Subaru will release the special edition Impreza WRX Club Spec 9 in late August, the newest addition to its performance stable.

The car features a variety of mechanical and cosmetic refinements and includes factory-fitted sunroof and leather trim as standard.

Nick Senior, Managing Director, Subaru Australia, said the Club Spec 9 is the latest Impreza WRX to get a valued-added package – a trend that has proved popular with customers and is reflected in retained values.

“Our previous special edition Impreza WRXs have each proved winners, with specification that clearly differentiates them from the standard cars and the 9 is no exception.

“ Just 300 Club Spec 9s will be built, all featuring Subaru’s Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive and the same turbocharged boxer engine that recently won an International Engine of the Year award.”

Priced at $44,490 recommended retail price, the comprehensive package includes chassis, driveline, exterior and interior upgrades – adding more performance, styling and luxury to the already iconic Impreza WRX.

New 18-inch wheels and tyres provide a sharper, sportier feel and when teamed with the STI suspension kit lowers the car by 15 mm, giving a more aggressive stance.

Handling is refined through an increased spring rate and a lower centre of gravity.

Aerodynamic efficiency is enhanced with the addition of an STI front lip spoiler. Crafted in a matt black semi gloss finish, this tough but lightweight addition improves both stability and cornering.

Adding to the sporty feel is a short shift gear lever, featuring a more rigid & direct shift feeling, incorporating reinforced bushes, a shortened shifting stroke and STI aluminium shift knob.

Inside comfort levels are paramount with leather trim and an electric sunroof fitted as standard.

These latest photos from Death Valley capture a Subaru test car sporting a huge scoop in the center of its hood. For those who know Subarus, a scoop on the hood means a turbocharged engine, so one can safely predict this is a Turbo. But beyond that, it's tough to know what we've got here.



Since the car is a Subaru Legacy, the natural assumption is that this will be a sportier, more powerful Legacy with a turbo engine, possibly even a turbo version of the Tribeca's flat six. But the Legacy is already available in turbo versions, and the top model, the Legacy Spec B, has plenty of power. More is hardly needed.



So this raises another, more likely possibility. This may be a mule, using a Legacy body, but testing the powertrain of the next-generation Subaru Impreza WRX. The super-sized hood scoop is much more in keeping with the racy image of the WRX than of the more upscale Legacy. And this would give Subaru engineers a chance to test out the WRX's upgraded engine without revealing the new body styling of the next WRX.

This past month has brought several sightings of possible WRX test mules (in Legacy bodies), but now we've caught the very first pictures of an actual WRX prototype, and it doesn't look like any WRX that you've ever seen before.

Subaru gave us a big clue with the showing of their B5 concept, and the Impreza and WRX models are following the B5's lead with a dramatic makeover which turns its trunk into a hatchback.

The WRX, as seen here, will be a hatchback when the new model makes its debut for the 2008 model year, just like the B5 Concept. The Impreza name may even change with the introduction of the new car, but we can't imagine Subaru dropping the WRX designation.

As for power, we're anticipating a big update to their 2.5-liter H4 turbo, with an output of around 330 horsepower, maybe even higher in some markets.-Chris Doane for Brenda Priddy & Company

Spy photographer Chris Doane for Brenda Priddy & Company caught a disguised 2008 Subaru WRX in testing this week in California. Previously, there have been several sightings of possible WRX test mules (in Legacy bodies). These pictures show an actual WRX prototype. The car is expected to take some inspiration from the Subaru B5 concept, though evidently not as much as one might expect. As for power, insiders are anticipating a big update to the 2.5-liter H4 turbo, with an output of around 330-horsepower. Priddy says the Impreza name could change for the 2008 model year. Gallery after the jump…

Subaru has announced a new special edition Impreza WRX STI in memory of rally hero Richard Burns who died in November last year of cancer.

Called the RB320, the new car features around £6,000 worth of extra equipment including the 320 PS Prodrive Performance Pack, yet costs £29,995 on-the-road – an increase of only £3,500. Available only in Obsidian Black, the RB320 features bespoke 18 ins alloy wheels and specially developed Prodrive suspension comprising Bilstein dampers, a sports spring kit with revised rear anti-roll bar and a ride height lowered by 30 mm at the front and 10 mm at the rear. Also standard on the RB320 are a chrome mesh front grille, front lip spoiler, quickshift gearchange, side sill plates and RB320-branded gear knob, carpet mats and exclusive exterior badging. Each owner will also receive an individually numbered black alloy tax disc holder.

