Subaru dealers across the country are now taking orders for a naturally aspirated 4-door Impreza.

The AWD sedan comes a year after the new hatchback Impreza that debuted, and shares the same 2620mm wheelbase and price range for all three variants; R, RX, and RS. However the sedan is 165mm longer than the hatch in total, and comes with a slightly larger boot (45mm longer). The car also rides 35mm higher than the previous Impreza sedan, and provides a split-folding rear seat to improve capacity.

The sedan’s engine remains unchanged from the hatch variant, a 110KW(@6400RPM)/196NM(@3200RPM) two litre DOHC Boxer four cylinder petrol engine mated to either a 5 speed manual transmission or 4 speed SportsShift automatic. Subaru claims a combined fuel economy of 8.9L/100km for the manual variants and 8.8L/100km for automatic variants on standard (91RON) unleaded fuel.

The Impreza is available with dual front and side airbags, curtain airbags, ABS with electronic brake-force distribution (EBD), brake assist, VDC stability control, active front head-rests, hill-start assist for manual cars, air conditioning and a standard 4 speaker CD audio. All models are 5-star ANCAP rated.

Purchasing the RX version adds 16” alloy wheels, a 6-stacker, 10 speaker CD audio system, automatic climate control, a leather-rim steering wheel with audio controls and leather gearshift and optional sunroof.

The RS upgrades the alloys to 17”, adds a bodykit with rear diffuser and spoiler, mesh grille, sports seats, rear privacy glass and an upgraded trim. The RS may also be optioned with a leather trim and sunroof package.

The WRX version of the Sedan, packing Subaru’s fabled 169KW/320NM 2.5L turbocharged 4-cylinder is expected in December.

Pricing is as follows:

• Impreza R $24,490 (manual) $26,490 (auto)
• Impreza RX $26,490 (manual) $28,490 (auto)
• Impreza RS $29,490 (manual) $31,490 (auto)

Popularity: 2% [?]

Subaru continues to whet enthusiast appetites with dark, moody shots of the new STi.

Although not immediately clear in the pics, it seems the STi is going to be designed to stand apart from it’s WRX base with a more masculine, bulked up appearance, with bulging muscular fenders, quad tips, a roof wing, and possibly black versions of the clear tail lights, though it’s hard to tell. It seems Subaru have listened to STi owners classically complaining about the STi looking too similar to the ‘standard’ WRX (Though we’re sure some fans must be wishing Subaru had listened on overall styling, period.).

2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STi. These photo’s have been brightened

The STi will be revealed on the 24th of October at the Tokyo Motor Show (write it in your diaries or something, Scooby fans!)

Popularity: 33% [?]

The new Subaru Impreza WRX STi has been caught in the flesh by Autoblog with next to no clothes on (Ok, maybe a bit of black lingerie).

It looks like the nasty rear wing is no more (which is good as it would look a little astray on the new hatchback only format) and has been replaced with something a little neater in line with the more subtle design philosophy, the scoop seems sleeker, and there’s dainty little scoops on the front bumper.

Head over to Autoblog’s gallery to see the new high res pics.

Popularity: 11% [?]

Browsing the local blogosphere (PaulTan.org to be exact) we were surprised to hear news that the previously announced Subaru Turbodiesel Boxer engine has been on show at Frankfurt. The new motor is the first of it’s kind, a horizontally opposed turbo diesel four cylinder engine, and we expect it’ll be in a variant of the new Impreza, and perhaps the local Liberty in the future.

Power comes in at 110KW (147HP), which is on par with the naturally aspirated 2.0L petrol engine. Torque comes in with a meaty 350Nm of torque. The engine is 2.0L in capacity.

There’s no mention of fuel efficiency, but you can expect it to be good, even better than the petrol N/A. With that much torque, you could almost use an hypothetical turbodiesel Boxer Impreza as a tow car.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Welcome to our newest segment, the Video of the Week! (VOTW). Each and every week we’ll add a new video that is weird, insane or just plain cool.

This week’s video is Ken Block jumping 171 feet in a Subaru Impreza WRC car

Don’t be afraid to suggest next week’s VOTW!

Popularity: 6% [?]