RallyKeith Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 http://www.swrt.com/news/latest_news.html?id=1590 Sad sad day when a company that has based so much of it's success in the 90's and 2000's on it's presence in the WRC. Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShawnW Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 I am not sure what I think of this right now. For today I will settle for just a reaction of shocked. For me auto racing isn't fun to watch unless its WRC and without Subaru in it what is the point? Damn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RallyKeith Posted December 17, 2008 Author Share Posted December 17, 2008 I am not sure what I think of this right now. For today I will settle for just a reaction of shocked. For me auto racing isn't fun to watch unless its WRC and without Subaru in it what is the point? Damn. My initial response is this could be the end for either Subaru as we know it or Subaru in the WRC, no matter what happens to the economies. Subaru is the only manufacturer running a flat 4 motor. 2 or so years ago there was some kind of talk from the FIA of mandating a "standard" engine design, and it was not a flat 4. I'm afraid that if the Subaru isn't there it will be far to easy to make that rule. If that happens, either Subaru will have to change engine design from what we all know and love, use a toyota engine (not all too horrible, but there is that whole toyota being banned from WRC a few years ago for cheating), or the worst option of never coming back until that rule is repealed. Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterD Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 I was quite shocked to read the news yesterday, Suzuki also pulled out and dare i say it i was rooting for them too. I hope this only means an end to a Subaru Sponsored team and that private teams may still be racing Subaru. Its a bummer but im sure there will still be a Subaru racing maybe not a bright blue one with gold wheels. :-\ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave valiant Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 Here is the link to the short article I found on Top Gears page. http://www.topgear.com/us/blog/more/subaru-quits-wrc/ I dont know what to say! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s'ko Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 (edited) World auto racing is in for an interesting 2009 season. F1 cars are getting some extensive body/wing make overs, they are allowing kinetic energy recovery systems (KERS) and on the fly adjustable wings for more or less downforce. LeMans series cars are also allowed KERS. WRC going to Super 2000 cars at the end of 2009 might mean the more teams will drop out b/c its really not their technology that is being used. I agree with what Rallykeith said about Subaru's unlike return should the new engine layout be adopted. BTW, the Toyota ban was only for the end of the 1995 season and the 1996 season. They can still return if they wish. Problem is now who do I root for in the WRC?? BW Edited December 18, 2008 by s'ko Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSubaruJunkie Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 Winners never quit, and Quitters never win. Way to suck Subaru! :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subyrally Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 i think i might cry over that one, with out the wrc, whats the point? with no major motorsports, what motivation will they have to improve their line up and make new technical innovations? grrr, this sucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subarutex Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 They've been sucking for a while in the WRC. Petter Solberg hasn't performed up to expectations at all. Besides... WRC is in the works to move to a more nascar-style format which will further limit engines, gearboxs, chassis, ecu programming, etc... I'm not happy to see it, but I'd rather them cut this stuff early then fail hard later. There is always the chance they come back.... If the WRC survives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loyale 2.7 Turbo Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 Winners never quit, and Quitters never win. ... I Agree, Absolutely... Maybe it have something to do with the Subaru-Toyota Projects Maybe Toy wants to Develop their WRC Car Based on a Subie? They Already have the Toy AE86 (Trueno) Reborn Project, based on Subie... That Sucks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Durania Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 I read that the WRC was going to make all the engines inline 4's. That would contradict every bit of their boxer 4 promotional advertising. I don't think they will be out of Rally America though. Too bad they didn't drop out before they mandated the rally cars be 5 door's. We would still be running the GD chassis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subyrally Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 I read that the WRC was going to make all the engines inline 4's. That would contradict every bit of their boxer 4 promotional advertising. I don't think they will be out of Rally America though. Too bad they didn't drop out before they mandated the rally cars be 5 door's. We would still be running the GD chassis. i dontthink that hatches were mandated by any governing body, it was a technical call. the winners lately have all had hatches. i think its just the current fad. subaru would have been boned with the new rules anyways, the french have finally got their way. they complained that the rules werent fare since they kept loosing for a few years. wrc has certainly gone to rubbish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NinjaTech Posted December 20, 2008 Share Posted December 20, 2008 World auto