CHICHESTER, UK – The Prodrive P25 made its public debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed last weekend, and while there, Prodrive Chief Engineer Richard Thompson took us through some interesting details about the car and its engine and aerodynamic add-ons. In addition, he revealed that all 25 copies of the car sold out extremely quickly: in just three days. That’s impressive considering the car’s price tag of over $500,000.
The P25’s engine is the pinnacle, with 400 horsepower and 433 pound-feet of torque. Something interesting, though, is that it uses an EJ25 as its base, rather than a smaller-displacement EJ20 like the WRX STIs in the Japanese market and even the race cars Prodrive has built in the past. The reason Thompson gave was simply that the EJ20 is out of production and not readily available. Prodrive wasn’t looking for custom cast or machined EJ20 engine blocks either, so it decided to use the EJ25, which has been used in European and American STI models. And to meet Prodrive’s needs, the company added custom sleeves and other internal upgrades to bolster the engine for more horsepower, as well as durability under hard riding. Thompson did note that using the modern engine as a base had advantages. It offers variable cam timing support and overall efficiency gains over older EJ20 engines.
The P25 also gets a significantly updated powertrain. It has a triple-plate clutch and a six-speed sequential transmission, plus front and rear locking differentials. But one part is actually all Subaru stock: the center differential. The P25’s center differential, which can adjust front-to-rear torque preload, is mechanically the same as what Subaru uses in STDs. The main change is software for how it automatically adjusts torque distribution.
While the engine and center differential have their origins in on-road STIs, the bodywork is based on Prodrive’s race cars. Of course the fact that most of the bodywork from bumper to bumper is made of carbon fiber is part of that, but the actual design of some bodywork components is based on racing. The bumpers are from the rally cars around 1997 and the rear wing is from the 2000 models. Furthermore, the width of the car is identical to that of the WRC cars: 1,770 mm or 69.7 inches. So the P25 is about as close to a road-going WRC Impreza as you can get.
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