If so far only Cusco Racing had an Impreza running on the GT300, Subaru and STI is planning to soon launch a modified Legacy B4 (sedan) in order to compete in this Category.
A bit surprising indeed in such economical atmosphere to start racing again, and especially since Subaru no longer participate to the WRC, but this announcement could boost Subaru brand image in Japan.

Road&Track: We’ve reported on this before, but we now have stronger evidence than ever that Toyota is getting back into the affordable sports-coupe game with an all-new model priced at around $20,000–$25,000. This front-engine/rear-drive 2-door will reincarnate the spirit of the 1983–1987 Corolla Levin/Trueno (AE86), a car that’s still popular today, especially among drift enthusiasts. According to our friends at Best Car magazine, Toyota’s code name for this future sports car is 086A. That it’s so similar to AE86 is no coincidence.

Toyota is partnering with Subaru to bring this project to reality. In fact, most of the engineering seems to be coming from the company known for its all-wheel-drive rally cars. Powering the future coupe will be Subaru’s 2.0-liter flat-4 equipped with a new direct-injection system, tuned to produce an impressive 200 bhp and 145 lb.-ft. of torque. We predict the car will weigh about 2700 lb., so expect fairly quick acceleration times, probably around 6.0 sec. to 60 mph. The suspension will consist of MacPherson struts up front and a multilink setup at the rear, with the chassis based on that of the Subaru Impreza and Legacy.

Toyota will mainly be in charge of the car’s styling. Although both Toyota and Subaru versions will be offered, the two models won’t look much different, apart from badging — think Toyota Matrix and Pontiac Vibe.

The car is scheduled to appear sometime in 2011 or 2012. If this future car truly is a reincarnation of the AE86, Toyota and Subaru will have a big hit on their hands.

A new automatic version of Subaru’s Impreza WRX STI has been announced in Japan.Launching what could become the ultimate tool for carving-up the SUV brigade on the school run, Subaru has made sure its new Impreza WRX A-Line model comes with all the necessary go-faster trimmings.

There’s Prodrive-developed SPORTSHIFT, a paddle shift feature allowing manual operation without requiring the driver to release the steering wheel, as well as DBC – or Downshift Blipping Control. The latter does what it says on the label, as the auto tranny’s ECU interacts with the engine management system to increase engine revs instantly to the required level.

Apparently the paddle shift can also be used ‘temporarily’ without setting the main selection lever to manual, presumably allowing the driver to take maximum advantage of sudden openings in the Tokyo traffic. Other than a new paint colour – satin white pearl, pictured – the new A-Line model is also offered with 8-way electric front seats.

The WRX A-Line shares the same 2.5 litre turbocharged Boxer engine as the manually-shifted STI, as well as the rest of its running gear. That means you still get 300PS at 6200rpm and 350Nm of torque, grip to die for and whopping 17ins-front and 16-ins rear stoppers. Oh, and a practical hatchback with plenty of space for all the kids’ football gear.

It has been a whole 15 years since the first Subaru Impreza WRX appeared in the UK and the carmaker has taken an unusual step to shift a few of the latest version.

While desperately trying to avoid a 'the car may have changed but the price hasn't' cliché the news is that Subaru has given the new WRX a 1994 price tag. It will cost the same £17,998 that the original did when it went on sale. This means a saving of £2,100 on the list price.

Considering the car gets a 230bhp 2.5-litre boxer engine, with 236lb ft of torque, power-to-pound it is very good value. Incidentally a price tag of 18,000 pounds was seen as good value for the original 208bhp WRX in the early nineties. The question is whether the price drop will be enough to tempt those who have rejected the new car's hatchback styling.

Lawrence Good, managing director of Subaru UK, said: 'This is the last opportunity for Subaru WRX fans to buy into the latest, best Impreza WRX Turbo model - at a price they were 15 years ago! It is one of our best dealer offers in our history - ideal in these lean times.'