After two decades of participation and six WRC titles, Subaru pulled itself from the World Rally Championship at the end of its 2008 season. Subaru fans everywhere could not imagine the WRC without their beloved Subaru and held on to the hopes that the brand would reconsider. Now, after only about a year and a half, Subaru lovers everywhere can rejoice in the comeback of the brand. Subaru announced today that the Impreza WRX STI Spec C gained the official Group N Homologation certificate from FIA and will compete in the Rallye Deutschland of Production World Rally Championship from August 22nd, 2010. The homologation certificate is a requirement to compete in any FIA-approved racing and rallying championship.
The WRX STI spec C features enhanced engine and chassis performance as well as a lighter body on the premise of driving in motor sports. The ECU is upgraded right from the factory so the new ball bearing turbocharged DOHC 16 valve flat four EJ20 engine now delivers 308 HP and 311 lb-ft of torque. The Spec C comes complete with an aluminum hood, smaller battery, lighter windows, and some new 18 inch alloy wheels.
Today, Subaru released the first promotional video for the new Impreza WRX STI sedan unveiled this month at the 2010 New York Auto Show. The commerical is about two minutes long and features a repetitive cycle of black Imprezas in a black tunnel with different colored laser lights flashing on the screen. The techno music chanting in the background turns this commercial into a video that ought to be shown on a big screen at a nightclub. Good commercial, bad commercial, you decide. Regardless, the Subaru Impreza WRX STI is one sweet-looking car.
The 2011 Impreza WRX STI comes with a lowered ride height and new pillow-ball, higher-rate springs for both front and rear suspensions, and spring rates increased by 15.6 percent in front and 53 percent in the rear. The car sits on 18-inch aluminum wheels featuring high-luster paint.
Subaru Australia unveiled a new special edition based on the Impreza WRX sedan. Called the WRX Club Spec 10, this special edition will be limited to only 250 units and will be priced at $49,990. Sales will begin in May.
This special edition will be distinguished by an STI front lip spoiler, a flexible strut tower bar, a flexible lower bar and front support kit, 17-inch Enkei alloy wheels, factory-fitted leather seats, sunroof and satellite navigation.
At $49,990, it seems that consumers will only be paying for the exclusivity of owning this special edition considering not many fancy upgrades have been made to substantiate the dramatic increase in price. Of course, if this is the type of thing that tickles your fancy then feel free to head down to the Subaru dealerships where they are now taking orders for this special edition model.
Subaru was quite a busy brand at the New York Auto Show, showing off their sales figures for 2009 and proudly announcing that the brand has rebounded quite strongly from the global financial crisis of 2008. But while these are all fascinating to us, the real highlight of the Subaru press conference was the unveiling of the 2011 WRX STI, a car that we’ve been pining for release for quite some time now.
Subaru of America’s Director of Corporate Communications, Michael McHale and Executive Vice President and COO of Subaru of America Thomas Doll both took the stage to personally unveil the new 2011 Subaru WRX STI.
Most of the press conference will talk about the awesomeness that is Subaru so if you’d like to skip that part and head over straight to the reveal of the 2011 WRX STI, we suggest you fast forward to the 3:38 mark of the part 2 of the press conference where Mr. Doll himself gives us the rundown of the highly-anticipated car before pulling off the covers at the 7:45 mark.
Subaru unveiled the 2011 Impreza WRX STI today at the 2010 New York Auto Show. Aesthetically speaking, this year’s model is drastically different than the Impreza from before. For the first time the WRX STI will be offered in two body versions; 5-door and 4-door. The Impreza also comes with a new design and a significantly revised suspension tuning with lighter 18-inch wheels for even sharper handling.
The biggest changes are made on the exterior. Up front it gets sharpened bumper corners and wider, blacked-out fog lamps, a lip spoiler with three-dimensional detailing, a newly designed front grille with black base and blacked-out Subaru wing. The exterior package is finished by a newly designed wider rear fenders.
On the mechanical end, the 2011 Impreza WRX STI comes with a lowered ride height and new pillow-ball, higher-rate springs for both front and rear suspensions, and spring rates increased by 15.6 percent in front and 53 percent in the rear. The car sits on 18-inch aluminum wheels featuring high-luster paint.
And finally, on the interior, the trim panels, the steering wheel air bag cover, and steering wheel switches are now dark cast metallic which compliment the silver and black interior.
To finish off the updated Impreza model, Subaru has added technological features such as control switches for Bluetooth, a Navigation system, iPod capability, and an XM/Sirius radio.
UPDATE 06/09/2010: Subaru today announced that the Subaru Impreza WRX STI Sedan has become the fastest WRX STI Ever. It recorded a Nurburgring time of 7’55’’00, the fastest lap time ever in a Subaru. Hit the jump to watch the video of the record setting Subaru!
UPDATE 10/07/2010: Prices for the 2011 Subaru WRX STI have just been announced for the UK. The four-and five-door variants for the Subaru WRX STI can be yours for £32,995.
