The 2009 Subaru Impreza WRX STI with Subaru Performance Tuning (SPT) goodies is enjoying the sun at the NADAguides.com office.
Subaru has a long history of building quality sedans and wagons that come standard with a good all-wheel drive system and a reliable engine. The average Subaru today is a very useful and safe vehicle that can provide driver and passengers with the occasional thrill thanks to the all-weather handling capabilities and fun turbocharged motors. There is a car in this family that takes this “fun” to another level. The 2009 Subaru Impreza WRX STI is not simply a fun car, it is a rally-racing bred, all-terrain conquering, lunatic car that smashes through the “fun zone” taking its occupants straight to 11.
The 2009 Subaru Impreza WRX STI is a four-door all-wheel-drive turbocharged wagon. If that sentence doesn’t sound like a good time to you, I hope you enjoy my forthcoming review of the 2010 Lexus HS 250h hybrid. The 2.5L four-cylinder boxer under the hood produces 305 hp and 290 lb-ft of torque. The Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive system, front and rear limited-slip differentials, 245/18 summer tires, and the Brembo brakes work together to keep that 305 hp moving this in the right direction at all times.
This particular WRX STI is fitted with parts from SPT bin, Subaru’s in-house performance division. A short-throw shifter and upgraded shifter bushing enable me to make crisp and clean work of all six forward gears. There is no searching or long-reaching throws… the gear is there when you need it. The brakes have upgraded pads in the front and rear and the Brembo system feels excellent even after a day spent running through the Southern California canyon roads. Each turn is flat and confidence inspiring, which is helped in part by the stiff front strut tower brace and the chassis brace which increase the stiffness over the non-SPT equipped STI. The final piece from the SPT goodie bag is a performance exhaust system that opens up the noise a little bit due to a less restrictive airflow. The result of all these parts makes an already great car a little bit better.
The interior of the Subaru is relatively simple with the exception of the optional touch-screen navigation system. The STI Performance Design front seats are nicely bolstered for a street car without wandering into the race-car squeeze territory. Tossing the Impreza back and forth across the Ortega Highway, my body was not as tired as it would be had the car been fitted with normal, non-bolstered seats.
The touch-screen navigation system is simple to use and allows the driver to control the Bluetooth connected phone, the GPS, the audio system, and to display information such as fuel consumption or a digital boost gauge. Everything is within close reach of the driver and it makes focusing on the road that much easier. My only complaint with the touch-screen is just how easily it shows off my finger prints and then washes out in the sunlight. You can read it, but a little shade and less of a CSI showcase would go a long way here.
The Impreza WRX STI is equipped with a driver controlled center differential and the Subaru Intelligent Drive system, called the SI-DRIVE. On most cars that have multiple driver-selectable settings, there is a slight difference in the suspension and throttle response but you have to really work hard to notice it. Not so for this polar beast however, as the standard [S] or Sport mode it feels like fun but when you switch to [S#] (Sport Sharp) it clearly ratchets up the action. You can change this setting on the fly with a simple twist of a knob. Driving down the street in Sport mode, in the neighborhood of 3,500 RPMs or so I flipped over to Sport Sharp. The exhaust takes on a more raucous tone as the whole car seems to awaken from a bored mid-day nap. It is time to play and the STI just got kicked by a pair of Sport Sharp spurs.
The car that the STI most often gets compared to is the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. They both have similar power numbers, fit the same number of people inside, and stick to the road like glue thanks to their respective AWD systems. The difference comes in the press of the gas from the start line as the STI will leave the Evo fumbling for power as it roars into the distance. The STI is lighter and makes better use of its low-end power. The Evo will accelerate like it was shot out of a canon - once you get out of first gear and the turbocharged engine roars into action, however this STI doesn’t demonstrate the lag like its counterpart from Mitsubishi does.
The 2009 Subaru Impreza WRX STI is simply a blast to drive. It is an all-wheel drive hot-rod with a front-end that resembles a psychotic clown (go back and look at the first photo, I’ll wait). Yet at the same time, it is also a useful daily driver since it has room for five adults and a rear cargo area. This is one of the best arguments for the concept of the sports wagon.
The MSRP of this STI is $38,795.00 and the as-tested price (minus the SPT parts) is $39,943.00. The fun add-ons from SPT push it a hair over the $40K mark, which is an expensive zone to be playing in. I don’t think you need those pieces to enjoy this car the way I did; the stock components are already thrilling. Comparing this car again to the Evo, you are spending a premium for a little bit more power and a lighter car. The Evo is lots of fun but as I said in the beginning, this car is much more than that. I would choose the Subaru over the Mitsubishi to lead me through sun, rain, heat, cold, texting teens, fire, earthquakes, texting adults, and anything else that California can throw at me.