A Subaru Impreza WRX STi, seen on a car market in south Beijing. The speedy Japanese hatchback looked all the business; painted in Impreza blue and fitted with the almost obligatory gold multispoke alloy wheels. The enormous air inlet on the bonnet screams hardcore power.
The third generation Subaru Impreza WRX STi was made from 2007 until 2014, with a facelift in 2010. Out blue Beijing car is a pre-facelift example. Power came from a 2.5 liter turbocharged boxer engine with an output of 300 hp and 407 Nm. The motor was mated to a 6-speed manual transmission, sending the hot Japanese horses to all four wheels. In China, top speed was rated at 250 km/h with a 0-100 in 5.2 seconds.
Japanese performance cars are extremely popular in China. On every car market and on every event you will find wild flocks of Impreza WRX, Lancer EVO, Honda Type R, and many other fast cars from the Land of the Rising Sun. Over the years I must have seen literally thousands of WRX STI’s, and i got tons and tons of pics, all of which will eventually end up on this website.
The interior looked pretty much standard, with sporty leather-alcantara seats, a leather steering wheel, and the factory infotainment system.
The WRX STi models had a much wider track than the standard Impreza, so it needed much wider fenders too. That looks okay from up front but the rear seems very bloated, and this is emphasized even more by the way-too-large lights. Spoiler atop the window is properly cool, while the four exhaust pipes look a tad too modest for a car like the Subaru Impreza WRX STi.
The third generation WRX STi hatchback was officially sold in China as an import. Price in 2007 started at 498.000 yuan, which was very steep for the times, but it sold relatively well nevertheless. Interestingly, Subaru didn’t offer the sedan version of the WRX STi in sedan-crazy China. The hottest sedan was the base WRX model with only 230 hp on tap, but it was considerably cheaper at 339.800 yuan.
But I guess the extra cash for the STi is more than worth it, even if it was only for badge and that big fat air intake that looks like it can absorb the entire planet earth.