racing is in for an interesting 2009 season. F1 cars are getting some extensive body/wing make overs' date=' they are allowing kinetic energy recovery systems (KERS) and on the fly adjustable wings for more or less downforce. LeMans series cars are also allowed KERS. WRC going to Super 2000 cars at the end of 2009 might mean the more teams will drop out b/c its really not their technology that is being used. I agree with what Rallykeith said about Subaru's unlike return should the new engine layout be adopted. BTW, the Toyota ban was only for the end of the 1995 season and the 1996 season. They can still return if they wish. Problem is now who do I root for in the WRC?? BW[/quote'] Ford, you root for Ford. Loeb and Citroen must be stopped! Subaru didn't get a whole lot of coverage this season, and what they did have was mostly Petter and Chris crashing or breaking down. Petter has been having a pretty hard time the last couple seasons which sucks since he was one of my favorite drivers. Now I think it's Mikko Hirvonen, he did extremely well this season. I hope Mikko can stop Loeb next season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7point62fmj Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 They get rid of the bug-eye, they get rid of the two door the wrx gets de-nutted and loses it fender flares. They are working on a joint car with Honda that is not a boxer plus FIA wants them to get rid of it too and now they drop wrc. (I hope not for ever) Lets see how long it is in till they get rid of AWD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NinjaTech Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 They get rid of the bug-eye, they get rid of the two door the wrx gets de-nutted and loses it fender flares.They are working on a joint car with Honda that is not a boxer plus FIA wants them to get rid of it too and now they drop wrc. (I hope not for ever) Lets see how long it is in till they get rid of AWD. They're also working on that RWD boxer car with Toyota. I haven't heard of this Honda pairing though, any more info on that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subyfreak Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 Sad news but sounds like WRC is just as much to blame as the economy. At least we still have Rally America here in the states. For now anyways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carfreak85 Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 What a freakish and sad day for Subie fans around the globe. From what I've read about the withdrawl, there were a couple of reasons for the pull-out. First was the economy. They, along with pretty much all auto manufacturs, are expecting to lose sales in the short-term. This is one way to avoid falling into debt, since hardly anybody ever gets rich from auto-racing. I forgot the exact quote, but the Fuji-employee who announced the withdrawl said that Subaru had met its exposure targets from racing in the WRC. It seems that enough people know about the beauty of all-wheel drive that they don't need to "prove" it anymore. I'm just sad that I won't see any flying, blue, boxer-powered, factory-backed rally machines anymore... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
952.2LX Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 I haven't heard anything about them pulling out of Rally America? I hope not! I plan to see a #43 Monster car dominate again at 100acres wood rally here in MO this Febuary. There will also be a blue #200 Subaru there hopefully. Model off of NASCAR and their "fair" system to save smaller teams money and make it "more competitive" pffffft.....yea right LOL...not like someone hasn't dominated that arena either...can anyone say Jimmie Johnson? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheYeti Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 I haven't heard of this Honda pairing though, any more info on that? Does Honda partner with ANY automaker? Not that I can recall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NinjaTech Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 Does Honda partner with ANY automaker? Not that I can recall. Honda used to sell rebadged Isuzu Rodeos as the Honda Passport. They also had sold D series engines for use in some Rovers in the UK. That's all I can think of off the top of my head, I'm sure there's more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carfreak85 Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 Does Honda partner with ANY automaker? Not that I can recall. The V6 in Saturn's suv, that's a Honda. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheYeti Posted December 26, 2008 Share Posted December 26, 2008 (edited) The V6 in Saturn's suv, that's a Honda. That's right! And the Rodeo / Passport! I do remember both, and stand corrected. My thoughts were drifting into the world of large car company mergers for whatever reason. No mergers for Honda. Sorry about the OT. Edited December 26, 2008 by TheYeti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tysn Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Hm they also had the acura slx that was also the isuzu trooper from 92 till about 02. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoobywagon Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 I sent a nasty-gram to the folks over at Subaru and all I got back was a cut and paste reply about "maximizing the management resources". Frankly, it seems odd to me that they would decide to maximize management by abandoning their core customers. Very strange, indeed. I admit, though, that, in light of the Super 2k rule, I can see their point. But if that was the problem, you'd think they'd say that. Why look like the bad guy to your customers when you can throw FIA under the bus? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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