These days, Subaru diehards don’t have as much to be excited about as they used to. The STI is dead, the Legacy Spec.B hasn’t been seen since the Great Recession, and the cladding on the new WRX is, shall we say, contentious. As far as road cars go, the Japanese brand seems more set on the Trader Joe’s audience, which admittedly, makes a lot of sense. However, when it comes to special projects, it’s a different story. Not only is Project Midnight what happens when you give an economy car the same drugs that were injected into Steve Rogers to make him Captain America, it’s aiming to break records. Lots and lots of records.
This whole project started with the Airslayer Gymkhana WRX, which wasn’t even intended to be a track car. It was intended to go sideways and off of jumps and sideways off of jumps, putting on a huge spectacle with Travis Pastrana behind the wheel. However, break records it did, at the Mt. Washington Hillclimb, and then on Virginia International Raceway’s Grand East Course configuration. Clearly, that gave someone at Subaru Motorsports USA an idea: What if they went bowling with the bumpers down?
Enter Project Midnight, an all-carbon, all-winged, all-powerful, all-rad as all-hell balls-to-the-wall take on the current WRX. Yes, there is a VB WRX in there somewhere, but it’s about as far from the one sold in showrooms as you are geographically to Pluto. Let’s start with the engine, a two-liter flat-four fed Burnout 3: Takedown levels of boost to the tune of 670 horsepower and 680 lb.-ft. of torque. Not only is it an evolved version of the engine in Scott Speed’s rallycross car, it revs to 9,500 rpm.
Granted, in the context of modern performance cars, 670 horsepower doesn’t sound massively impressive when you can finance a Hyundai that makes 641 horsepower and comes with a warranty. However, Project Midnight only weighs 2,469 pounds, meaning each horsepower only has 3.68 pounds to cart around. That’s in McLaren P1 territory, so even with the drag from the aero package, this wing with a car attached ought to properly move on the straights.
Ah yes, the aero package. Rallycross cars have big wings, but the one on Project Midnight is bigger. It may actually be legally classified as a ZIP code. Add in canards the size of snowboards, a front splitter large enough to use as a stage, Tsukuba-ready fender flares, and a proper diffuser, and you just get the sense that this weaponized tuner special ought to write its name in a few history books.
While Project Midnight will soon be going fast all over the place, it’s making its performance debut at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, running from July 11 to 14. Not a bad place for a public shakedown, right? Let’s see where this badass WRX goes next, because something this mental isn’t just a garage piece.
(Photo credits: Subaru)
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Why does Subaru hate the hatchback WRX so much that they will do nearly anything to keep from selling one again – up to, and including, adding all the lumber at a Home Depot to construct a monstrous wing on the back deck of a sedan?
Well, not exactly true…
https://noticias.autocosmos.cl/2022/06/07/subaru-inicia-la-comercializacion-del-esperado-wrx-2022-en-chile
https://noticias.autocosmos.com.mx/2024/04/13/el-nuevo-subaru-wrx-sportwagon-arranca-preventa-en-mexico-conoce-precios-y-versiones
It is well beloved, it does exist, in right hand drive (Levorg) and even in left hand drive (WRX SportWagon in Chile and Mexico).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subaru_Levorg
670 hp and under 2500 lbs: that’s nuts. Its got to be quite darty. I’m sure there are plenty of people here who could pilot it properly, but I’d rather spectate because I suspect I’d wrap it around something.
Man’s got to know his limitations
Waiting for it to be test driven by a dealership service writer and friend (without permission,) into a guard rail at some point.
But also think it would be cool if we got an actual version of this for the general public please.
When I read title I hoped to see liquid nitrogen cooled intercooler or something like that.
This Subaru is just another rallycross/ghymkana build, still cool but not liquid nitrogen levels of cool.
“Yes, there is a VB WRX in there somewhere…”
When I initially read that, I though it said V8 WRX and thought this was gonna be a whole ‘nother level of madness.
I expect an STI to have a picnic table on the rear trunk lid. This has a banquet table.
I assume that the target driver of this vehicle is not a human being, but a golem made of vape smoke
Not going to bother with that FA24. Back to the good old EJ20 I see.
I would suspect an FA20 actually. Those can take some pretty big power with upgraded internals. If they were using an EJ it would probably be an EJ257 2.5L.
Anywhere there’s a works Subaru race car it’s always the EJ207. It’s been their homologated engine for a long time.
There’s something strangely sideways with the language in this article. Can’t put a finger on it precisely… Is someone playing with Chat GPT or something ?
These sound like AI trying to write.
Mosdef.
Something very wrong here. Either Thomas is getting dumbified, either he’s trying to smartify an Ai.
Or he’s always been important enough to have ghost writers and he got a bad batch.
Doesn’t appear to be Delvish at least.
Yep, the Delvish thing is definitely superior.
Here, let me try too 🙂
Prompt:
Consider a reporter who has previosly written about Subaru’s Project Midnight using the following terms:
– Dips Records In Liquid Nitrogen And Shatter Them
– Same drugs that were injected into Steve Rogers to make him Captain America
– As far from the one sold in showrooms as you are geographically to Pluto
– A rear wing large enought to be legally classified as a ZIP code
Write a 120 words article about the Subaru Midnight Project in the same style, but without sounding like your inspiration was the victim of severe constipation.
ChatGPT:
“In a spectacle worthy of a superhero origin story, Subaru’s Midnight Project takes the WRX and injects it with enough adrenaline to power an entire Avengers’ sequel.
This beast, dipped in metaphorical liquid nitrogen, shatters preconceptions of what a street car can be. Imagine a WRX so far removed from its showroom sibling, it might as well be orbiting Pluto.
The pièce de résistance is a rear wing so immense, it practically needs its own ZIP code.
This isn’t just a car; it’s a ground-bound jet, a symphony of speed and precision. Subaru has created an automotive marvel that laughs in the face of conventional engineering, promising a driving experience that borders on the fantastical.”
Well well. “Tres honnetement – ca se vaut“, as the Joe Bar Team used to say in the old country.
They also have “Mignight” in their header image. There’s also this line:
This is why you employ an editor folks.
I see no issues with that line. It’s stating three interconnecting things of coolness.
You know what, that one is on me for misreading it. That’s my mistake. The header image still stands though, it’s in bold red letters.
Oh shoot, I’ll let our art wizard know. Thanks for catching it!
No ChatGPT here, I just really love racecars, even when they’re designed for solo missions.
Another article pulled? Where did the ZL1 joyride go?
It’s back!