Subaru Reveals Nürburgring 24H-Ready WRX STI Racer

Subaru will continue to participate in the Nurburgring 24-Hour race that will be held this year in June with the new WRX STI racing car that made its world premiere at the Tokyo Auto Salon. The production / road going version of the WRX STI will be revealed in the metal at the Detroit motor show.

Extensively worked on and engineered by both Subaru and their in-house tuners STI, the racing model will use a two-liter boxer-four engine with a turbocharger and be eligible for the SP3T class for displacements of between 1.6- and 2.0-liter. The road car will use a bigger 2.5-liter variant.

The road-going WRX STI, in its traditional colors, looks nice, and so does this track-honed racer. However, the official rally-bred version is what all Subaru motorsport fans are waiting for – I know I am…

Scroll down and check out the photos of the Nürburgring racer, below.

By Andrei Nedelea

PHOTO GALLERY

2015 Subaru WRX STI Revealed in Leaked Official Images [HD Photo Update]

As you probably know, Subaru will debut the all-new WRX STI at the Detroit Auto Show next week, and this can only mean it’s time for…photo leaks. The first official images surfaced originally on Mexican website Autos.Terra (and then popped up elsewhere too) and they show us the WRX STI wearing the legendary blue paint golden wheels scheme.

Based on the 2015 Subaru WRX, the STI features visual upgrades including a huge rear wing, golden wheels and gray bars in the front grille. The rest of the aerodynamic kit looks very similar (if not identical) to the WRX.

There’s no information on the engine, but the new WRX STI should boast considerably more power than the WRX, which is powered by a 2.0-liter turbocharged petrol engine producing 268 horsepower. While some may expect the STI to feature an upgraded version of this engine, according to a leaked dealer spec sheet, Subaru will fit its performance sedan with the same 2.5-liter turbocharged unit from the previous model – obviously with a power upgrade that should take it upwards of 300 hp.

According to the report, Subaru will offer a first edition of the WRX in the exclusive World Rally Blue combined with the golden alloy wheels. Until official information is released, we can only check out the photos. While the design is not as dramatic as the WRX Concept's, the new Subaru WRX STI certainly looks as an STI should.

By Dan Mihalascu

PHOTO GALLERY

All-New 2015 Subaru WRX STI Coming to Detroit Auto Show

After serving us an appetizer in the form of the new 2015 WRX sedan at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November, Subaru is moving ahead with the main course that is none other than the STI version of the series, which has just been confirmed for a world premiere at the Detroit motor show later this month.

The Japanese automaker didn't say anything else about the 2015 WRX STI, but a recently leaked dealer spec sheet mentioned that, while the WRX gained a new 268hp 2.0-liter turbocharged engine paired to either a 6sp manual or a CV, the flagship performance model will continue with a 2.5-liter flat-four turbocharged unit.

In the same paper, Subaru said it offer the WRX in a special Launch Edition exclusively available in the sub-brand's traditional WR Blue paint.

PHOTO GALLERY

2015 Subaru WRX with New CVT Transmission Video Reviewed

So here we have the new 2015 Subaru (Impreza) WRX, the all-new version of the road car that used to whet boy racers’ appetites around the world. Now all grown up and modern looking, it’s more refined and comes with an available CVT gearbox that promises to be sporty yet still efficient at the same time.

Only just out, and one model-year ahead of everybody else, the WRX has fallen into the hands of YouTube reviewers, and on first impressions it seems like a decent evolution, even with the snowmobile transmission option – a crisp new six-speed manual is available, thank goodness, and to me, that’s really the only available option.

Strangely, the reviewers talk more about this new Lineartronic transmission than the actual driving dynamics of the car, so we’ll have to wait for some other drivers to take it on track and document their findings there.

Until then, the street test videos for it lie after the virtual jump.

By Andrei Nedelea

VIDEO