Here at InstacarHK we don’t only enjoy European classic cars, we also really like JDM modern classics. After our last Honda NSX episode, we are pleased to present this limited edition 1998 Subaru Impreza WRX STI 22B. One of only 424 made, this Subaru rally road car celebrates Subaru’s 40th anniversary and Subaru’s winning of the World Rally Championship for the 3rd consecutive time. If you like Fast & Furious, turbocharged Japanese Domestic Market cars, this review is for you!
Hello and welcome to a brand new episode of instacart xk today we’re reviewing a very very special jdm modern classic being this 1998 subaru impreza wrx sti 22b now a lot of you should already know that the 22b is the ultimate performance and limited edition of the gc8wrx series so mario released it back then to celebrate its 40th anniversary and its winning
Of the world rally championship for the third consecutive year in a row hence this 22b only came in this iconic blue color which was what the rally racing cars used back then now the 22b can also be considered as really the first sti special edition and limited edition model we’re familiar with a lot of the special edition models of today such as the s209 or
The spec c model but this really was what started it all so baru initially released 400 of the 22b for its domestic market um and apparently it was all sold out within 24 hours after the announcement afterwards due to the popularity sabaru released another 24 units for the uk and australian markets making this a very very rare car and which is very very valuable
Today now the 22b was based on the version 5 of the wrx sti and as you expect subaru made a lot of enhancements to it both in and out the engine had a lot of upgrades but most notably the engine was increased from a 2.0 liter to 2.2 liters they have a lot of unique changes that is specific to the 22b only including the front and rear bumpers and adjustable rear
Wing which is huge the suspension has a tailor-made boost in suspension and the brakes have these uh tsubaru four piston brakes which if you look at it today it is small and it’s not that great but you have to remember this was before the days of gold big brembo four piston brakes or aftermarket you know six piston a piston ap brakes and these very beautiful
Period bbs rims in gold but most importantly however on the front and rear fenders which has been widened by subaru by about 3.5 inches and these fenders are the defining character of the 22b the moment you see a gc8 with a wide body you know that is likely to be the very very special 22b now after being released for more than 20 years a mystique continues to
Surround the subaru 22b model and that is its name 22b so baru never officially gave an explanation of why it’s called the 22b a lot of people including myself think it’s because the car is a 2.2 liter and the b stands for the built-in suspension which is tailor-made for this car so 22 feet however there’s also another theory that if you apply some mathematic
Wizardry to the number 22 which i’m not going to do here because i suck at that but if you do that apparently it will come up with the number 555 which is of course the cigarette brand which was the main sponsor of the subaru wlc team now whether that’s true i don’t know but i think after so many years subaru the 22b has created such an amazing reputation of
Being such a cool special car it doesn’t really need any introduction nor does it really need a official definition of what its name means it’s just a cool valuable car which audience love including myself so it’s time to go for a drive and i’ve been quite excited about this drive because uh tsubaru especially my younger days has always you know been one of my
Favorite brands and i actually had a version 5 wrx sti so the normal version of the 22b back a number of years ago so this is a little bit of a trip down memory lane and i’m excited to see how this special edition 22b performs now first impression when you sit in the interior is relatively you know the same as as the normal sti version they haven’t done too much
I mean the steering wheel was a naughty steering wheel so that that’s a bit different this particular car’s interior isn’t very very good nick this is practically brand new two things immediately is first you can see the widened rear fenders from your rear view mirror which is quite cool which is again very distinctive uh 22b train and secondly this is also the
Era where carbon sport seats are not as common yet so the seats are you know not too different from the usual sti uh bucket seats last thing to mention before we head off is the differential this is specific to the 22b where you can adjust the differential bias of the car so if you go up it will be full lock which will be a fully four-wheel drive you go down to
The lowest level then it will be very real biased i think let’s keep it in the middle a bit rear biased today and see how it goes so let’s head off there’s a five-speed gearbox very short throw changes it’s definitely a short shifter apparently it’s a twin plate clutch so some say it’s a bit hard to engage but so far has been quite good and obviously the moment
You set off hear the subaru verbal from the engine these 90s cars they have very good size makes the car a lot more nimble you can really put it into corners without worrying about going across the line and whatnot it has power steering but so far the steering feels quite connected i i don’t feel like it’s it’s a very disconnected car which some some japanese
Cars do suffer from but unsurprisingly this is not the case for the 22 beer all right clear roads ahead let’s give it some juice survivors says it only has 280 horsepower but that was due to the so-called gentleman’s agreement that japanese manufacturers had to abide to back them where at the request of the government they have their cars have to all be 280
Horsepower in order to discourage the racing culture but a lot of people say this this 22b for example should be about 300 or 320 horsepower and you can definitely do it and this this sort of this eras four-wheel drive japanese cars they’re just so confidence inspiring you anyone who sits in here you immediately become a racer you do understand why they need
A gentleman’s agreement you can just really put it in the corner you point the steering in the front of the car into it and immediately just goes there’s no wondering this car is from 1998. first of all even for today’s standard it’s very capable it’s very quick but and back then when they were on the top in a sense it’s so easy the power is so accessible um
And they use the power so efficiently with the four cylinder turbocharged engine 300 or so horsepower and the four wheel drive so the electronics and the car really assist a driver so any regular drivers can do very impressive speeds in these cars which you can’t with the european counterparts or european supercars back then so i have a 360 which is which was
Released in 1999 so technically they’re around the same era there is no way i can drive as confidently and as quickly in my 360 than when i’m in an sti or an evolution this era japanese cars are really special and and i can understand why so many people want to go back and buy them now and and the special edition special ones are uh so valuable including this
One this this 22b is easily a one million dollar hong kong car easily and you’ll have the ns6rs the special edition gtrs they all go for crazy money and you can tell why so it has been a very very good trip down memory lane i have to thank the owner again for for being so trusting with the car with us and you know giving me this really valuable experience if
You like this video please like please subscribe remember to click the subscribe button and the bell button so that you get notification next time we have a video out please also make sure to check out our instagram at instacarthk and if you feel like a read you can also go to my blog at www.instacarhk.com where i have blogs on every car that i have reviewed
And some of them will have more information than the video itself so thank you for watching and we’ll have more classic car videos coming soon thank you you
Transcribed from video
1998 Subaru Impreza WRX STI 22B Modern Classic Car Drive and Review By Instacarhk
