Over the past few years two rally cars have emerged as the main contenders in both the WRC and National Group N rally championships. The Subaru Impreza and the Mitsubishi Lancer both have four wheel drive and powerful turbo charged engines if you had the choice which one would you drive? The choice of car can make the difference between winning a championship and losing it ! By coming and experiencing one of Extreme Rally’s Battle of the Thoroughbreds courses you can try both cars and make your own mind up. Find out each car’s strengths and weaknesses, see which one suits your driving style, Have you got the necessary skills to get the best out of these cars?

The Course
Available at Dalby Forest, Twyford Forest and Oxford.

9.00am or 11.30am or 2.00pm - Arrive for Registration
Refreshments available from the Hospitality Truck and the course will last approximately 2 hours.

You will be required to sign our activity form prior to participating on the course. Drivers are divided into groups of 4 to share the same cars and instructor throughout the course.

Safety briefing session with an instructor. The briefing does not include any out-of-car tuition

Session 1
Each participant will drive a fully works-prepared rally car (either a Subaru Impreza or Mitsubishi Lancer) around the stage with the instructor who will teach the basic rally driving technique to suit the course surface. You will be able to put the car through it’s paces to test the level of under steer , grip, acceleration and braking. You will be able to assess how good the car is before going on to session 2 in which you can repeat the process in the other car.

Session 2
Each participant will drive the other fully works-prepared rally car (either a Subaru Impreza or Mitsubishi Lancer) around the stage with the instructor. You will be able to put the other car through it’s paces to test the level of under steer, grip, acceleration and braking. You will be able to assess how good the car and compare it with your first drive.

At the end of the session the instructor will get his revenge and take you on a high speed ride in one of the two cars.

The Comparison

Weight Distribution
This is by far the biggest difference between the two cars. The Mitsubishi is a lot heavier at the front because the gearbox is on the side of the engine, which means all of the weight is at the front of the car.

The Subaru has a flat four cylinder engine which sits lower down and further back in the car. Therefore the weight balance in the Subaru can give you a better feeling in the car because it’s more spread out. Having more weight at the front of the Mitsubishi makes the car understeer more. A Subaru will feel more sideways and could change direction quicker, but for a novice that may be off-putting. A novice will find it harder to manage the car because they will have to fight with the car more.

Differentials
The Subaru has an electronic centre diff, while the Mitsubishi has a hydraulic one. This works in the Mitsubishi’s favour as it is much stronger and reacts faster than an electronic one.

Transmission
The Mitsubishi has always had the reputation for a stronger engine. The Mitsubishi has a five speed gear box as standard and the Subaru a six speed. When the cars are in rally trim  then the major difference is the time taken to replace the gear box which is significantly less for the Subaru, normally about 20 minutes !!

Power
The real difference between the two cars is the horsepower. With Mitsubishi you’ll find you have about ten to fifteen horsepower more, which will make a difference.

Reliability
The Subaru seems to have a better record in rallies for reliability but the latest spec cars are both very reliable and there isn’t much difference in how much they cost to repair, but parts are more readily available for the Misubishi.

Ride Height
You can run the Mitsubishi on a lower ride height for asphalt so the Subaru will always sit higher. The lower you can make the ride height , the more efficient it will be for body roll in the car, which gives the Mitsubishi an extra edge on asphalt.

Driver Comfort
Both cars are comfortable to drive, but you have to sit differently in then. The Subaru has a quite high lip on the dashboard, so you have to sit in a higher position in the car to see over it. For weight distribution, it’s obviously better if you’re sat lower in the car

On The Stages
Mitsubishi has homologated a clever turbo charger which makes it faster on the straights . On a high speed stage you will get the best top-end speed and power out of the Mitsubishi. However, the Subaru performs much better in the tight twisty stretches of a rally stage. Over an average rally stage, the two will turn out to be pretty much average.

Conclusions
The Mitsubishi’s engine is more powerful so the Lancer is quicker than the Impreza, but only in a straight line. The Subaru’s handling will balance things out in the corners, meaning stage times will be similar.

So it’s down to the driver !!!

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