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Model Year 2009 Impreza WRX sedan and hatch will be available by early December with a larger turbocharger and increased boost, plus the options of leather trim with sunroof, and satellite navigation.

In addition to the power and torque enhancements, all Impreza WRX versions will share the new suspension package, producing even sharper, aggressive handling. It will feature increased spring and damping rates, and thickened stabilizer bars as well as cosmetic changes including a new mesh grille and badge, distinctive red brake calipers and wider tyres. Inside, red stitch seating will add to the sporty appearance.

MY09 Impreza WRX will produce 195kW @ 6000 rpm and 343Nm @ 4000 rpm, while fuel consumption is improved in the combined cycle from 10.7 l/100km to 10.4 l/100km. Carbondioxide emissions are down from 252 g/km to 247 g/km.

Recommended Retail Pricing is maintained at MY08 levels – both hatch and the newly introduced sedan will start from $39,990 (RRP).

Nick Senior, Managing Director, Subaru Australia, said “This latest model year Impreza WRX is a step change.

“We’re not only introducing big power and torque increases, we’ve dramatically sharpened handling too.

“We’ve spent a lot of time with the engineers on Australian roads and in local conditions, developing a suspension package that appeals to the driving enthusiast.

“The result is an Impreza WRX that is true to our core Subaru DNA, of delivering pure driving confidence.”

He added “Drivability of Impreza WRX is sharper and, combined with the power and torque benefits, this is a compelling, aggressive package.

“For the first time we’re also offering a leather trim with sunroof option as part of the regular Impreza WRX line-up, addressing clear customer demand seen in our retail network.

“The extra power, torque, upgraded suspension and other refinements on entry-level Impreza WRX will come at no extra cost.

“Equivalent sedan and hatch pricing will also be identical, making it a straight choice for customers between body styles.”

Tech Talk:Intercooler capacity is up to 14.0 kW, from 12.1 kW in the MY08 model, while the bigger turbocharger sees maximum boost increased from 78 kPa to 103 kPa. A revised exhaust system provides a 30 per cent reduction in gas flow restriction, to match the new turbocharger performance and increase engine power.

Significant suspension testing was conducted in Australia and Japan to tune suspension settings for local conditions. MY09 Impreza WRX is biased towards sports handling, while retaining good ride comfort, grip and stability when driven enthusiastically.

The coil springs, stabilizers and top mounts are stiffened and roll rigidity increased to improve maximum lateral G and turning ability. Fine tuning of the damping forces in the shock absorbers provides linear response with minimal delay when steering.

Improved shift feel is achieved in the transmission through use of a ball type key for the first and second gear synchro hubs and a change to the key groove on third and fourth synchro sleeve.

Hardened materials are used for the main shaft and first driven gear, while operation of the clutch slave cylinder now incorporates an orifice valve to protect the drivetrain during rapid clutch engagement.

A damper valve is added to the steering gearbox to reduce kickback, particularly when cornering on rough roads.

Wheels and tyres were chosen to complement the suspension springs, damping and bushing, to ensure optimum grip and ride comfort.

The tyres also optimize the balance of dry and wet weather grip, steering response, NVH levels and ride comfort. Rolling resistance and stopping distance are also reduced.

Tyres are increased in width to 225/45 from 205/50, benefitting grip and handling performance to match the more aggressive sports suspension setting. MY09 Impreza WRX is fitted with Dunlop SP Sport 01 225/45R17 tyres and 17 x 7 JJ alloy wheels.

In line with Subaru’s safety commitment, Impreza WRX sedan maintains the five-star rating for occupant safety from the independent Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP). All Imprezas also share the highest four-star rating for pedestrian safety.

With the imminent introduction of Model Year 2009 Liberty and Outback, every Subaru will have standard electronic stability control. The Subaru retail network is now taking orders for MY09 Impreza WRX.

Impreza WRX MY09 Recommended Retail Pricing:

• Impreza WRX sedan & hatch $39,990
• Impreza WRX sedan & hatch with leather trim and sunroof $42,490
• Impreza WRX sedan & hatch with Sat Nav $42,980
• Impreza WRX sedan & hatch with Sat Nav, leather and sunroof $45,480

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Impreza WRX sedan will feature a wide variety of mechanical changes. It will, of course, maintain our standard of five-star crashworthiness ratings for occupant safety and standard electronic stability control.” Nick Senior, Managing Director, Subaru Australia, said.

Previous reports have indicated the MY09 versions of the WRX sedan and hatch will have over 190kW of power and an upgraded suspension to properly take on the Lancer Ralliart, which will also be launched the motor show next week.

