Photos: Subaru Impreza WRC 2008 hatched

It was only a matter of time before the latest Impreza mutated into a blue be-winged devil ready to tackle the dirt and mud-flinging stages of the World Rally Championship.

Derek Fung

Derek loves nothing more than punching a remote location into a GPS, queuing up some music and heading out on a long drive, so it's a good thing he's in charge of CNET Australia's Car Tech channel.

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Derek Fung

May 21, 2008 7:08 p.m. PT

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It was only a matter of time before the latest Impreza mutated into a blue be-winged devil ready to tackle the dirt and mud-flinging stages of the World Rally Championship.

Pardon the pun
We apologise for the pun-tastic headline but this is the first rally entrant from Subaru that's not been a sedan or a coupe. That's not surprising, however, because the current Porsche-baiting WRX STI is only available in hatch format. This is also the first Subaru rally car to do without the prominent gold-on-blue "555" or "comet" livery.

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Watch this space
Subaru has kept fairly mum on the WRC's specifications, with more information due to be released before the car's first competitive outing at Greece's Acropolis Rally beginning on Thursday May 29. We do know though that the WRC is powered by a 224kW 2.0-litre turbocharged boxer four.