If you'd told me 10 years ago that I'd be going round a race circuit in a Subaru that does 0-62mph in five seconds and has heavy-duty torque, I'd have assumed it would be in some kind of evolution of the Impreza world rally car.
But times change, and Subaru is on a mission to apply electrification technologies across all its vehicles by the early 2030s.
In the latest step on that journey, the all-electric Subaru Uncharted made its public dynamic debut in the UK as official safety car for the World Superbike Championship round at Donington Park – and I was there to witness it.
During a high-speed passenger lap of the legendary East Midlands circuit, I was able to get a close-up view of how the car performs when driven close to the limit.
The Uncharted felt sharp off the grid, which is no surprise as it manages to sprint to 62mph in five seconds, which is 0.2 seconds faster than the WRX STi Final Edition.
Entering the right-hand hairpin at Redgate at about 60mph, my driver put the Uncharted into a controlled skid, flicking the steering wheel quickly right, then left, and right again, before holding his lock through the corner – never dropping below 50mph.
Although the driver was clearly 'at one' with the movements of the vehicle after doing numerous previous laps, it felt like the handling was predictable and stable, helped by the all-wheel drive system.
Heading down through the Craner Curves – a downhill, sweeping sequence of corners – the set-up of the car seemed to allow the driver to get into his flow quite nicely.
In this section, the downhill compression has a tendency to unload the rear tyres, making the back end feel light.
However, the vehicle did not seem unduly affected by the kind of oversteer that can accompany this kind of scenario, and we were able to take the tightening right-hander at the bottom of the curves without dipping below 60mph.
In straighter sections of the track, the acceleration from 60mph towards 90mph felt swift, suggesting that the Uncharted doesn't run out of grunt.
I was impressed to learn that the Uncharted hadn't been modified for track use, but was the standard road car.
The vehicle is equipped with Subaru’s permanent Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive system, engineered for an electric drivetrain.
Electric motors on the front and rear axles produce a combined torque of around 430Nm.
The vehicle features an optional POWER drive mode for optimum sporty performance on the race circuit.
With the Uncharted not due to officially launch in the UK until early 2027, this was just about the earliest chance to get up close to the vehicle in a dynamic UK setting – and the initial signs are certainly promising.
