“670 hp” never sounded like something you can hang on a single run—until Scott Speed strapped into the Subaru WRX Project Midnight and drove onto the Mount Washington Hillclimb. In New Hampshire, the air gets thin, the road gets steeper, and every gear change feels like a decision with consequences.
Worth noting: the moment Speed completed the ascent in the WRX Project Midnight, Subaru’s time-attack/hillclimb experiment turned into a headline-worthy record. According to Motor1, Scott Speed piloted the heavily modified WRX Project Midnight to a brand-new record at Mount Washington.
The Moment Speed Set the WRX Project Midnight Record
Scott Speed drove the specialized Subaru WRX Project Midnight up Mount Washington as the car remained focused on one job: deliver maximum performance over a brutal uphill course. The run wasn’t about drifting showmanship or circuit endurance. It was about traction, stability, heat management, and braking discipline—then repeating it exactly for the stopwatch.
Speed’s prior racing resume helps explain the approach. He competed in FIA World Rallycross and Formula 1 before joining Subaru for these specialized motorsport projects. That cross-discipline background matters because hillclimbs reward both car control and ruthless decision-making under load.
The News: What Subaru Ran at Mount Washington
Subaru built the WRX Project Midnight as a carbon-fiber-bodied machine intended specifically for time-attack and hillclimb events, not everyday WRX life. Motor1’s coverage framed the project as a purpose-built effort, and the car’s engineering choices align with that intent: reduce drag and mass, keep the chassis rigid, and manage power delivery as the climb steepens.
The WRX Project Midnight is reported to use a turbocharged 2.0-liter boxer engine making 670 horsepower, though Motor1’s write-up (and the wider public reporting) leaves some specifics in the “reported” bucket. The key point for fans is not just peak power—it’s how Subaru packaged that power for a continuous uphill sprint where overheating or instability can ruin the run.
Also part of the pitch was weight reduction. Subaru’s specialized build is reported to have cut the curb mass down to 2,425 pounds, a figure that (if confirmed across Subaru’s own documentation) would help explain the car’s eagerness on a course where acceleration and traction are everything.
Here’s the thing: in hillclimbing, shaving mass doesn’t only make the car faster. It can also make throttle response crisper and braking events shorter, which can compound lap-by-lap time—or, in this case, run-by-run record attempts.
How the 7.6-Mile Hillclimb Changes Everything
Mount Washington Hillclimb stretches across 7.6 miles of demanding roadway in New Hampshire, which is long enough for conditions to shift and for fatigue management to matter. The course forces drivers to live in the narrow band between maximum grip and maximum stress on brakes, tires, and cooling systems.
That’s why Subaru’s “time-attack and hillclimb-first” build philosophy is so relevant here. A car tuned for one corner at a time can struggle when the climb becomes a steady sequence of uphill braking, power reapplication, and composure checks. Project Midnight, with its carbon-fiber body and weight focus, is designed to stay sharp as the run progresses.
For context, this kind of effort sits in the broader competitive lineage of hillclimb engineering—where teams chase aerodynamic efficiency, chassis stiffness, and predictable traction rather than just outright power. If you track modern performance coverage from outlets like Car and Driver and Motor Trend, you’ll often see the same pattern: records come from repeatability, not just spikes. You can also skim approaches to tuning priorities in performance reporting from Motor Trend at https://www.motortrend.com.
So What: Why This Record Matters Next
Subaru’s achievement at Mount Washington isn’t just a bragging right. It signals how seriously the automaker is treating motorsport credibility in the hillclimb/time-attack niche—an arena where engineering details are visible in real time. If Subaru can push a WRX platform into record territory with a specialized carbon-fiber build, it strengthens its position with enthusiasts who want performance that translates from data to altitude.
For Scott Speed, the record also reinforces what his career path suggests: he’s built for high-pressure runs where precision matters as much as horsepower. And for the rest of us, the takeaway is practical. When performance companies chase hillclimb results, we should watch what changes next—cooling packages, aero revisions, and drivetrain mapping—because those are the parts that typically flow into future enthusiast products over time.
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FAQs
What did Scott Speed set a record for at Mount Washington?
Scott Speed piloted the Subaru WRX Project Midnight to a brand-new record at the Mount Washington Hillclimb in New Hampshire, using a purpose-built time-attack/hillclimb machine engineered for uphill performance.
What makes the Subaru WRX Project Midnight different from a standard WRX?
Subaru’s Project Midnight uses a specialized carbon-fiber-bodied build for time-attack and hillclimb use, with major emphasis on weight reduction and performance tuning rather than stock-road comfort.
How long is the Mount Washington Hillclimb course?
The Mount Washington Hillclimb course stretches across 7.6 miles of challenging roadway in New Hampshire, demanding sustained focus on traction, braking, and thermal control.
What engine does the WRX Project Midnight use?
The WRX Project Midnight is reported to feature a turbocharged 2.0-liter boxer engine making 670 horsepower, per the coverage referenced in this report’s verified facts.
Where does “watch Scott Speed” fit in for fans following Subaru?
If you’re tracking Subaru’s motorsport direction, Scott Speed’s record run is the clearest signal of where the WRX Project Midnight program is headed—toward more hillclimb/time-attack milestones that demand tighter engineering and faster execution.
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