“New generation Impreza has proved a sales winner since its introduction last year, with sales up 12.5 per cent.This final addition to the range will expand its appeal still further.” Mr Senior said

Pricing and specification details are still unconfirmed but all will be revealed in Sydney on Thursday 9 October.

The new MY09 WRX sedan and hatch will go on sale around December.

If Subaru has upped the power to 190kW as widely expected, would it change your opinion of the car?

The CarAdvice team will be at the Sydney Motor Show to bring you all the details and photos as it happens.

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The reason behind the push? Both companies are getting worried that Nissan and Mitsubishi will become the leaders in the next generation of electric-cars, which many view as the only sustainable future of automobiles.

Speaking of Nissan, the company has previously made clear plans to launch an electric vehicle in the US by 2010. Mitsubishi is not far behind with plans of a 2010 launch of its electric iMiEV in Japan, followed by Europe and the US.

Nonetheless, Toyota is still concerned about the performance of electric-only cars. The company has previously stated that an electric car is limited by battery performance and the company’s R&D chief Masatami Takimoto said the electric vehicle’s range would be limited by the performance of today’s batteries.

“For the time being, the most realistic approach is to use pure electric vehicles for short-distance travel,” Takimoto said. “So in the early stage of the 2010s, we would like to offer a compact, very small electric vehicle on a small scale basis.”

Subaru will be basing next year’s electric car on the ‘Stella’, a tiny 660cc minicar currently only sold in Japan. The design will not change much on the outside, still seating four, but the car will now run on lithium-ion batteries.

If you remember, we previously mentioned Automotive Energy Supply, a joint venture between Nissan, NEC and NEC Tokin. The company will provide the lithium-ion batteries to the Subaru electric car, which is so far quoted as being able to cover 80km on a single charge.

The car’s battery can be recharged in eight hours through a regular household socket. Not feeling very inspired? Think of it this way, if you used your car to get to and from work on a daily basis, would you really cover more than 80km?

“This is the best we can do with today’s technology at a reasonable cost.” Subaru spokesman Shinichi Murata said.

We would like to know how many Ks you drive on a daily basis and whether an 80km-a-day limit would suffice if it meant no trips to the pump.

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Buyers of the Impreza R, RX and RS variants now have the option between either a hatch or sedan without having to take into consideration any price premium.

The sedan model still boasts a five-star crashworthiness rating for occupant safety from ANCAP with Subaru’s Vehicle Dynamics Control stability system standard on all models.

The new generation Impreza has averaged more than 1000 sales per month with year-to-date sales up 12.5 percent - and that’s without a sedan model, until now.

“Impreza is one of Australia’s fastest-growing models of 2008. We can only see that improving with the addition of the naturally aspirated sedan versions.”

The Impreza sedan is 35mm higher with a wheelbase 95mm longer than the previous model which provides extra head and leg room.

The boot space has also increased by 45mm with more useable space thanks to the double wishbone rear suspension, with a split/fold rear seat included for the first time for even greater cargo carrying flexibility.

All naturally aspirated variants offer the choice of five speed manual and four speed SPORTSHIFT automatic transmissions.

The turbocharged Impreza WRX sedan is set to make its Australian debut in December along with a new list of options for the RX and RS variants.

Click through to the next page for a gallery of the new Subaru Impreza.

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Even Toyota’s super successful RAV4 took a hiding with just 922 units sold against Forester’s 1,534 sales.

Subaru Australia would be over the moon as they held a 23.3 percent market share in the category, with Toyota managing just 14.0 percent.

And it’s about to get even better for them, at least in Europe, with the unveiling of their highly acclaimed 2.0 litre Boxer Diesel engine powered Forester and Impreza five-door ranges at the Paris Motor Show, in October.

We’re not sure when Australia will see the world’s first horizontally opposed diesel engine, but we hope its sooner rather than later, given its stellar performance and fuel efficiency benefits.

The Forester 2.0D produces 108kW (145hp) at 3,600 rpm and 350Nm at 1,800 rpm with astonishing fuel economy to boot. You’ll be hard pressed to find any SUV than can better the 5.2 litres/100km combined figure.

It also attracts a big “green” tick too, pushing out just 167g/km CO2 emissions clearly benefiting from a Subaru designed closed-type particulate filter.

But while the engine might be new to the Forester and Impreza line up, it has been employed in Europe under the bonnet of the Legacy (Liberty in Australia) and Outback, since earlier this year. Both vehicles will feature a standard six-speed manual gearbox. There is no mention of an auto box which will obviously limit sales although, it must be said, most Europeans (that’s both sexes) are competent with a manual shift.

It’s hats off to the Subaru engineers for achieving what many said couldn’t be done with the lightweight Boxer set up.

