Normally, when a car lands on its roof, the passenger compartment will flatten. Subaru’s are designed to support their own weight, and this ability is reinforced by the roll cage. The cage is like a cocoon around the drivers, keeping nasty things from making contact with them in the event of a crash.

Safety testing resumed two weeks later at the 2005 International Rally New York. Matt intentionally misunderstood the dynamics of driving a tarmac setup on a gravel corner (R3). He professionally over-rotated the car on top of the deep marbles on the outside of the corner, allowing the car to demonstrate how little feedback and response it gives on lowered and stiffened suspension, sliding perpendicular to a sandy road.

After fifty feet of control demonstration, the real testing began. After a moment of considering whether to test how well a hardwire locked center diff could take a handbrake maneuver, Iorio instead decided to counter-steer and majestically power the newly painted test vehicle into a petrified tree. The crumple zone located between the headlights and the taillights responded to the impact magnificently. The seatbelts stretched like they are designed to do, and both Matt and Ole exuberantly leapt from the car to signal to the passing field of racers that the safety equipment in their cars was indeed top notch.