Avoiding punctures is Subaru driver Possum Bourne's main aim as he heads to this weekend's Queenstown hill climb in New Zealand.

Bourne will be using his much modified 373 Kilowatt Subaru Impreza World Rally Car on the 14 kilometre course in Cardrona Valley.

Twice in the last three years he has suffered punctures during the final. On both occasions he punctured soon after the start, making it impossible to complete the course.

Two years ago when he kept all the air in the tyres he won.

"We're looking at fixing the puncture issue," said Bourne. "On both occasions a tyre came off the rim. The bottom of the course gets a bit bumpy and when you're sliding the car around it knocks the tyre off the rim.

"So we've either got to take it easy or fix the problem."

Bourne will be up against perennial rivals Monster Tajima and Rod Millen, both of whom have won the event.

The Impreza WRC will be in a similar specification to last year. "I know the package is very good for the hill," said Bourne. "There's a bit of fine tuning we can do. If the road is in good condition the car is capable of beating the hill record.

"But the most important thing to do is win the event."

After competing in the hill climb for the last five years, Bourne also reckons he is starting to get to know the course pretty well. "There's a lot of corners, but I'm finally starting to remember it all.

"It'll be a real blast getting back into the World Rally Car. With that much grunt it can't help but be fun and it's another chance to get more left hand drive experience before the Canberra and Argentina rallies."