First look: Subaru's Impreza nosedive!

SUBARU has thrown the radical new front-end styling from its forthcoming B9 Tribeca 4WD on to its 2006 model year Impreza, images of which were posted on American-based internet sites this week.

With memories still fresh of the furore surrounding the bug-eyed, second-generation Impeza introduced in October 2000 – and that car’s premature facelift two years later – these latest photographs indicate Subaru is still notaverse to courting controversy.

Plastered across the subarunews.com site and the North American Subaru Impreza Owners’ Club site, the photographs show the new Impreza WRX STi and mainstream Impreza hatchback at a dealer function in Japan.

The styling job is the work of former Alfa Romeo designer Andreas Zapatinas.

The grille is supposed to suggest the wing of an aircraft – an association with Subaru parent Fuji Heavy Industries’ roots as an aircraft company – and is the new ‘corporate’ look for Japanese brand.

Other front-end changes include headlights cutting into the bumper and arching upwards and toward the mudguard, and new front foglight.

The rear-end remains largely unchanged, save for an aftermarket-style tail-light treatment and a new roof-mounted spoiler on the STi.

The latter model also has some characteristic enhancements in a more sharply defined bumper, larger air-intake and letterbox turbo intake on the bonnet.

In the space of a few short hours yesterday the US Impreza owners’ club website received more than 55,000 hits as enthusiasts checked out the new car.

Subaru Australia would not officially comment on the photos, however, GoAuto understands the new Impreza range will be unveiled in Japan next week, with a likely arrival here in the final quarter of 2005.

Subaru Australia spokesman David Rowley said the car would have “a variety of cosmetic and mechanical tweaks”.

GoAuto understands the biggest specification change will be the adoption of the 2.5-litre boxer four-cylinder engine across most, if not all, model variants in the range.