CHERRY HILL, N.J., Jan. 28, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Subaru Rally Team USA will begin their Rally America Championship title defense this weekend at the Sno*Drift Rally, the first stop of the eight-event 2015 Rally America season.  The Sno*Drift Rally is held on over one hundred miles of snow and ice covered roads near Atlanta, MI January 30-31. Defending Rally America Champion David Higgins, who claimed the championship for Subaru the last four seasons in a row, will return in an all-new Open Class-trim 2015 WRX STI rally car prepared by technical partner Vermont SportsCar.

Subaru recently teased testing photos of the highly anticipated rally version of the 2015 WRX STI last week during a test session of the new car. "We spent nearly a year in development of the new chassis, and the results are very promising," stated team owner Lance Smith. "The 2015 STI is showing better performance out of the gate compared to our last generation of rally car."

"You can certainly notice the difference in chassis rigidity with the latest version of the STI," said David Higgins. "We tested back-to-back against our 2014 car and found it has better grip and handling, so we're confident we'll be faster with the new car."

Subaru Rally Team USA will run a unique livery at the Sno*Drift Rally based off the camouflage graphics used during their first test session. "What was supposed to be a special camouflage livery for testing purposes only became a hit with our fans, so we've decided keep it on the car for Sno*Drift and have some fun with it," explained Rob Weir, Subaru Motorsports Marketing Manager. The team plans to debut their next iconic Subaru Rally Team USA factory livery at Rally in the 100 Acre Wood February 27-28.

David Higgins will challenge the full Rally America Championship, while Subaru Rally Team USA teammate Travis Pastrana will return for select events later this season.

Full coverage of Subaru Rally Team USA at the Sno*Drift Rally can be found daily via the Subaru Motorsports App. To download from the iTunes App store, click here, for Android App on Google Play store, click here. Follow the team on Instagram @srtusa and Twitter @srtusa.  

About Subaru Rally Team USA
Subaru Rally Team USA is managed by Vermont SportsCar and proudly supported by Subaru of America, Inc., Subaru Tecnica International (STI), Method Race Wheels, Royal Purple, eBay Motors, DMACK Tires, RECARO, PIAA and Race Proven. Follow the team online at www.subaru.com/rally

About Subaru of America, Inc. 
Subaru of America, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. of Japan. Headquartered at a zero-landfill office in Cherry Hill, N.J., the company markets and distributes Subaru vehicles, parts and accessories through a network of more than 600 retailers across the United States. All Subaru products are manufactured in zero-landfill production plants and Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc. is the only U.S. automobile production plant to be designated a backyard wildlife habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. For additional information visit media.subaru.com.

Additional information and news from Subaru is available at http://www.media.subaru.com.

Rob Weir
Motorsports Marketing Manager
Subaru of America, Inc.
(856) 488-3453
rwei@subaru.com

Dominick Infante
National Manager, Product Communications
Subaru of America, Inc.
(856) 488-8615
dinfante@subaru.com

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150128/172117

SOURCE Subaru of America

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