Driver Mark Higgins, the current holder of the record on the Isle of Man TT Course on four wheels, accepted the challenge. Subaru sent his former record-beating car to Prodrive, where it was slightly modified to handle the task. The roll cage was strengthened, and the body was also altered.
WRC-specification ice tires were fitted, and the suspension was adjusted to an incredibly rigid setting front-and-rear. Each tire had 400 studs on it, and the 7-millimeter units were supposed to give the driver a chance to control the car as it was fighting gravity, sudden load transitions, and centrifugal force.
Initially, Subaru was planning to drive a select group of automotive journalists up and down the St. Moritz-Celerina Olympic Bobrun, but the Japanese brand eventually decided against the idea.
Even Mark Higgins responded that he had a 50/50 chance of successfully driving the car on the icy slope, but he managed to do it without totaling the car.
However, the body was hit in several areas, which proves that automobiles will not replace sleighs very soon. In spite of the damage, Subaru and Mark Higgins have another unique story on their hands, and they have made a video to show a part of the run.
The track starts at 6,076 feet, and its length is 1.07 miles. Apparently, the best competitors in a bobsleigh can reach up to 133 km/h (83 mph) as they drop down 130 meters (about 426 feet).
Subaru did not mention how fast did Mark Higgins managed to drive the WRX STI, but you can see that it was going as quick as any reasonable human would have dared run on that surface.
Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland. Full profile
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