Autoblog

Word came down from Subaru today that beginning this Thursday, November 15th, it'll be taking orders for its newest roadgoing rally rocket -- coinciding with its NA debut in LA. Although pricing hasn't been revealed yet, Subaru's letter to dealers confirms US-spec output at 305 HP and 290 lb.-ft. of torque. Exterior color choices include Obsidian Black Pearl, Aspen White and WR Blue Mica (natch), along with three new hues: Spark Silver Metallic, Dark Gray Metallic and Lightning Red. The STI still gets 18-inch BBS aluminum-alloy wheels in either Silver or Gold, depending on the chosen exterior shade.

[Source: Straightline]

Click the image above for more high-res pics of the Subaru Impreza STI.

To all of you States-based Subie fans, November 15th is your day. At 10:35 AM, the new Impreza STI will supposedly make its North American debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show in U.S.-spec trim. The good news comes courtesy of an email received by a Subaru dealer and posted on NASIOC, although it's yet to be confirmed by any of our sources at Subaru. We'll be on hand to fondle the new STI if it does make its debut next week, so as always, watch this space.

[Source: NASIOC via Inside Line]

click above image for more dark shots of the impending Subaru Impreza STI

It was a dark and stormy night... inside the studio where Subaru shot its first batch of Impreza STI images. Like the dutiful fanboys we are, Autoblog has already posted on each of the first two pics, a dark head-on shot and a dark rear shot. Here we have a dark 3/4 shot (check out the lightened version at left), and we don't know if it will be the last of the bunch before the Subaru Impreza STI is officially unveiled on October 24th at the Tokyo Motor Show. Hopefully at that time we'll be supplied with some properly lit photographs, and we'll of course have a slew of improperly lit live shots from the unveiling, as well.

[Source: Subaru]

Click images for photo gallery

If Japan's Best Car isn't BSing everyone, the car you see in the magazine scans above is the 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI. And while it's still a mortal lock to polarize people as much as the Impreza it's based on, we'll go out and say that this looks pretty killer. Sporting the expected high-mount wing, bulging fenders, quad exhaust tips, a substantial front spoiler, and a great-looking set of wheels, this is worlds better-looking than the regular WRX. From the looks of things, the car is also equipped with vented Brembos all around, which is not surprising. Where the WRX looks almost friendly, this thing's menacing, particularly in that dark gray finish.

According to the little chart shown on one of the scans, here's some of the key info you''ll want to know. All numbers pertain to the JDM model, obviously.

• Engine/Transmission: EJ20 / 6MT
• 300PS (295 hp) @ 6500 RPM
• 45 kgm (325 lb-ft) @ 4400 RPM
• 10.5 km/l (24.7 US MPG) in the Japanese 10-15 mode test cycle

Unfortunately, we don't read Japanese, and that's about all we can glean at this time. If you can read Japanese and are able to add more, feel free to do so in the comments. Now we want to see how this bad boy stacks up against the new Evo. Fun times are coming, kids. Check out the gallery for large versions of the scans.

UPDATE: Drat. We have now spoken to our Japan-based contributor, Justin Gardiner. Justin tells us that these are renderings (sigh) done by Best Car that show what the mag believes the new STI will look like. We can only hope it looks this good.

[Source: AVOturboworld via Carscoop]

Car Magazine has some interesting info on the upcoming high-performance STi version of the Subaru Impreza that it believes will debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in Germany this September. For one, the Impreza will only be offered as a five-door hatchback in Europe, unlike in the States where we'll also get a sedan. In addition, Car claims that Subaru will be killing the very popular WRX model in Europe, replacing it instead with a stripper version of this STi. The hope is that Subaru can convince more Euro folk to go for the non-turbocharged flat-four base models, which account for only 30% of Impreza sales in the UK at the moment.

The picture above shows the magazine's best guess at what the STi will look like, and their version is a bit more aggressive than the rendering we saw appear in Road & Track a couple of months ago, though the must-haves like a big rear wing, blistering fenders, gold wheels, a rally blue paint job and a hood scoop large enough to lose an arm in are present. We prefer the front clip on Cars' version to the R&T one, but both are just renderings and could still be different from the final version we see in Frankfurt.

Click the Read link to view more angles of the Car Magazine renderings.

[Source: Car Magazine via egmcartech]