Subaru’s tuning arm has revealed its vision of the near-future for motorsport.
The STI E-RA Challenge Project – E-RA for Electric Record Attempt – is making its in-person debut at the Tokyo Auto Salon from January 14.
It pumps out 800kW of power from its four electric motors and also features proprietary four-wheel torque vectoring technology, aimed at increasing grip and stabilising the car’s body.
The system uses sensors to calculate vehicle and wheel speed, steering angle, G-force, yaw rate, brake pressure and wheel load, and then provides instructions to the inverter.
The electric motors have been developed and supplied by Yamaha, and Subaru describes them as being “a high-torque high-revolution type… for hyper EVs”. They feature an integrated inverter and a gear.
Powering the electric motors is a 60kWh lithium-ion battery.
The name genuinely stands for something, as Subaru aims to record a lap time of 6 minutes 40 seconds in a time attack at the Nürburgring from 2023.
It’ll first test the vehicle in Japan this year.
Subaru says the “near-future motorsport study project” has been developed “with the aim of gaining experience and training of new technologies in the world of motorsports in this carbon-neutral area”.
It notes the sophisticated four-wheel torque-vectoring technology is also permitted under FIA E-GT regulations.
While the STI E-RA isn’t being raced yet, Subaru has plenty on its plate in terms of motorsport for 2022.
Following its series championship in the 2021 series, Subaru will continue to compete in the GT300 class of the Super GT series with an enhanced version of its Subaru BRZ GT300 race car with more power and an optimised chassis design.
It’ll also compete in the Nürburgring 24-Hour Race in the SP3T class with its WRX STI NBR Challenge 2022 race car, as well as the Japanese Rally Championship.
