Motor Image has dropped the price of the Subaru Impreza WRX STi from the earlier RM289k price tag to a new price tag of RM251k. The price premium of upgrading from the 2.0 litre S-GT (priced at RM180k) to this 2.5 litre WRX STi model is now smaller than the previous gap of more than RM100k.
Although a sedan is available even down south in Singapore, Malaysians get the hatchback version for both the S-GT and the WRX STi. The WRX STi is powered by a 2.5 litre 4-cylinder boxer engine producing 300 PS at 6,000rpm and 407Nm of torque at 4,000rpm. These power outputs however were tested on RON 100 fuel so expect the engine to detuned itself on the fly with our RON97 fuel.
No fancy twin clutch thingamajig here, there’s only a 6-speed manual to work with. Ratios are 3.636 for 1st, 2.235 for 2nd, 1.590 for 3rd, 1.137 for 4th, 0.891 for 5th and 0.707 for 6th, with a final drive of 3.900.
The car rides on inverted MacPherson struts at the front and a double wishbone suspension at the rear. Despite being a hatch and looking smaller, it’s actually quite a large car when you look at it up close, measuring at 4415mm versus 4204mm long versus the Golf GTI. It’s wheelbase clicks in at 2,625mm, not best in class for a C-segment sedan but right smack in the average department and 25mm longer than the Corolla Altis.
Subaru’s SI-Drive system is a knob that allows you to switch between Intelligent, Sports or Sports# modes. They vary throttle response and various other vehicle dynamic settings. I’m not completely sure what but it’d better also control the steering assistance!
Right below that is a switch for the Multi-mode DCCD (Driver’s Control Centre Differential), which allows you to adjust the behaviour of the helically and electromagnetically controlled LSD. Basically there’s either a manual mode which lets you adjust how much locking force the LSD provides, or an automatic mode. More differential lock allows more traction on slippery roads, but this affects turning capability which may affect the car’s agility and responsiveness on winding roads.
Braking power looks good on paper thanks to 4-pot Brembo calipers at the front and 2-pot Brembo calipers at the rear, gripping ventilated discs on all four wheels. The wheels themselves are 17 inch alloys wrapped with 235/45R17 rubber.
There are a decent amount of creature comforts to prevent it from appearing like a cheap car with an inflated price due to its powerful engine. There’s automatic climate control, cruise control, bucket seats, HID headlamps, electrically controllable door mirrors, front airbags, side airbags and curtain airbags, a 6-CD changer with steering mounted audio, hill-start assist, and vehicle dynamic control.
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Nice buttocks, but front is rather… yuck…
why the price cut?
Could be sales not as good as expected.
that was fast.. how many were they expecting to sell within the first month? this car is not exactly mainstream is it?
RM30k price drop. thats pretty cool.
nice looking with quad-pipe…
but subaru is very bumpy to sit in… pain in the ashe.. can feel every stone on the road :(
charles27 said,
December 23, 2008 @ 5:24 am
nice looking with quad-pipe…
but subaru is very bumpy to sit in… pain in the ashe.. can feel every stone on the road
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jap performance cars are like that.. they usually run very hard damping rates.. if you think the subaru is bumpy(hard), you should try the evos. but for me, the ultimate hard right now, is the civic type R… that thing can rattle your fillings man. personally, i think the subaru sti has a pretty civilised ride in comparison.
maybe the Evo X is a more practical car, since its a sedan. it will make more sense if they brought in the sedan version and priced it at 251k. people would probably get that, or the merc, bimmer or audi
Evo 10 and especially the new Subaru lacks the wow factor that the GTR has… that is the biggest downside i see…
Subaru didn’t put anything new inside there. They just made the old stuff alittle better. It shows how little effort they put into this, relying only on its racing bread name to carry sales…
it looks bad here, but in the road it looks really cool. then the engine is just fantastic. the price is very good too. im sure mitsu is pissed now
actually the rear is ugly but the front is very nice.
