There's a special place in the PH heart reserved for the Q car. Typically these are European - think back to the Focus Estate sleep with 325hp we featured a few years ago - because this is the home of style and subtlety. In Japan, things are a little different. By and large the land of the rising sun doesn't do discreet. Think big wings, scoops and angles upon angles; think Honda Civic Type R and pretty much every Evo ever made.
But there is hope. Step forward the Impreza STI Spec-D - built for a more conservative-minded market, one that PHer 'TartanPaint' mistook for a 'cooking spec WRX' when trying to keep up with one on the road. Of course it was this mixture of buttoned-down looks and huge performance that sold the concept to him - that and the fact that he grew up around Subarus, watching them do battle in the WRC and riding in his dad's Turbo wagon.
As you might expect, there are no visual upgrades on his Spec-D, but it has been treated to forged pistons and rods, a Cobra decat pipe downpipe, adjustable coilovers and a remap. This discreet sort of Subaru is now at 355hp with 400lb ft but unfortunately, due to a change in circumstances, it isn't being used as much. Hopefully, this will push the owner to go for a couple more drives and update us before passing it on. Read the full thread here.