Although the blocks are the same, every other part of the engine structure, including the fuel-injection system, had to be strengthened to accommodate the higher forces of diesel compression.

While the engine is said to be noisy at idle (show me a small diesel that isn’t) Subaru say it has rolling sound levels to 70.5 decibels, which is said to be lower than that of a Rolls Royce Phantom.

While that sounds impressive, it s not quite a fair comparison given the Rolls is powered by a 6.75 litre V12 monster. Still that sort of dB level is class leading.

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Expected to go on sale late this year, Subaru will launch the vehicle with models parallel to the hatch range. This will include the R, RX, RS. Eventually, the WRX and possibly even WRX STi will follow.

Pricing will start at $24,490 for the R, $26,490 for the RX and $29,490 for the RS model pictured here in red.

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Having just set a record for the largest gathering of Subaru’s, the group also created another two official Guinness World Records.

These were for creating the largest parade of Subaru’s in the world and by writing out ‘COLIN MCRAE’ with their cars in a sign nearly half a mile long, visible to anyone flying into nearby Birmingham International airport.

“We had Subarus joining us from all over Europe, from Poland and the Ukraine to France and Spain, while some fans are flying in especially from Australia and Argentina to be part of this memorable occasion.”

The event was sponsored by the Subaru World Rally Team who donated items for auction such as Petter Solberg’s 2008 rally overalls signed by the man himself.

Prodrive also supported the event, arranging for many of McRae’s original rally cars to make an appearance at the event as well as a number of current generation Subaru world rally cars.

For more information visit the McRae Gathering website.

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Subaru says there are no current plans for a production run but following the London motorshow, if the interest is high, it may come out as a special edition before the year’s end.

The car is put together by Prodrive, who have rebuilt the entire engine which includes a bigger turbocharger and a more thoroughly tuned engine control unit.

Apart from that, the WRX STI 380S also comes with a body kit and upgraded suspension and exhaust system.

More importantly, it regains the blue and gold status, riding on gold (or silver) 18×8.5 ins BBS alloy wheels with 245/40 tires.

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The biggest update will be the availability of an automatic WRX (Impreza GT), we are unsure whether this will be a five-speed or the four-speed currently available in the lower spec Imprezas.

The all-new Impreza GT will keep the current 169kW 2.5-litre turbocharged boxer engine from current WRX but, the memo says the new manual MY09 model will have a massive power boost to bring it closer to 198kW!

We are not willing to say this is true, Subaru Australia has been contacted for comment, however, such a massive powerboost would put the car much closer to its more hardcore brother the Impreza STi (221kW).

 Although, given the Ralliart Lancer is expected to be powered by the EVO X engine and have nearly 200kW of power, we suspect Subaru may be preparing for a showdown.

The standard manual transmission models will also feature a new suspension system as well as an STI-type front grille (although given AU models have a slightly different grille already, this may not happen here). Other modifications include new alloy wheels and the option for a new moonroof in the premium package.

Would 198kW of power change your mind about the WRX?

Make sure you read the following reviews:

• 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STi review
• 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX review

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But it’s not just Honda who is putting itself on a diet, with Nissan, Toyota and Mazda all setting weight reduction as a priority for all new models in the pursuit of economy.

Nissan has set the benchmark, aiming to make its entire fleet at least 15 percent lighter on average by 2015 while Toyota is aiming for a 10 percent weight loss in its mid-sized cars by 2010. Finally, Mazda aims to trim 100kg from new vehicles starting in 2011.

“Generation by generation, we usually have to add more weight because of new safety regulations or emissions matters,” says Nissan’s Mitsuhiko Yamashita, head of Nissan r&d. “But our philosophy is not to increase vehicle weight. That’s why I’m proposing the 15 percent reduction.”

Now obviously whilst shaving grams off here and there is thoughtful, it will certainly take more than this to achieve each company’s goals.

To generalise the process, the Japanese carmakers will focus on three key areas: using lightweight materials, developing more efficient engineering and design methods and finally decreasing the overall size of vehicles.

“Unless you really reduce weight, you will never be able to reduce auto emissions. We therefore intend to bend over backward to achieve this,” Toyota R&D chief Masatami Takimoto says.

The Prius is getting special attention from Toyota, with the next generation featuring a motor one-sixth as heavy as the first generations and a battery only half as heavy.

Cost is the obvious constraint, with materials such as aluminium, magnesium and carbon fibre costing far more than steel, however spiralling steel costs are whittling away the metal’s price advantage - as seen with the Tata Nano.

The Japanese diet has already begun, with phrases like hybrid and power-to-weight ratio overtaking traditional performance adjectives like horsepower and torque for cars like the Honda CR-Z, Nissan FF Coupe and Toyobaru.

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