The Winter Olympics showcase numerous sports where athletes push the boundaries of human performance, but for motorsport enthusiasts, bobsledding stands out as the closest analogue to automobile racing. This high-speed discipline demands flawless teamwork between pilot and machine, where victories are decided by mere hundredths of a second and the margin for error is virtually nonexistent. The parallels to motorsport are undeniable—precise vehicle control, management of extreme forces, and the constant risk of dramatic crashes. It's no wonder that racing fans find themselves drawn to the bobsled events every four years, watching with the same intensity they bring to Formula 1 or rally championships.
The notion of combining actual cars with bobsled tracks isn't merely a fantasy or publicity stunt. In 2018, Subaru partnered with the legendary motorsport engineering firm Prodrive to create something unprecedented: a production-based rally car capable of descending one of the world's most famous bobsled courses. They enlisted British rally champion Mark Higgins, a man familiar with extracting maximum performance from Subaru machinery, to pilot this remarkable machine down the historic St. Moritz–Celerina Olympia Bob Run in Switzerland.
This particular track holds special significance as the birthplace of modern bobsledding, with origins dating back to the late 19th century when adventurous tourists first began racing down the frozen streets of St. Moritz. Carved into a Swiss mountainside, the course stretches exactly one mile while dropping an astonishing 426 feet through 19 twisting turns that test the limits of both human and machine. Among these, the infamous Horse-Shoe turn has become iconic, featuring such extreme banking that vehicles approach a vertical orientation while subjected to approximately 5G of force—a stress level comparable to what fighter pilots experience during aggressive maneuvers, and significantly more than what typical road cars are designed to withstand.
The concept is tantalizing: imagine a motorsport event where professional drivers pilot identically-prepared rally cars down an ice chute at maximum velocity, racing against the clock in direct competition with traditional bobsled teams. The inevitable contact with the track walls would certainly result in substantial body damage, but the spectacle would be unforgettable. This Subaru experiment proved that such a vision, while extreme, is technically feasible and could potentially open an entirely new category of winter motorsport.
Before examining the vehicle itself, it's worth noting the track's final curve, Portago Corner, named in honor of Alfonso, Marquis de Portago. This Spanish nobleman, whose full name was Alfonso Antonio Vicente Eduardo Ángel Blas Francisco de Borja Cabeza de Vaca y Leighton, exemplified the classic mid-20th century gentleman racer who competed across multiple disciplines. He competed successfully in Formula 1 for Ferrari, won an Olympic medal in two-man bobsledding at the 1956 Winter Games, and tragically lost his life during the 1957 Mille Miglia road race—a story recently dramatized in Michael Mann's 2023 film "Ferrari." His legacy bridges the worlds of motorsport and bobsledding perfectly, making him the ideal namesake for a corner that now welcomes both traditional sleds and experimental automobiles.
Returning to the Subaru project, the base vehicle was a WRX STI, Subaru's legendary performance sedan renowned for its turbocharged power and sophisticated all-wheel drive system. However, taking a road car down a bobsled track required extensive modifications, expertly executed by Prodrive's engineers who have decades of experience building championship-winning rally cars.
The transformation focused on several key areas. Chassis reinforcement was paramount, as the car would encounter forces far beyond normal road or even rally conditions. A comprehensive FIA-spec roll cage and strategic structural bracing ensured driver safety and maintained chassis integrity against impacts that would total a conventional vehicle. Speaking of safety, the interior was completely stripped of its civilian appointments and fitted with competition-grade safety equipment including a fixed-back racing seat, six-point harness system, and onboard fire suppression system.
The fuel system received special attention with the installation of a compact 10-liter fuel cell, providing adequate range for the short but intense runs while minimizing fire risk through its crash-resistant design and internal foam baffling. The suspension was completely retuned with significantly stiffer springs and custom-valved dampers to handle the unique demands of the ice channel, where impacts are inevitable and compliance is not an option. The braking system was upgraded with high-performance components designed to maintain effectiveness in sub-zero temperatures, including special low-temperature brake fluid and pads formulated for ice racing conditions.