The PPP boosts power to 320 PS at 6,000 rpm with torque leaping to 332 lb ft at 3,700 rpm. This reduces the 0-60 mph time to 4.8 seconds with a 0-100 mph time of 12.2 seconds.

And as a further incentive, those customers placing early orders with deposits will be offered a limited number of places at a special RB320 launch event next March at Prodrive’s test track in Warwickshire. Not only will RB320 fans take delivery of their cars at the circuit but will be able to drive demonstration STIs around the track and meet rally celebrities.

In addition, customers will also be able to register on-line and reserve the limited-edition number of their choice via a special sub-section of Subaru’s website. Finally, the first car is to be given away in a special raffle organised by Autosport magazine, donated by Subaru (UK) Limited. The proceeds will go to the Richard Burns Foundation which helps those suffering from serious injury and illness. Subaru rally ace, Richard Burns – holder of the FIA World Rally Championship driver’s title – died in November 2005 of brain cancer at the age of 32.

Autocar is reporting that Subaru will volly a strike against Mitsubishi in early April when it debuts the all-new Impreza at the New York Auto Show. The body style will be a five-door hatchback with styling similar to that of the B5 TPH concept that first appeared last year in Tokyo. Power will reportedly come from your choice of a 1.5L or 2.0L flat-four boxer engine. Autocar's shocker is that the popular WRX model that slots between the everyday Imprezas and the high performance STi model will be cancelled, and that we won't see the new STi until 2008. Autocar doesn't cite its source for this information, and it seems highly unlikely to us considering that Mitsubishi is planning to make its Lancer Ralliart more powerful than previous generations in an effort to face the WRX head on. All will be revealed in the Big Apple come April, but for now we sit and wait.

[Source: Autocar]

There are no plans to carry over the intermediate WRX model.

Meanwhile it's emerged that Subaru's Legacy and Outback models will be its first to be offered with diesel power. Subaru is developing an industry-first flat-four turbodiesel motor for the application, and is due to slot it into production in early 2008. It'll have a 2.0-litre capacity and has been benchmarked against the BMW 320d's motor. Subaru expect it to produce around 170bhp and 250lbft of torque.

The last dance with the WRX STI
By Peter Lyon, Contributor, Japan Email
Date posted: 03-19-2007


Can you imagine being in the product-planning office in Subaru City when the order came down to build the 2007 Subaru Impreza WRX STI Spec C Type RA-R?

Right, no more pussyfooting around with half-baked attempts at creating the ultimate WRX STI. Go all-out. Create a car that can be thrashed at the track, but can still be driven home.

As the very last iteration of the current WRX STI before the all-new next-generation Impreza lands on showroom floors next summer, the Type RA-R is an opportunity for Subaru Tecnica International (STI) to wave its corporate flag. So the motorsport guys just focused on one thing: handling. And the result is stunning.

Record-setting
The 2007 Subaru Impreza WRX STI Spec C Type RA-R sets a new record for the longest name in the car world. "Type RA-R" is short for "Record Attempt," while the "R" simply means "radical" (or is it "racy"?). Only 300 examples have been built.

Developed in 2002 as a limited-production high-performance specialty model, the Spec C has become the basis for the FIA-certified Subaru Group N rally car, which is built for various rally championships for production-based cars. Subaru built a run of 1,000 Spec C models in 2006, and a number of various calibrations of the Spec C have been available, featuring different engines, brake packages, wheels and tires, and bodywork.

The WRX STI Spec C Type RA was introduced in November 2005, and some 350 examples were built as street-legal pavement racers. The RA-R came out of the doors of the STI shop in October 2006 as much the same thing, a street-legal car that's just waiting for someone to paint a racing number on the door.

The RA-R does without the rally-spec rear wing and rooftop aero vanes, but otherwise this is a stripped-down competition car. All the creature comforts have been deleted, like the $5,000 Recaro seats, not to mention the air-conditioning, radio and the complement of airbags. Even lightweight glass, a thinner-gauge roof panel and an aluminum trunk lid further trim unnecessary mass, and the total weight reduction amounts to 150 pounds.

