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Best Impreza Colin McRae Edition review – title-winning Group A Subaru lives again | evo REVIEWS
Apr 24, 2025
Is it possible to capture a true feeling of motorsport nostalgia? Best Engineering, an Italian firm run by Carlo Boroli, has set about building the ultimate continuation to Colin McRae's championship-winning Subaru Impreza Turbo 555 Group A rally car to find out, and we've been driving it.
Deputy Editor Adam Towler – himself an avid period rally fan of this era – met up with Best Engineering to experience this most adrenalin-pumping of nostalgia trips for himself, with Carlo bringing a real 555 along too, just for fun.
To read Adam's experience of rally royalty, and the stunning continuation built in its image, you can grab its featured issue (evo 300) from www.evo-shop.co.uk now, and while you're at it subscribe from anywhere in the world to help us keep bringing these exhilarating experiences to life on video.
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0:00
Colin McRae will always be associated with the blue and gold of Subaru. It's where the legend
0:26
really grew and it's where he won his first and only World Drivers Championship and that 1995
0:33
success made him the first Briton to do so. But of course that accolade wasn't achieved with an
0:41
Impreza World Rally car, it was achieved with the Impreza 555, the Group A car. Here we are in Italy
0:48
that is a genuine Impreza 555, that is the best Impreza, McRae Limited Edition
0:55
chassis number one and that is a mountain road especially closed by the local police
1:02
Welcome to absolute Group A heaven. Carlo Baroli is the man behind the best Impreza McRae edition and he and I have something in
1:14
common. Both of us once stood mesmerized by the side of a rally stage back in the 1990s
1:21
as a Group A Impreza 555 rumbled, barked, popped and banged past us
1:26
with a certain Colin McRae at the wheel. And in that instant, our minds and worlds were blown apart
1:34
never to be quite the same again. As a youngster still at school, that 1995 title of Colin's meant the world to me
1:42
McRae and the Impreza, the great underdogs, that outrageous driving flair and unique flat-fall war cry
1:49
the absolute passion of rallying. Oh, the glory of it. For Carlo, it inspired him to compete on
1:56
the stages himself and, in later life, to acquire a genuine X-Works Impreza 555 amongst other Subaru
2:04
royalty. But he wanted more. He dreamt of building a run of continuation cars to keep the Group A
2:12
flame burning bright. Cars as close as possible to the ProDrive-designed, built and run machines
2:18
from 1993 to 1996, with the key Group A parts recreated where they are no longer available
2:27
and completed with the benefit of over 25 years of technological advancement
2:33
The best Impreza Macrae edition is that car, and Evo is about to drive it
2:42
But first, there's an additional treat. This, ladies and gentlemen, is L439 BXP
2:51
It's a genuine, original 555. BXP was campaigned in the 1994 Italian Rally Championship by Piero Liatti
3:01
before he joined the World Rally Championship alongside McRae and Sainz. It has also been driven in period by none other than Richard Burns
3:10
Mickey Piazzino and Steve Bronquist. Yikes, this is some company to keep
3:17
Talking of which, that's Pierro Liatti right there. Yes, really, wearing his original ProDrive team driver's suit
3:25
Frankly, as a rally fan, it's in danger of all being a bit overwhelming
3:31
Pierro will drive the stage first, with me on the right, and then we'll swap
3:35
Here goes. Okay, good
6:48
Very good. Well done, well done. For the first time, well done
6:58
Wow. There's so much to take in. You know what I mean
7:02
Like the brain. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's overload. And it all happens so fast
7:06
Yeah. But you remember very well the decor, right? Well, it's okay, but I don't trust myself, you know, to really commit
7:19
Yeah. But it's starting to come in. Have you been here before? Yeah, yeah
7:24
No, no, no, no. First time. First time for you? First time
7:28
You learned that so quickly. Yeah. Wow. Honestly, I'm struggling to find the words to describe just how extraordinary it is to drive this car
7:43
It's nothing like as aggressive to look at as a modern rally car, of course
7:46
No outrageous wings or intakes, but it does have arguably the best stance of any car anywhere on those gorgeous speedline alloys
7:55
and it emits enough toxic fumes to make your eyes water, spits fire and sounds like an artillery barrage
8:01
It's all-consuming. The precision of everything, the purity, the sheer aggression of the thing
8:07
It's a little sleepy lowdown, but once you've got some revs on the dial, it feels much more potent than the 350 brake horsepower plus on the earlier 38mm restrictor suggests
8:19
And once the anti-lag is switched on, it simply explodes forward. The dog box might just be the best manual gearbox I've ever used
8:28
Gain confidence and you can get on the power earlier and earlier until the rear begins to step out
8:34
smearing rubber on the road's surface and requiring some gentle correction with the steering
8:39
That feels really good. And so, to the best Impreza, let's let Carlo explain how the project came about
8:46
and what makes the McRae edition so special. My name is Carlo Borolli
8:52
and I like to think that I'm one of the most enthusiast fans of Subaru
8:59
I used to go with my brothers to see our three heroes
9:06
Colin, Piero and Carlos in Monte Carlo Rally, in San Remo Rally
9:12
I used to own Subarus since I was 25 years old and then I made my entrepreneur life and hopefully I've been successful
