Looking back at my encounter with Subaru’s 2006-spec Impreza WRX STi, I vaguely remember patches of blue in the dash and facia, enveloping sport seats, red instrument needles racing about in sync to the sound of the Subaru boxer engine on start-up, and then I entered the Zone…
Admittedly, the super Scooby’s lush interior appointments were the last thing on my mind as I hopped into the cabin, driven purely by the prospect of testing this cult icon’s on-road skills.
On closer inspection, the interior of the STi remains largely unchanged with bold inserts in the seats being the most obvious change. Oh, and the latest version of the STi gets the new face of Subaru, under the influence of former Alfa Romeo design guru, Andrea Zapatinas.
For what initially looked like a very bad idea, the Impreza’s new grille treatment has certainly grown on me, especially when considering Subaru’s predisposition to creating pretty cars. As far as its previous designs go, this car is a supermodel!
Of course, the Impreza STi hasn’t won its legions of fans based on its looks alone. Fitted with Subaru’s All Wheel Drive system and a 2,5-litre turbocharged engine, this machine is a demon just waiting to be released on unsuspecting Mazda Stings clogging up the fast lane.