All-New Subaru Impreza WRX STi Launched
October 25, 2007 by Alborz Fallah
After months of leaks and rumours, Subaru has officially taken the cover off the new 2008 STi at the Tokyo Motor Show.
First impressions are a little disappointing. Sure the new STi is more aggressive than the mundane new WRX, with flared guards, a new rear wing, dual exhaust, bigger wheels, modified front and rear bumper profiles and grille. But then again, a Golf GTi is more agressive than the new WRX.
It seems that Subaru has all but given up on their current market, this is evident with the company using a silver coloured variant to launch the all-new STi and not its traditional blue and gold that has become an icon for Subaru.
Interestingly, Subaru has officially only released 2 photos of the rear, one of which is darkened, not exactly a confident start for the STi. Furthermore, the STi is launched as a hatchback only, marking the first time Subaru Australia will not sell an STi sedan. Rumours say the sedan variant will come, but there is no official time-frame.
Photos are of the Japanese domestic variant which makes use of a 2.0 litre turbocharged engine, Subaru Australia has confirmed that it will have a 2.5 litre turbocharged engine when the car goes on sale here in the first quarter of 2008.
Evo or STi? You know which one we’d pick.
Print it: 
good to see you have a sense of humour…
Yeah mate mum hates when i drive her Audi…. hehehe no luckly enough i get the Audi as a company car… honestly the best european car i have had!
Didnt mean to sound like i was attacking, just trying to prove a point.
Hope you enjoy the liberty! there a good thing!
Yes. Don’t mind the Audi’s except the ‘Fox’ I used to own gave me no end of heartaches.
When I grow up I would love an Audi RS4.
And btw no offence taken. And for hte record – I love the sound of a burbling V8 whether its in a Ford, Holden or otherwise – a bloke would have to be pretty lame not to! :-) cheers!
i have just given back a RS4…. i was like a kid not wanting to give a toy back!
Thats cause your spoilt..hehehe When is the new one arriving?
Andrew.M
1. I dont intend to look through every article I find exact quotes, you have said before that Fords have great reliability, you are wrong.
2. Yes I dont admit they have problems… despite mentioning in the past how for example Camrys ha sludge problems. I have never denied Toyota have problems, this is where you cant read, I am sayin that Toyota are more reliable. This means, on avg, their cars dont have problems. This is not only backed up by industry figures but many many many customer surveys. You ask anyone who isnt biased which car brand is reliable… 9/10 you will hear Toyota. Thats not purely based on marketing, they really havent pushed their reliability in marketing, its got to do with the facts and a 20 year record of producing great cars…. meanwhile you Ford fairies attack it based on TRD… that sounds logical, forget 20 years of history!
3. As for the quote, its a joke, Holden used that slogan… I think Toyota honestly means a great deal more to Australia then both Ford and Holden… not only does it sell to Australians but 70% of vehicles produced are exported… that creates alot of jobs and thats not just limited to those employed under Toyota!
4. I dont deny Ford has toyota in other areas such as handling (albeit Toyota is starting to cathc up)… but that is one relatively small segment of car manufacturers market. Most people would regard reliability over handling… they just want something that will keep going and going.
Tonyn
I HAVE NEVER SAID TOYOTA HAVE NO PROBLEMS. This is Andrew.M doing his usual twisting, Ive mentioned a few of their problems before and in fact this has been debated before, reliability is all about probability, with these industry figures on avg 70% of Toyotas had no issues, only 40% of Falcons didnt have issues… these are the facts. As for Mitsubishi, I really find it hard to stomach they are more reliabile, I know many people who know even more people… to date not one has a non-problem story about them. The studies and surveys also reflect this, as Toyota is above them in all ones conducted. I do agree though their reliability has slipped worldwide, no doubt… HOWEVER its still number 1 and in Australia, it hasnt slipped at all as we have not experieneced the same issues as the U.S (Camry trans etc).
Unfortunately, I don’t think Subaru are going to offer the nice rear spoiler of the WRC fame. There will almost certainly be after market companies offering something similar.
I was quoted at a base price of $58,990 by Suby over the weekend and this pretty much seems to be the mark – although I am not sure what that price will include. Prolly not the leather interior. It was not clear if they were going to offer a base spec and a ‘premium’ pack spec – but I suspect that is what they will do. The premium pack spec on the road will be close to about $67K it would appear.
The US pricing for the new STi was just released, it will cost the septics $US 34995 for the base model STi, which is $1500 more than the outgoing model. So add the usual 60 – 70 % markup price that Australian imports usually cop (10% currency change, 10% import duty, 50 % rip off Australians) and around $60k looks about right.