Damn those guys at Vermont SportsCar. They call and, like Pavlov's dog, we feel the rush start. Our palms begin to sweat and we find ourselves doing a little jig as our feet perform an imaginary dance on the pedals. Visions of trees rushing past and gravel flying infect our brain. After all, VSC builds, preps and supports some of the nicest rally cars on the planet.
This time, though, something is different. This time the car is connected to the ground with real grip. This time the surface is smooth and paved. This time the gravel geeks built a car for the road.
VSC built the DC Shoes-sponsored Subaru WRXs campaigned by Travis Pastrana and DC president, Ken Block, in the Rally America Championship. DC Shoes happens to sponsor The Gumball 3000 Rally-a mad, unsanctioned, weeklong 3,000-mile dash across Europe.
When Block decided to field a team for the 2005 event, he asked VSC to build the ultimate street STi. Times three. That's because three badass WRXs are still far less expensive than just one of the Murcilagos or Carrera GTs that make up the rest of the field.
Block and his DC co-founder, Damon Way, teamed with wives Lucy and Suzie while DC pro skateboarder Rob Dyrdek had his 'bodyguard' 6'4" 350-pound Big Black in the right seat for the daily dash to the nightly party.
"The Gumball Rally is all about rich guys in Lamborghinis," says VSC's marketing manager, Chris Yandell. "We wanted to do something special and asked, 'What if we build a street version of our rally car?' We wanted to show that without too much effort, these cars could be made into viable competitors that could give a Ferrari a run for its money. They're strong and let you act like a punk without worrying about reliability. They have to cover 3,000 miles, 2,000 of which will be at full throttle."
And we get to drive them. Held snugly in place by a black Recaro Speed seat, we visualize sprinting from Brussels to Budapest in total comfort-and we haven't even turned the key yet. Once we do, the thumpy, lumpy and oddly syncopated note exiting the 3-inch APS exhaust lets the neighborhood know something special lives under the quivering hood. Not that the huge APS DR725 front-mount intercooler isn't a big enough hint. A Garrett GT32 ball-bearing turbo stuffs up to 18 psi of boost into the Crawford Performance engine after an ECUTEK reprogrammed ECU checks fuel and ignition maps and gives its OK.
We've always said that hard driving should be saved for an appropriate time and place, but a few minutes in Block's Gumball entry sets our moral compass adrift and we wish the entire state was one large closed course. The temptation to plant our right foot at every opportunity and hear the I-Speed-tuned boxer croon to the tune of 426 whp and 421 lb-ft of torque (according to Crawford's DynaPack dyno) is irresistible.
But our chance to drive the car comes with one important caveat-it has to be in port ready for the boat to Europe in four days. The mandate is simple: be back by dark and don't break anything.
Pulling out of the shop, we find the six-puck ceramic STi sport clutch heavy with a high, on/off engagement point, and we promptly stall. Once we adjust to the clutch, heading out through town is no problem. We don't leave unnoticed-between the exhaust note, JDM STi Spec C front and rear bumper covers, and camo-graphics identical to the rally cars, the STi turns a lot of heads. "It's the anti-stealth package," notes Yandell.