A barely disguised race car for the street, the Subaru WRX STi is the distillation of a theme started by the company with the launch of the original WRX in 1994. The STi version arrived in 1999 and is a now a permanent fixture as top model in the Impreza line-up. The latest rework aims at notching-up the devastatingly fast sedan’s handling via a reworked suspension, plus the electronic trickery of a variable-split centre differential that apportions power between front and rear axles according to need. This is a potent brute of a car that makes the regular WRX seem almost bland.

Subaru Impreza WRX STi
Released: December 2001
Ended: March 2003
Family Tree: ImprezaFirst arriving Down Under as a limited-edition coupe in February 1999, then as a sedan in October 1999, Subaru's Porsche-chasing WRX STi has been a full-time range member since December 2001, based on that year's all-new Impreza. A facelift to remove those polarising "bug-eyes" arrived in March 2003, while the model year 2004 car went on sale in November 2003, and the MY05 (tested here) was launched in August 2004.
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