Subaru Impreza Takes A Tougher Stance. Literally
Lower, wider WRX adds beef to Impreza's styling
The car, due to be unveiled in the metal at next week's New York motor show, takes its design cues from the full-fat Impreza WRX STI and will be available in the US this summer, both as a five-door hatch and the four-door saloon you see here.
There's no confirmation as to whether or not the wide-boy Scooby is heading for Blighty, but even if it does don't expect to see the saloon version over here.
Power for the wide-bodied WRX comes from Subaru's usual 2.5-litre turbocharged boxer four-pot engine, with 261bhp and 244lb ft of torque.
As well as the chunky body kit, the front and rear tracks have grown by 38mm. Styling tweaks to the wings, wheelarches and bumpers have helped to reduce the drag coefficient of the car, but this is offset by a 15kg increase in kerb weight.
"The new wide-body designs mark another major step on the continuous evolution of the WRX to give driving enthusiasts an even more compelling all-wheel-drive performance package," reckons Tom Doll, executive vice-president of Subaru.
Stick a WRC spoiler from one of the older STI models on the version pictured above and you get something that looks more like the scoobs of old.
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