Slick Subaru makes a scorching statement
If you're a hardcore enthusiast, enjoying reputation as well as performance, are over 35 and spend between $40,000 and $60,000 on your car, you're in the gun sights of Subaru's blistering new STI version of its WRX sports sedan.
Not only that, because the latest version is faster, sharper, and better equipped, your value quotient just went up because your planned spend just went down between $10,000 and $11,000.
The fourth generation STI packs a lot more goodies into what started as a pretty raw performance machine. Advances in metallurgy across the motor industry have seen lighter and stronger body shells that allow more add-ons to keep kWs per tonne healthy and make the journey less of a problem when you inevitably get stuck in traffic.
The fastest Subaru's primary assets are the key performance indicators: a 221kW/407Nm 2.5-litre four-cylinder boxer engine, six-speed manual, multi-mode centre differential, SI-Drive, Brembo brakes, 18-inch alloy wheels, dual twin tail pipes, xenon headlights, sports body kit, rear diffuser and front fog lights. If any of that makes you ask "What does that mean" this isn't the car for you.
The engineers have taken the previous model and strengthened the body, chassis and suspension, to improve handling performance and boost cornering capability. Turn-in is sharper because of an active torque vectoring system that adds some brake to the inside front wheel and torque to the outside, pulling the nose in tighter.
Steering response is quicker. Subaru claims the STI did better in a test which measures steering capabilities and speeds than the Porsche 911 and did it nearly 10km/h faster than both the previous model and the Subaru BRZ.
I drove the new STI on road and track this week and it was the road performance that was the most illuminating, underlining the precision of the steering when ducking around corners and intersections. With the steering mode on Sport Plus, the STI reacts to the slightest movement, almost to the extent of twitching when you sneeze. But default Sport mode still lifts Subaru's latest to a level well up with BMW's best road cars.
On the track I drove laps with the centre differential adjusted across its range, and it made a huge difference to cornering speed. A hot lap with WA's Dean Herridge showed the quickest way around, and Herridge said the best setting for him was to set the system to Auto minus and let the computer figure out how to maximise the sideways g-force.
The six-speed gearbox has been modified to reduce the throw of the lever, so a wrist movement can take you between gears. The gear spread is perfectly matched to performance motoring.
Subaru has styled the STI to give it a harder edge, and the prime candidates for ownership will be happy with the statement the car makes on the road.
The WRX STI is without question the best value performance car on the market and it can still accommodate four adults in comfort and style.
Fans who had felt Subaru had gone soft, take heart.
SUBARU WRX STI
Price $49,990 (sedan); $54,990 (premium sedan)
Engine 2.5-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol
Outputs 221kW/407Nm
Transmission Six-speed manual
Thirst 10.4L/100km