Kevin Lee said,
December 23, 2008 @ 8:36 am
maybe the Evo X is a more practical car, since its a sedan. it will make more sense if they brought in the sedan version and priced it at 251k. people would probably get that, or the merc, bimmer or audi
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different people have different ideas of what practical is.. i suspect subaru used the hatch in WRC is because thats what the european market prefers… especially in the UK.. ask anyone in the UK, and they’ll say a hatch is more practical.
anyways.. especially those who compare these rally bred cars to the GTR.. is totally wrong.. these cars have their own strong following and they were designed to do a totally different job.. also, 250k for a subaru sti, vs 700k for a GTR.. what sort of comparison is that?
That’s really bold from Motor Image to slash their price for the new Scooby. RM 251k for Scooby X definately will take FEW (not hardcore) of new potential buyer from Mitsu Evo X that currently selling for RM 313k if I’m not mistaken. Then again, those buyer with loads of cash might as well has some brain with them. Reason why the Evo X is quite expensive compare to the Scooby X is from their effort of putting the automated-clutch sequential-shift manual transmission (SST) in their latest Evo while the new Scooby just carry over the old stick shift (my favorite!). Good thing is that all the grey importer that sell their new Scooby need to sell it below 200k or else people will just go buy from Motor Image with warranty to back them up!!
A sedan is defintely not as practical as a hatchback. Just try to squeeze a box that measures 3sqf into the back of any sedan and you’ll realise it.
Personally I find that for Subaru decision to switch to a hatchback design is a bold and wise move but the problem with the hatchback is the Corolla’s gene design which is unattractive to many eyes. The STi does fix “some” of the problems but if its basic variants are not selling well, then the profitability can be an issue for them. Making some of the features in the STi available in the lower end models sure help to bring down their cost and passing the saving to the buyers will help to ensure the selling price affordable for its top of the line models like the STi and even the S series.
For 250k, it’s anytime better than the EVO10 in any consideration unless you’re a hardcore sedan fan. I think both models, be it the WRX or EVO is evolved than revolved like the GTR. By making incremental changes, it can keep the cost in check without resorting to costly R&D like the GTR with a all new Gear Box layout for its 4WD system. Even the GTR alone Nissan has tried very hard to “link” it as the 911 Turbo killer to “market” its presence. To “kill” the legendary 911 Turbo, the GTR gotta be better than just a mere revision of the R34. But at what cost? I believed the engineers are given a “cost no object” but “kill 911 Turbo” as the objective when they redesigned the GTR R35.
That’s not what the WRX/EVO has in its latest incarnation. It’s incremental in term of drivability especially in comfortness and controllability. It makes them more bearable in everyday’s driving. Imagine that you own a sport car and want to drive it around everyday. Do you want to have “bone crushing” suspension with loud engine noise while require you to find the nearest petrol station frequently? And with cargo space that only can put 1-2 golf bags? What bout “humps & ramps smoothening” ride height? What bout real performance OTR with busy traffic? How many times you can do the 0-100km in 3.5secs kinda thing in Malaysia’s road? For the STi/EVO asking price, it’s reasonable for the performance offered and we shouldnt compared it with GTR alike else we’re not talking sense anymore.
Given money no object, it’ll be nice to get exotic cars like GTR, 911 Turbo, Ferraris. But that’s money no object and any cars is meaningless to these ppl. To the mass like me, for the sensible approach, I’ll rather spend less than half of GTR’s asking price to get the STi and save the rest for something else. And “yes”, I preferred a hatchback over sedan anytime for real life practicality and your other half will more likely than not to give her approval to the ownership. Life isnt is all about ourselves, is it?
ha ha ha ha ha Motorimage is done it again!!
first they brought the STI on our land,
then dropped the price, what could a man want more…..?
i thinking to get the new Evo, but now forget it
its about RM 80k more expensive then the Subbie
the Subbie will be in my hand…..someday
long live Subaru!!!!
BanyakMasukWorkshop said,
December 23, 2008 @ 11:08 am
.. also, 250k for a subaru sti, vs 700k for a GTR.. what sort of comparison is that?
