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13/09/2010
By EWAN KENNEDY
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Subaru Australia has greatly increased the number of models in its 2011 WRX STI range, but at the same time has reduced the price. The new four-door sedan will be welcomed by those who enjoy the big-wing WRX look, and the option of an automatic transmission will please those who do a lot of heavy duty commuting.
The look of the Subaru WRX STI has been further refined for MY11, with a sharper appearance at the front due to a new bumper. This has slicker corners as well as a new squarer design of foglight surround. The new bumper is topped by a larger radiator grille with a darker finish.
Subaru WRX STI now has a recommended retail price of $59,990 whether you choose the manual or automatic transmissions. This is $2000 lower for the manual gearbox than in the STI 2010 (manual only) range.
As the standard Subaru WRX now has the same blister guards of the wide body STI it was necessary to give the STI a method of visual differentiation. The look of the rear stands out by the use of larger stainless steel exhaust tips.
The new sharper look for the Subaru WRX STI is complemented by suspension that has been lowered by five millimetres and which has been extensively revised to further improve road grip. It also improves racetrack grip... we had a delightful half day session at Victoria’s Philip Island race circuit where we were able to really push the high performance Subarus to their limits. The amount of grip is amazing. As also is the stability of the cars under brakes and in the fast flowing corners of the circuit.
Controllability is excellent, with the hot Subarus sending plenty of messages to the driver. And if all else fails the electronic suspension aids come in relatively smoothly.
The bad news for those who opt for the Subaru WRX STI automatic – the boxer engine has been detuned from 407 Newton metres to 350 Nm as the auto can't handle the full torque output of the high-performance 2.5-litre unit. The good news is that power remains at 221 kilowatts in both six-speed manual and four-speed automatic format.
There's speculation that Subaru is working on a stronger five- or six-speed automatic or, possibly even a double-clutch transmission, but the company will neither confirm nor deny this.
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