<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=202 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=backgCont id=padLRTB></TD></TR><TR class=backgCont><TD class=articlequote id=padLR nd="2">The results are mighty impressive: 415bhp at 6500rpm, with more than 400bhp always available from 6000-7300rpm. Perhaps more tellingly, peak torque is a thumping 420lb ft at 3800rpm, with more than 300lb ft available from just 3000rpm</TD></TR><TR class=backgCont><TD id=padLRB align=right>
Were used to rabidly quick rally missiles here at evo, but Iain Litchfields latest creation is from another planet. Based on the lightweight Impreza WRX STI Spec C homologation special and developed to Litchfields imaginative and exacting specification, the Type 25 is packed with the kind of performance-enhancing engineering that makes you go weak at the knees.
At its heart is a 2.5-litre version of Subarus turbocharged flat-four, which replaces the Spec Cs standard 2-litre lump. Built to Litchfields requirements by Cosworth Inc, the US arm of the world-renowned engine builders, its a magnificent motor, featuring Cosworths own forged pistons and conrods, together with a special STI crankshaft and STI engine casing. The rotating assembly is balanced to within 0.5 grams and hand-assembled by Cosworths technicians, before the short engine is crated and sent to Litchfields Gloucestershire base. Once in the UK, PowerStation, another of Litchfields technical partners, goes to work on the Cosworth-honed, big-valve, ported cylinder heads, completing the build with the appropriate sensors, shims and cam profiles.
The bespoke development doesnt stop there. Working with exhaust specialist Milltek, the Type 25 benefits from a purpose-built twin-scroll inlet manifold, which is ceramic coated inside and out to manage heat build-up. Mated to a bespoke Garrett turbo, and using PowerStation engine mapping honed through hundreds of hours on the dyno and thousands of miles on road and track, the Type 25s engine is one of the most thoroughly developed independent projects weve encountered.
The results are mighty impressive: 415bhp at 6500rpm, with more than 400bhp always available from 6000-7300rpm. Perhaps more tellingly, peak torque is a thumping 420lb ft at 3800rpm, with more than 300lb ft available from just 3000rpm. Thats genuine big-league stuff, especially when its powering a 1385kg, all-wheel-drive saloon.
Litchfields target was to get as close to matching a Porsche 997 Turbos power-to-weight ratio as possible. With 304bhp per ton, the Type 25 actually eclipses the all-wheel-drive icon by one precious horsepower, but thats only half the story, for the Type 25s chassis has been as thoroughly developed at its engine.
With thicker, adjustable anti-roll bars, modified subframes, increased castor angles, 12-way adjustable AST suspension (complete with in-car adjusters for ease of use), revised damper settings and height-adjustable top mounts, the Type 25s set-up can be made compliant for road use, aggressive for track use, or set anywhere inbetween.
Predictably, the Type 25s combined talents make it a fearsome package. The engine sounds like no Impreza youve ever heard before: sharper, keener, freer, but with just enough of Subarus old-school dugga-dugga to elevate it above the anodyne drone of Mitsubishis fiercest efforts. You hear and feel the turbo spooling up the instant you squeeze the throttle; a split-second of insistent, high-pressure hissing before youre scooped up and propelled down the road by a dizzying gust of acceleration.
Power away from a standing start and youre constantly throwing gears at the thing. It feels explosive, but once into fourth, fifth and sixth you really begin to appreciate the enormous, tractable reserves of torque. Corners where youd consider third gear are now easy meat in fourth, the taller gear and tumultuous torque combining to deliver sustained, eye-widening shove. Its the same in fifth and, incredibly, sixth gear as well.
This is Litchfields first Type 25 demo car, and is fully loaded as a result. Inside youll find a 1995 leather re-trim, while outside a set of gorgeous Enkei 18in STI alloys (1200) wear superbly sticky Yokohama AO48 tyres (600). The brakes are also seriously uprated, a 1695 option comprising 360mm grooved AP Racing discs, massive and seriously cool six-pot Porsche callipers, Pagid pads and braided brake lines. Such grip and retardation is a devastatingly effective combination, although with so much road-holding and stopping power in reserve you barely scratch the surface of the Type 25s abilities. On everyday roads this car isnt just fast, its ridiculously fast.
However, it isnt the ferocious pace that distinguishes the Type 25 from its peers. What stands out a mile is its polish and cohesion. Every aspect of the car has been carefully conceived, painstakingly developed and expertly applied. The Cosworth connection adds huge credibility to an already well-respected concern, while the Type 25s Spec C underpinnings give it a true motorsport pedigree. Imprezas dont get any better than this.
[EVO]