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Correct!! Actually, 250k for BRAND NEW Subaru STI WRX vs. 700k for a bloody RECOND GTR?!! What da heck?! Compare la with…the Evo ke, the Ford ST or the RS ke (altough their road production cars are FWD), the Citroen C4 ke…none the less these cars compete each other in WRC except the Evo (still, it’s Scooby arch rival). I’m not sure about Citroen C4 performance road version thou….is there any?!! :-o
Like i said before, chage the looks, and it will be like a beast. (for the looks)
WilliamSmith said,
December 23, 2008 @ 11:24 am
A sedan is defintely not as practical as a hatchback. Just try to squeeze a box that measures 3sqf into the back of any sedan and you’ll realise it.
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thats your opinion.. which is exactly my point. but in some markets like the UK, the hatch is considered more practical.. and why? coz when you fold the rear seat down, you get more carrying space than you can get with a conventional sedan, even with seats folded. and dont forget, the UK is not known as a nation of gardeners for nothing…
merc, bimmer or audi???
helo bro, those who are buying evo/sti and merc/bimmer/audi are people from DIFFERENT categories…
WRC breed vs. premium entry level sedans? make sense?
“Evo 10 and especially the new Subaru lacks the wow factor that the GTR has… that is the biggest downside i see…”
LMAO~ its like trying to say: my AE86 drift machine lacks the wow factor of my neighbours bling bling mafia style Hummer…… sigh…..
250k better invest buying property la if u tink price is too high for u,then forget abt it lo,unless u really got hell lot of cash,then buy & sell makes your life easier…economy so bad now and even worst for the coming years,keep more cash for livings & investment….help the poors…..cheers
Ad for Skyline GTR R35 700K is for brnad new only(dunno where’s dude found the info say it’s recon),if the car recon mati la cause 90% of its parts are assembled by japanese.Dude again!!
Screw big time by Motor Image Bolehland if u buy. It’s S$101,888 (RM240k) in SG! It sounds like Bolehland has higher GDP p/c than SG or lotsa millionaires here. RM180k is more realistic.
mrbola2 said,
December 23, 2008 @ 11:28 am
ha ha ha ha ha Motorimage is done it again!!
first they brought the STI on our land,
then dropped the price, what could a man want more…..?
i thinking to get the new Evo, but now forget it
its about RM 80k more expensive then the Subbie
the Subbie will be in my hand…..someday
long live Subaru!!!!
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not only that, the subaru is also faster(if mitshubishi don’t bring in those FQ(fucking quick) versions and it sounds better too. can’t wait to join in the colin mcrae convoy
but the evo x manual version brought in by Naza is more powerful than the SST version, right?
mitlanevo said,
December 24, 2008 @ 11:54 am
but the evo x manual version brought in by Naza is more powerful than the SST version, right?
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It might be but it only comes with 5 speed instead of Subaru 6 speed. DMG also got one manual Evo X there. Check it out!
oscarsmh said,
December 24, 2008 @ 1:53 am
Ad for Skyline GTR R35 700K is for brnad new only(dunno where’s dude found the info say it’s recon),if the car recon mati la cause 90% of its parts are assembled by japanese.Dude again!!
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Bro, better go and check properly up close ok! Never put 100% trust on any grey importer if you had any experience dealing with them. Don’t simply read ads from Motortrader and believe whatever they say in it. Brand new? Got clock 2k plus milage you claim brand new ke?! Dude….
torque said,
December 24, 2008 @ 12:57 pm
oscarsmh said,
December 24, 2008 @ 1:53 am
Ad for Skyline GTR R35 700K is for brnad new only(dunno where’s dude found the info say it’s recon),if the car recon mati la cause 90% of its parts are assembled by japanese.Dude again!!
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Bro, better go and check properly up close ok! Never put 100% trust on any grey importer if you had any experience dealing with them. Don’t simply read ads from Motortrader and believe whatever they say in it. Brand new? Got clock 2k plus milage you claim brand new ke?! Dude….
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mr. tan chong nvr bring in gt-r?