Remember Subaru’s record attempt at the Isle of Man TT that saw driver Mark Higgins make the save of his life as the Impreza WRX STI made a less than smooth landing and almost made the acquaintance of the wall at 210km/h.
Well all we’ve got from that was the video of Higgins bringing the car back under control with some of the finest driving of our time. Now Subaru have released the official video of the record setting run that saw Higgins blast around the 200 corners of the course in 19 minutes and 37 seconds, shattering the previous mark.
According to Subaru, the car used was mechanically stock, save for a few safety additions and little handling bits. The interior saw a fire-suppression system being fitted as was a roll cage in case things got sticky, such as if Higgins hadn’t made the save of his life. Finishing the interior upgrades was a pair of bucket seats and racing harnesses to keep Higgins and his co-driver held in place.
The stock brakes calipers and rotors were left in place but the pads were swapped with some beefier ones from Mintex to cope with the extreme use during the run. Handling was tightened up with the use of Tein dampers that were able to better tame the uneven roads of the Isle of Man. Subaru engineers also fitted an exhaust system that was less restrictive. Lastly, the speed limited was also removed to allow Higgins to have a proper crack during his run.
<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/jFlSG9_Ue4A" allowfullscreen="" width="560" frameborder="0" height="349"></iframe>
Source: YouTube
