Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue

The first real pictures of Subaru's 2015 WRX STI were leaked last week before the Detroit Auto Show (which starts tomorrow).  There isn't much known just yet, though Subaru will be live streaming their press event, here.  Now to explain the title of this post, which at least gave me a chuckle...

• Something Old:  There has been much wailing and gnashing of teeth about the looks of the new STI from NASIOC to The Car Lounge, this is par for the course for most new Subaru models though (the 4th gen Legacy and BRZ being notable exceptions to this rule).  Most of what I've (other than the Corolla jokes) seen has been that it looks like the current Evolution.  I can see how some reach that conclusion, but in my opinion looking a bit closer I see styling cues from the GC8 WRX STi.  I think this is especially noticeable in the front fascia turn signal and foglight area, the headlights and grille while not direct cues seem to be evolutions of the past designs.


• Something New: Like the new WRX, the 2015 STI is riding on the all new Impreza platform.  The early impressions from the major car mags and websites about the new 2015 WRX have been incredibly positive.  Like the STI models before it's only logical to assume that Subaru will improve and sharpen the already impressive handling even more in the 2015 STI.


• Something Borrowed: While the forthcoming 2015 WRX is using the FA20 DIT, it has been confirmed in leaked dealer pre-order docs that the STI will have a 2.5L engine.  The last time I checked Subaru doesn't have a 2.5L variant of the FA2x DIT engine, unless it's a very well kept secret.  While I'm sure that one is the works, I'm crossing my fingers that Subaru uses a variant of the EJ25x engine until the new engine is ready.  Hopefully one that shares the bottom mounted turbo location first seen in the 5th generation Legacy.  Silly me, but with a lack of aftermarket turbo options I'm hoping that a Legacy inspired turbo placement will result in something that I can use for my 5th  generation Legacy GT.


• Something Blue: The first pics of the new 2015 STI are in World Rally Blue Pearl with gold wheels (a timeless combination in my humble opinion), I've got nothing to really add here.  The definitive Subaru color on the new top model, yeah it's just right.