Making its debut at the L.A. auto show is Subaru’s new 2010 WRX STI Special Edition. How special is it? Well, on the outside, it actually looks a little less special, with no fog lights in its broad, black front fascia, and halogen headlamps instead of HIDs. Ditto inside, where manual A/C replaces automatic climate control, and a basic four-speaker single-CD system replaces the 10-speaker whomp-whomp pounder in the standard WRX STI.
But beneath the bespoke Aspen White bodywork are the stiff legs of the Japanese domestic market WRX STI Spec C. The rear adds a 1-mm-thicker anti-roll bar, stiffer subframe bushings, revised springs, and shocks that are 29 percent firmer. Up front, the springs become 16 percent stiffer. The charcoal-colored wheels come straight off the Spec C, shod with the same Dunlop SP600s as all other STIs. The 305-hp turbocharged flat-four, adjustable center differential, and standard six-speed manual transmission carry over from the standard U.S.-market STI.
Subaru describes the new Special Edition as “aimed at the driving enthusiast who is willing to trade a few amenities to gain an extra measure of handling performance.” We describe it as an STI that’s traded ribs and milkshakes for chicken breasts and Gatorade. No word on how much, if any, actual weight has been shed, but we’re looking forward to seeing just how much more athletic its new suspension has allowed it to become.
Pricing is TBA, but based on our experience with America’s wild-eyed WRX/STI fans, many of whom perform Japan-spec conversions in their own garages, we think the initial run of 125 cars—hey, it’s a for-real limited-edition special edition for now!—will be gobbled up shortly after they go on sale next spring. To anyone that misses out, or hard-core STI lovers who don’t like white, be patient: the STI Special Edition will become a standard production model available in all of the STI’s current colors once the initial run of 125 is gone.
Thanks to: Car and Driver