Racy hardware
Everything that's left is pretty racy, especially the turbocharged 2.0-liter EJ20 flat-4, the engine found in the Japanese-specification WRX STI. In RA-R spec, this smaller boxer makes an impressive 315 horsepower at 6,400 rpm, although most of the science has been devoted to enhancing the torque output, which is the secret to the point-and-squirt speed of Subaru's rally cars.

The twin-scroll, ball-bearing IHI-built turbocharger is familiar, but the intake duct has been reinforced with silicon rubber to maintain its streamlined shape under boost. A cat-back exhaust with a 4.3-inch diameter reduces backpressure. The engine itself also has been blueprinted and balanced.

The result is 319 pound-feet of torque at 4,400 rpm, an astonishing output from a 2.0-liter engine. There are bags of torque from the little boxer when you accelerate out of a slow corner, which is right when you need it the most. The RA-R's engine spools up instantly from as low as 2,000 rpm and stays on the boil right up to redline at 8,000 rpm. The whine of the turbo under acceleration and the whoosh of the wastegate on the overrun are subtly addictive.

Big brakes
If you want to figure out the RA-R's mission, take a look at the brake package.

The RA-R is the first-ever Japanese production car to wear this particular high-performance brake package, which includes stout monoblock six-piston calipers for the front vented discs and four-piston calipers for the rears. The brake calipers are branded with the STI logo and matched with unusual Brembo-built STI brake rotors that change color from silver to gold under hard usage. And strangely — or maybe not — the slotted brake rotors resemble those of the Prova Racing WRX STI racing car that competes in Japan's Super Endurance racing series.

So what does all that mean? This road-going brake package is as close to racing brakes as you can get, and you only need to take the first corner at speed to work that out. Because as with race brakes, the brake pads and rotors need to get a little heat into them before they get down to business.

If you fly into a corner with cold brakes, you risk flying straight across the road and into the guardrail. But once you spend a couple of minutes leaning on the pads, getting some heat into them, you won't find better stoppers anywhere — not in Japan, at least. At operating temperatures, these brakes are outstanding, with tremendous stopping power and a firm, consistent pedal feel. It's just right for track days and autocross. More important, there is no brake fade.

Cornering calibrated for the track
The RA-R is set up for fast driving on the pavement, yet it goes beyond the sporting setup of the STI S204 all the way to a racetrack calibration. There's a quick-ratio steering rack and a pavement-friendly torque split for the driver-controlled center differential, as well as a torque-sensing limited-slip front differential.

The suspension towers have been reinforced and then supplemented by strut braces. The suspension's stock rubber bushings have been swapped for metal pillowball-style mounts, and special rear suspension links from the STI catalog are featured. The stiff-legged suspension incorporates four-way adjustable inverted dampers and thick antiroll bars, and it all does business with 235/40ZR18 Bridgestone Potenza RE070 tires on Enkei-built STI 18-inch wheels.

The car's cornering ability is really impressive. The RA-R turns in sharper and faster than any STI to date, and it carves your intended line with surgical precision. The bright yellow RA-R looks half naked without the WRX STI's telltale rear wing, but the STI engineers tell us that the lack of rear downforce helps to "get the tail around quicker," which is what this car is all about.

Once you jump on the six-piston Brembos and lean on the sticky Potenza 18-inch rubber as you turn in, you'd better be ready with a dash of opposite lock. That's how eager the rear is to come around. As long as you corner below the car's adhesion limits, though, you'd have to go a long way to find an all-wheel-drive car that rewards a driver as much. Pure precision.

But while the firm suspension setup is perfectly matched to rocketing around tight corners, it is not friendly for the everyday commute, as bumps from the road send vibrations straight into your backbone. In its element, however, there is nothing more satisfying than the RA-R for the price, even if STI hardly touched the car's very basic Impreza-style interior.

There's profit in performance
Since the introduction of the first Subaru Impreza STi in 1992, Subaru Tecnica International has produced limited editions that have been marketed in Japan, Southeast Asia, Australia and now the U.S.

At first the STI editions were homologation specials, the basis for privateer-built competition machines. Later, STI undertook the manufacture of competition machines itself. Now STI is regularly producing short model runs of cars that have an audience among enthusiasts as well as racers. It shows you that there's a real market for high-performance cars.

All 300 of the limited-edition Subaru Impreza WRX STI Spec C RA-Rs built last fall have already been sold, despite a price of $35,900. But that's what happens when you make something this special. It tends to disappear.