of nice features like heated seats, leather, and a defroster under the wipers which helps in Iowa winters. So I picked it up and lowered my payments to $512 a month. I traded the STi in one year to the day from when I got it, along with the winter wheels I’d picked up, with a tear in my eye. Continue Reading…