Interestingly, the team attempted to preserve the car's bodywork by adding extra bumper and door protection in the form of sacrificial composite panels. This proved optimistic—the additional guards were torn from the vehicle within the first few turns, sacrificed to the unforgiving ice walls that make no allowances for wheeled vehicles. The STI's factory bodywork fared little better, bearing the scars of its historic descent like badges of honor.
However, the most critical modification—the one that made the entire project possible—was the tire package. Standard performance tires would be utterly useless on pure ice, offering less grip than a curling stone. Prodrive fitted special anti-puncture rally tires that were notably narrower than the stock STI rubber, a counterintuitive choice that pays dividends on slippery surfaces. Narrower tires are advantageous on snow and ice because they concentrate the vehicle's weight over a smaller contact patch, increasing pressure and improving penetration through the slippery top layer to find grip below.
The real magic lay in the 400 tungsten carbide studs embedded in each tire. These incredibly hard metal spikes protrude approximately 2mm from the tread, literally biting into the ice surface and providing mechanical grip that no rubber compound could achieve, no matter how soft or specialized. Each stud is precisely positioned and backed by a reinforced rubber base to prevent tear-out under the immense forces generated by a 300-horsepower car on ice. Combined with the WRX STI's sophisticated all-wheel drive system, which can actively distribute torque between front and rear axles as well as side-to-side across each axle via limited-slip differentials, these studded tires allowed the car to translate its considerable horsepower into forward motion rather than wheelspin.
When Mark Higgins finally launched from the starting position, the result was controlled chaos of the most entertaining variety. The run was punctuated by frequent, inevitable contact with the ice walls—a necessity when navigating a channel designed for sleds rather than wheeled vehicles. Despite the impacts, which would have destroyed a lesser-prepared machine, the car maintained remarkable momentum, its studded tires clawing for grip while the all-wheel drive system continuously optimized power delivery, sending torque to whichever wheel could make best use of it at any given millisecond.
Upon reaching the bottom, rather than loading the battered Subaru onto a trailer, Higgins simply turned around and drove back up the course, demonstrating the vehicle's remarkable capability and durability. The car emerged "slightly worse for wear" but fundamentally intact and operational—a testament to both Subaru's robust engineering and Prodrive's meticulous preparation. This return journey, though less dramatic than the descent, proved that the modifications created a truly functional ice vehicle, not just a one-way sled.
This project raises an intriguing question: why isn't this an actual Olympic demonstration sport? The technology already exists, the safety protocols could be adapted from both motorsport and bobsledding, and the entertainment value would be immense. Imagine national teams fielding drivers in standardized but manufacturer-identifiable vehicles, combining the precision of rallycross with the raw speed of bobsledding. The visual spectacle alone would draw new audiences to the Winter Games, while the engineering challenge would attract manufacturers eager to prove their all-wheel drive systems and cold-weather durability.
The Subaru-Prodrive experiment proved that the concept is more than just a stunt—it's a viable fusion of two high-performance disciplines that share more DNA than either community might admit. While the 2026 Winter Olympics will feature traditional bobsled events that certainly thrill purists, motorsport fans can't help but dream of a parallel competition where the roar of turbocharged engines replaces the scrape of steel runners on ice, where tire studs throw rooster tails of ice crystals, and where drivers like Higgins become the new winter sports heroes.
Until that day comes, we'll have to content ourselves with watching replays of Mark Higgins' historic run, appreciating the engineering brilliance that made it possible, and perhaps lobbying the International Olympic Committee to consider what might be the most exciting winter motorsport event imaginable. The St. Moritz track has seen over a century of innovation in sliding sports—perhaps it's time to add a new chapter where wheels meet ice in the most spectacular fashion possible.