Subaru Drops a Carbon Roof on the Impreza WRX STI tS

Destined only for the Japanese market, the 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX STI tS is the latest addition to the performance sedan's range. The highlight of the car is the new lightweight carbon fiber rooftop, but to sweeten the deal, Subaru's STI division also added some more goodies such as a lighter aluminum hood, a front lip spoiler, mutlispoke 18-inch alloy wheels, a rather discrete boot lid spoiler and a sportier tuned suspension. The body-hugging Recaro sport seats, upgraded trim and custom sill plates round off the tS package.

The Impreza WRX STI tS is motivated by a 2.0-liter turbocharged boxer engine with 308-horsepower and is available with either a 6-speed manual gearbox or a five-speed automatic transmission in A-Line spec. The company plans to keep production limited to 400 units with prices in Japan starting from 4,020,000 Yen or about US$48,100 / €36,700.

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Video Presentation of Subaru's tasty Impreza Design Concept

One of the head-turners at this year's edition of the Los Angeles Auto Show is Subaru's new Impreza Design Concept. As the name suggests, the purpose of the study is to tease the next generation of the Impreza.

Even though there's a familiar resemblance with the latest Subaru Legacy, the concept features more aggressive and taut lines and a lower, almost coupe-like roofline. As Phil pointed out in our previous post, let's just hope that the next Impreza will keep if not all, most of the key styling elements seen on this concept model. For now, hit the break to watch a pair of promotional videos as well as a clip from the LA Show presentation of the Impreza Design Concept.

Source: Subaru / Youtube-DriveinHD

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2010 LA Auto Show: Subaru Teases Next Impreza with Concept Study

After bringing you a preview sketch earlier today, we now have some live images of the Subaru Impreza Design Concept from the LA Show floor. Taking Subaru's compact design in a new direction, the language of "Confidence In Motion" doesn't disappoint. In fact, this may preview the first good-looking Subaru in a long time. Hopefully it won't jump from concept to reality with as many "real-world" changes as the chubby/fugly Legacy.

As we already told you, the Impreza concept is powered by a 2.0-liter boxer engine and uses a Lineartronic transmission to drive the wheels through a Symmetrical All Wheel Drive system.

Outside, the face is all "new Subaru", while the the rear is home to some seriously fresh lines (like those rising from the diffuser) that continue the geometric theme from up front. The four-door compact coupe also gets cameras mounted on the A-pillar instead of mirrors, but for now those are still being relegated to the world of concepts.

As for the interior, have a look for yourself in the renderings: the seat design looks great, the dash and gauge pod look production-ready design-wise (minus the high-tech fully touch panel display), and the steering wheel's redundant controls are complemented with a touchscreen similar to an iPhone's.

Add to that the EyeSight camera system which displays safety-based analysis in the gauge cluster and we've got one high-tech, futuristic Subaru that's not just an all-wheel drive meh-mobile.

All it needs now is missiles and we're good to go.

By Phil Alex

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