Subaru Rally Team Japan, founded by Noriyuki Koseki (founder of Subaru Tecnica International, STI), began competing in the World Rally Championship between 1980 and 1989 with the Subaru Leone coupé, sedan DL, RX, and RX Turbo variants. Drivers during this period included Ari Vatanen, Per Eklund, Shekhar Mehta, Mike Kirkland, Possum Bourne, and Harald Demut. Mike Kirkland finished 6th overall and won the A Group at the 1986 Safari Rally. Subaru was at that time one of the only manufacturers combining 4WD and turbo power, following the introduction of Audi's quattro system in 1980; Audi withdrew from the WRC after safety concerns following Ford's serious accident early in the 1986 season.
Subaru changed its rally model to the Legacy RS for the 1990–1992 period and contested its first complete WRC season with that car in 1993. Modified versions of the Impreza WRX and WRX STi then became the backbone of the programme. Colin McRae won the WRC Drivers' title in 1995, Richard Burns in 2001, and Petter Solberg in 2003 — all with the Subaru World Rally Team. Subaru also took the Manufacturers' title three consecutive years, from 1995 to 1997.
On 16 December 2008 Subaru announced it would no longer compete in the World Rally Championship. The decision was made by parent company Fuji Heavy Industries, partly due to the economic downturn and partly because Subaru's sporting and marketing objectives were considered achieved. The company denied that changes to 2010 WRC technical regulations or a reported deterioration in relations with Prodrive influenced the decision.
Subaru supplied a factory-backed team, Subaru Rally Team USA, for the Rally America championship and won the driver's title six times, most recently in 2011 with David Higgins. In 2012, Subaru formed the Subaru Puma Rallycross Team USA, competing in the 2012 Global RallyCross Championship season with Dave Mirra, Bucky Lasek, and Sverre Isachsen, and also in the 2014 FIA World Rallycross Championship.
Since 2005, Cusco Racing has entered Subaru machinery in the Super GT championship. In 2008, a Subaru Impreza became the first 4-door and first 4WD car to win a race in that series. Starting in 2006, Subaru of America participated in the Grand-Am Street Tuner class with a Subaru Legacy 2.5 GT Spec-B, later switching to an Impreza WRX STI in 2010.
The Impreza has won hillclimbs including the Silverstone Race to the Sky and the Mount Washington Hillclimb Auto Race. In 2011, Mark Higgins used a stock Impreza to set a lap record at the Isle of Man TT course; in 2016, Higgins again broke that record in a modified WRX STI. The Subaru Justy holds the world record for the fastest sub-1.0L car without a turbo: 123.224 mph average, set in 1989.
Subaru was briefly involved in Formula One when it bought a controlling interest in the Italian Coloni team for the 1990 season. The Coloni 3B's 12-cylinder engine was badged as a Subaru and shared the boxer layout with Subaru's own engines, but was an existing design built by Italian firm Motori Moderni. The cars were overweight and underpowered, and the partnership ended before the season concluded.
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