How 2015 Subaru WRX shell is used to demo the brands crashworthiness

This 2015 Subaru WRX was used as a test mule in Japan for side impact crashworthiness testing at Crashlab, and is now a demo to tout the brands safety features. This WRX shell has become a traveling exhibit in Australia highlighting the strength and crashworthiness of the brand’s vehicles.
At Crashlab in Japan, the WRX was destroyed in testing and was ready to head to the crusher to be recycled. Andrew Minns, Subaru Australia’s Business Development Manager for the Preferred Collision Repairer Network, had a better plan for the WRX.

Minns led a project to resurrect the sports car and turn its structural shell into a rolling exhibit to show the strength of Subaru vehicles. Minns said: “The objective was to highlight the strength of our vehicles and show how energy is absorbed and redirected around the passenger compartment.”
 
Subaru uses a ring-shaped reinforcement frame to surround the vehicles occupants which absorbs impact energy from any direction in the event of a crash. Minns goes on to say, “Every Subaru has a cell that comprises what we call ring-shaped reinforcements, which are clearly marked by the colored sections in this WRX shell.”
 
The Subaru design uses high strength steel that gives superior protection in a crash that enables all their vehicles to keep achieving top safety awards year after year. Subaru has achieved Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) Top Safety Picks seven years running, 2009-2015. Watch this video and see why a crash victim credits his Subaru with saving his life.

After being shipped from Japan, the performance car was dismantled at Subaru’s Training Academy, at Lidcombe, NSW, in Australia under the guidance of Training and Network Engagement Manager Gary Pearce, allowing apprentices valuable insight into the construction of Subaru vehicles. The shell’s damaged driver’s side was then repaired by L & M Smash Repairs and then shipped to BASF Refinish training facility at Wetherill Park, NSW, for painting where the ring-shaped reinforcements were color-coded.
 
The restored 2015 Subaru WRX shell is permanently mounted to a trolley so it can be moved easily and made its public debut at the Collision Expo in Melbourne and is now used at trade shows, dealer customer events and training programs. Phase two is in the planning where Andrew and his team will install the vehicle’s deployed airbags to the shell showing more of Subaru’s safety features.
 
Media source: Subaru Australia