over a 100 Pursuits over a 2-year period and not a single car was [Music] caught this was the reality of a single police agency who was plagued by skilled drivers using Subaru's unassuming but razor sharp tool known as the world rally experimental or [Music] WRX it was a car that forged its reputation in The Crucible of world rally cross it's turbocharged by Bo or four cylinder combined with all-wheel drive and a lightweight architecture ascended to ethereal status but it would soon become the most infamous getaway car on the roads of the United Kingdom Australia and New Zealand thanks to the criminals committing jewelry heists and RAM raids using these souped up impresses to outrun police on the narrow city streets it got to the point where they were so prevalent in the commission of crimes police and Public Safety Community groups wanted them to be speed Limited detuned of horsepower and torque and in some cases outright banned in City centers but not for [Music] police what would ensue was a struggle between Law and Order and opportunistic thieves looking for a quick tax-free payday and the determining factor between life and death while in Pursuit was your skill behind the wheel of a rexi this is a story of a perfect storm a car that was easy to steal insanely agile inconspicuous and without proper training and practice a rolling coffin welcome to [Music] explain this all started with a humble little car the impressa new dri Bas impress it was introduced in 1992 as a classy little compact sedan for the muting corporate slave with optional o drive to get you through the depressing winter months and a buttery smooth naturally aspirated EJ series box or 4 cylinder to transport you from your couch to your cubicle but if you were willing to spend a little bit more money and could drive a manual transmission its Enthusiast trim that share the same surname but added three letters WRX was the ideal choice for someone wanting a little more excitement it's in engine the ej20g was a homologated competition engine the aluminum block was a closed deck design giving the cylinder board stability at higher cylinder pressure it had four cam shafts instead of two used oil squirters to cool the backside of the Pistons the compression was lowered to 8 1/2 to1 to curtail detonation from8 bar of Boost pressure thanks to the single turbocharger and was made to consume regular Pump Fuel and pass emissions tests while still providing exceptional performance [Music] [Music] combined with a permanent four-wheel drive system that utilize viscous coupling limited slip differentials for both the center and rear differential the WRX could put down impressive stats for only 240 horsepower the real test of the emza would be in the World Rally Championship and we are racing as McCrae lets it rep and he's the man he's the man that I've picked to win this rally he's going to be the early play the impressa was the successor to the Aging Leon while also being dimensionally smaller and lighter than the Legacy which made it very promising as a rally car British Motorsport engineering firm pro drive and Subaru Tech Technica International would transform the impressa to abide by Fia Group a regulations which imposed a 1.7 times multiplier on engine displacement making the 2 L boxer engine compete in the 3500c class the end result was a car that was only 30 kg above minimum weight used active differentials where the driver could control the torque split between the front and rear axles and most iconic of all it wore the state Express trip 5 cigarette brand Livery in blue and yellow he's coming up to the timing market doing it very nicely with a 118 119 120 I tell you what good time I think for this one nicely through that corner down to the Finish now 127.23 that would finally do it a manufacturers title win for Subaru with Colin mcgrae winning the driver's title in the empreza triple 5 everyone wants to know what the secret of successes is it the car or do I say the driver what do you think the driver it's the driver of course 1996 in 1997 both saw Subaru winning the manufacturers title really solidifying Subaru in the hearts and minds of enthusiasts around the world in the street versions sold like hot cakes [Music] there was one little problem though they were kind of easy to steal see Japan amongst the developed world had an extremely low crime rate and this made anti- theft systems for Japanese built wrx's kind of an afterthought door locks and a keyed ignition cylinder was standard but without an immobilizer that would disable the ECU from firing the injectors when the proper key wasn't detected by the transponder it was an easy target for thieves when the WRX was exported to Australia they quickly became the preferred tool for Ram Raiders Ram raids were just like they sound criminals would use cars to Ram through jewelry stores and storefronts grab as much merchandise as possible and then leave with sometimes $200,000 Australian dollars worth of merchandise to then sell on the black market the ramming part was easy the getaway part was the real challenge so gangs would use high performance cars like the Holden special vehicles Club sport V8 it was easy to steal had four doors and a lot of trunk space to carry stolen goods and a 5 L V8 that could outrun police on the motorway in Sydney Central business district alone there were over 200 Ram raids between 1994 and 1997 and a new trend began to rise Subaru rexis the rexes retain the desirable four-door characteristic but with allw drive and a Nimble chassis it was more agile in the narrow city streets and especially in the wet this Ram rating explosion was met with knee-jerk reactions from insurance companies and police departments in New South Wales the insurance companies like giio QBE and cgu would not insure any Subaru WRX under any condition and the ones that did like racv aami and F AI would often quote astronomical insurance premiums making enthusiasts hold the financial burden for criminal activity the New South Wales police had a trick up their sleeve though they would purchase three Subaru wrx's to be used as Highway Patrol units and intercept Ram Raiders before they can vanish into the night on the motorway in the UK it was an identical story inza turbo 2000 models which were the UK's version of the venerable WRX and its competition the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution imported by rally art daily were wreaking havoc on local police forces both these cars would become the main characters and one of the most dangerous police Pursuits ever recorded on March 25th 2000 in basing Stoke England around an hour's trip from London six individuals break into a cash and carry and clean them out within 7 minutes they stuffed the loot into two stolen cars waiting outside a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 6 and a Subaru Impreza turbo and then they were off with the [Music] loot unbeknownst to them the warehouse alarm would alert local police and quickly a Chase would ensue involving four police forces three helicopters and over 200 km of distance traveled the highway patrol cars were outgunned even at 240 km an hour the Evo 6 and andeta both were staying ahead but in Disguise the chil police helicopter is right on their tail the ler Evolution thinking they lost their tail would stop at a petrol station to fill up hearing no sirens in the distance they thought they were in the clear but all the while the chter police helicopter is watching their every move a patrol car would soon re-engage the chase with the Evo forcing them to leave their accomplice at the petrol station to be apprehended the Lancer Evolution would eventually fall victim to spike strips laid out ahead of the chase destroying the driver side rear tire and eventually the thieves would bail after 2 hours of pursuit 240 km of Road Covered from basing Stoke to West Midlands and would receive 11 years in jail combined the Subaru and pres the turbo however it got away only to be used in an armed robbery the following day Subaru as a company was in a Mad Dash to save face as a WRX they designed to be a street legal rally car it was now the poster child of criminal activity around Australia New Zealand and the UK and even parts of the United States the NRMA and Subaru would work together to make the impressa harder to steal fitting them with keypad immobilizers from the dealer which required a code to be punched in before the car would start and in 2003 new cars would have data dots or miniature dots on the Bodywork that contained the vehicle identification number while this slowed down some of the ram rating craze it didn't stop it entirely each subsequent generation of WRX from the bug eye to the bloby to the Hawkeye became more powerful faster higher top speeds and still were an ideal Choice as a getaway car see before the baby Driver movie would put the WRX in the spotlight amongst popular culture and trust me literally every Subaru owner has seen that chase scene the WRX was more Sinister and played a major role in the underground workings of the black market it was the perfect transporter of stolen goods from storefronts to the hands of criminal Enterprises and maybe if Subaru never made the WRX as good as it was it would have just been another econ box to get you from point A to point B but we all know the story never ended that way [Music]