Subaru WRX STI Type RA NBR Special smashes Nurburgring lap record

The mystery surrounding Subaru’s outing at the Nurburgring last month can now be answered. The company has confirmed that the WRX STI Type RA NBR Special has set a new lap record for a four-door sedan at the famous 20.6 km Nürburgring Nordschleife race track, achieving a time of 6 minutes and 57.5 seconds.

Subaru built the WRX STI Type RA NBR Special showcase its capabilities and the company’s renown all-wheel drive system. Already set the fastest lap time at the Isle of Man TT course and finished 3rd overall at the Goodwood Festival of Speed hill climb, the special-built WRX STI becomes the first four-door sedan to dip below 7 minutes around the circuit.

Subaru says the time was achieved using the Nurburgring timing equipment and was officially verified by track officials. The Prodrive-built time attack car is equipped with a rally spec 2.0-liter Boxer engine and Subaru Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive.

“We brought the WRX STI Type RA NBR Special here to set a record and call attention to the WRX STI Type RA that we will launch (in America) later this year”, said Subaru America Product Communications manager Dominick Infante.

“The WRX STI Type RA promises a great deal, with improved performance and styling and even better handling dynamics than the current car.”

The Subaru WRX STI Type RA NBR Special is a customised race car built by Prodrive, Subaru’s rally and performance technical partner. The NBR Special uses a stock 2017 WRX STI with a full roll cage welded into the standard WRX STI unibody for added strength and stiffness. Power comes from a modified 2.0-liter Subaru WRC-spec boxer motor. It uses a 75-mm intake, and the turbo runs at 25 psi of boost. The race engine produces more than 600 horsepower (447kW) at 8,500 rpm. Prodrive calculated the top speed at the ’Ring would be 179 mph (288 km/h) at 8,500 rpm in top gear.

The RA badge has appeared on many previous WRX models and stands for “Record Attempt” or “Rally Applicant”. The original venture took place in 1989 when a competition version Subaru Legacy broke the FIA World Speed Endurance Record by clocking over 62,000 miles (99,779 km) in 18 days and set a top speed record of 138 mph (222 km/h).

Watch the record-setting Nurburgring lap and behind the scenes footage below.

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