Subaru reveals track-ready Legacy

Think high-performance Subaru and the 'STI' suffix springs to mind, but the company's US division has substituted that with 'GTk' in the case of a one-off Legacy (read: Liberty) wagon revealed at this week's Specialty Equipment Manufacturers Association (SEMA) Show at the Las Vegas.

The Legacy GTk puts a whole new spin on the track-day-special theme as the turbocharged, lowered, beefed-up Subaru sport wagon is tailored for track and autocross action, but there's an additional surprise in store when you pop open the tailgate.

In the cargo bay lurks a Coyote Motorsports XP kart (the "k" in GTk), which is also prepped for track duty -- in this case, SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) Solo autocross.

In the words of Subaru America: "The Subaru Legacy GTk is a car you can drive to the autocross track, and then compete against your kart-driving teenager in a handicapped point system on the same track -- with no trailer necessary."

The GTk's upgrades start with a 2.5-litre turbo engine that scores a modified exhaust system and reprogrammed ECU -- but no bolt-on performance parts. The net result is outputs of 220kW and 474Nm -- compared with the standard Liberty GT's 195kW and 350Nm.

The Legacy GTk also pilfers a few bits from the Subaru Performance Tuning (SPT) and STI catalogues, including an SPT short-throw shifter with STI shift knob. In addition, the all-wheel-drive system uses a viscous coupling locking centre differential.

SVI built a custom quad-tipped exhaust system for the Legacy GTk, giving the Subaru Boxer growl a "track-inspired tone".

The 'Track-ified Chassis' features an SPT strut tower brace, and the suspension is dumped via Bilstein struts and STI "pink" springs. Rounding off the chassis package are BF Goodrich P245/50 R19 Force-KDW 2 tyres wrapped around HRE custom 19-inch rims.

Stopping power is also upgraded via a Brembo brake package with six-piston monobloc calipers in front with 355x32 mm two-piece floating cross-drilled discs and billet aluminum hats. The rear setup is the same, but with four-piston calipers.

Viusal/aero upgrades include an SVI front air dam with fog lights; lateral bonnet vents and a rear diffuser. The final touch from SVI is a custom black-over-red paint scheme, complemented by black-out taillights. The tailgate spoiler, midgate spoiler and blackout-style HID headlights were sourced from the Japanese domestic market (JDM) Legacy.

Inside, you'll find acres of carbonfibre-patterned trim, STI alloy pedals, custom boost, temperature and oil pressure gauges and an 18-speaker harman/kardon sound system.

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