9:21
And at that point, I've been able to look for X-World Subarus all around Europe
9:28
And finally, I found one. And I had the chance to work on it together with my mechanics that had a long tradition in preparing and restoring X-World Subarus
9:42
Because they used to be, actually, the Subaru Rally Italy team. I realized that the Group A, okay, are, in my opinion, one of the best period in which you can find the real soul of the rally enthusiasts from my point of view
10:05
I started actually three years ago with the idea and owning a genuine 555
10:13
And finally the solution it came up as a crazy idea To make the legend of the Subaru Impreza Coupe alive again
10:26
How? Making a new Subaru Impreza. And this was probably the most craziest idea I had
10:34
I tried to think about making a McCray limited edition series. of the Subaru Impreza Group A
10:46
But of course, I would have the authorization and the commitment of the McCray family as well
10:54
I got in contact with Jimmy, which is a fantastic person that I met three years ago at Rally Legend
11:02
I've been invited at the McCray house and following up to Jimmy's words
11:09
he likes to think about that somebody is bringing along and for the future the legend of the Impreza
11:17
linking that project to the name of the McRae family again. And so we made it
11:26
We will make eight cars, one of each celebrating Collin's victory with the Subaru Impreza Group A
11:35
in the World Championship that makes seven victories in single races and one victory overall
11:43
in the 1995 World Championship. Let's imagine, let's just imagine, you had this car in 1995
13:37
No, no, no, this is... Ah, yeah, yeah. We win all the rally
13:43
No problem, yeah. Big margin. Oh, yes, yeah, yeah. I will compare with the old car, with this car, 2.5 second 4km faster than this car
14:03
2.5 is... 9 and 9. Yeah, I prefer in 2 because it's more reactive if when you push the gas, when you exit the corner, in 2, it's more reactive
14:20
is the diff. The central diff. The central diff, yes. The central diff
14:28
This is the work on the central diff. Okay. This is the, you work for the central, sorry
14:36
central, more gain, the diff, and this is the front. This is work when the brain, you need
14:46
when the condition is in the slippery condition. We work with this. But if it's dry, we stay in this position all the time
14:57
I just can't get over how it rides. It's just like... It's the old car or something
15:05
It's a similar detractor of the other car. How it's moving, yeah
16:23
The engine, it picks up so much more that it's not that it's harder to drive, but for
16:47
me I have to really like, because it's accelerating so fast isn't it
16:51
It's more reactive. When you catch the gas, it goes... It sounds a crazy thing to say
16:59
It's a crazy thing to say, but it's almost like... The old car is not easier, but it's more like..
17:07
I don't know. How can I explain it? I struggle to explain it, but this is really alive, isn't it
17:13
Like really, like all the time. It wants to go, go, go, go, go
17:22
The McRae edition is a revelation. It looks like the old-timer, it sounds like it, and it even smells like it
17:30
but it takes but a few hundred metres to know its performance overall is on another plane
17:36
The motor picks up earlier and it punches harder. It never feels as though it's off the boil
17:41
and the gear shift is even slicker than the original car, positively flying through the gate
17:47
There is so, so much grip, but there is also staggering composure
17:51
because the ride quality is vastly more sophisticated. There's an unstoppable feel to the car
17:58
in the sense that no bump or poor surface can upset it. It just glides over the top, and that makes it blisteringly fast
18:06
In fact, while it takes a little less effort to drive, in some ways it's more demanding than the original
18:11
because you're travelling that much quicker, and the way it responds to the controls is even more responsive
18:17
Bizarrely, it's brutal and delicate all at the same time. Which I fully appreciate doesn't actually make much sense, but you need to be confident
18:27
but measured, forceful but not clumsy. Get it right and it's devastatingly effective
18:34
When Piero drives the McRae edition, it's like flying. We are, as he confirms, a gear higher on most corners during our special stage
18:42
and the way he laughs at the turnaround point says all you need to know about this car's pace
18:48
He tells me he believes it's a staggering two seconds or more a kilometre on a stage faster than the old car
18:54
and I completely believe him. What a machine. Unfortunately, but quite understandably, it costs £370,000 including UK taxes
19:05
and I want one very, very badly. perhaps just in time to contest next year's FIA Historic Rally Championship
19:14
But more than anything, one thought just won't leave my mind. It takes me back to this twisting, torturous Italian road
19:22
and a cooling McRae edition parked up after a run, almost panting like a racehorse as the ferocious heat dissipates
19:31
from the engine, brakes and exhaust. Inevitably, I think once more of Colin
19:37
Except it's an older Greer Colin in a parallel universe, leaning against the imprezzor's
19:44
door, laughing at the car's pace and how much he would have loved two seconds a kilometre
19:49
in the fight against Carlos, Juha, Didier and Francois during those seasons in the mid-90s
19:59
Tragically he can't be here to experience it, just as we aren't able to share it with him
20:05
If you can afford the Macrae edition, then you really are getting something very special indeed
20:35
Thank you
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