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Subaru WRX STI S209 brings wider body, 341 hp, gold wheels to Detroit

With the Subaru WRX STI S209, "S" finally comes to the United States. Subaru Tecnica International created the S201 in 2000, but this ninth take on the theme — inspired by the class-winning WRX STI Nurburgring Challenge racer — is the first to make it our way. Unlike the last special edition we got here, the Type RA, this one comes with a notable power boost: 341 horsepower instead of the 310 ponies in the regular WRX STI. The muscle comes courtesy of a larger compressor and turbine in the HKS turbocharger, and 1.8 pounds more boost pressure. Since the S209 is the most powerful in-house model STI has ever built, the tuning arm didn't stop there. The EJ25 boxer gets air from a new intake duct, induction box with conical air filter, and a silicone turbo inlet duct. Paddles on the steering wheel control a system that sprays water on the intercooler to reduce air temperature, a feature last seen on the WRX STI from the 2004 to 2007 model years. An old-fashioned six-speed manual controls the transmission.The engine gets its fuel from a high-flow fuel pump that feeds larger injectors. Torque hasn't changed from 290 pound-feet, but there's 10 percent more torque at 3,600 rpm. Airflow through the mufflers is 17 percent freer. The cans also are 4.1 pounds lighter and terminate in four-inch pipes. Subaru makes no mention of any other S209 weight loss, but the looks and the "focus on high-performance driving" should make themselves known. STI widened the front and rear track by 0.6 inches, and punched out fenders with aero-aiding canards make the car 1.7 inches wider. The roof and rear wing are made of carbon fiber. Instead of the 245/35 R19 wheels on the series WRX STI, the S209's forged BBS alloys wear 265/35 Dunlop GT600A summer tires, which we're told can handle max lateral grip beyond 1 G. Behind those wheels, six-piston monoblock Brembo calipers with high-friction pads clamp cross-drilled steel rotors in front, two-piston monoblock calipers in back. Stiffer coil springs wrap retuned Bilstein dampers, the suspension aided in its work by reinforced front crossmember and rear subframe, a longitudinally-flexible strut tower bar in front, flexible draw stiffeners front and back, and a 20-millimeter rear stabilizer bar. STI programmers recalibrated the SI-Drive system's three driving modes: Intelligent, Sport, and Sport Sharp.

The art of WRX-ing in the rain

There it is again, the quiver of the STi's blue rear spoiler. I noticed it yesterday on the Autobahn north of Frankfurt. Although the speed limit was 120 kilometers per hour, I was cruising in sixth gear around 200 kph when the STi's signature rear appendage began to dance in my rear view mirror. Now I'm redlining fifth gear on the front straight of the legendary Nurburgring's north loop and it's back. Only this time the quivering blade is in a deluge of water coming off the Subaru's 18-inch Dunlops. It's a rooster tail worthy of Miss Budweiser and it's a constant and sobering reminder that I'm lapping the 13-mile long Nordschleife in a freezing and unrelenting rain. I'm driving a 2017 German-spec Subaru WRX STi, not the updated 2018 version that'll get revised front end styling, tweaked suspension tuning, larger Brembo brakes and 19-inch wheels and tires. At 240 kph, close to the 2.5-liter boxer four's 6,700 rpm redline, I shift up to sixth gear and change lanes to avoid the standing water on the left side of the track. It's my third lap. I'm getting over-confident. The all-wheel drive WRX STI is dealing well with the tricky conditions and the Ringmeisters of the past that tamed this track since it was first built in 1929 - Ascari, Fangio, Clark, Caracciola, Nuvolari, Rosemeyer, Chiron, and Ickx - are talking to me inside my head. And they're egging me on. Pushing me to go faster. I'm sticking to wet line and staying off the tall curbing that marks most apexes. Bounce the Subi off a curb and I'm sure to star in the next Nurburgring crash video to hit YouTube. I'm also desperately trying to stay off of the new pavement, which dots the circuit and has a coefficient of friction in the wet similar to snot. Then I make a huge mistake on the entrance to Bergwerk, a tight right hand corner that comes up quickly after a long, fast section and the left hand kink that Nicki Lauda got so wrong in the 1976 Grand Prix. The Nordschleife has 160 corners. Most are blind. Many are off camber. All are lined with walls and Armco barriers. Even the straights are kinked and crowned. And there are two very fast downhill compressions and three jumps that max out a car's suspension travel. There's no runoff room. No margin for error. And remembering the course in this weather in just a few laps is impossible, I don't care how much Gran Turismo you've played.

Police bravely rescue mannequin from cold car

Police in an upstate New York town broke into a car last week to save an elderly woman only to discover she was a lifelike mannequin. Police in Hudson, NY, got a troubling call on Friday, December 16, that a woman had frozen to death in a car, ABC News reported. HPD rushed to the scene and found what appeared to be an elderly woman unresponsive in a snow covered Subaru. The weather was bitter cold, and police feared the worse. Sergeants leaped into action and smashed out the car's rear passenger window. That's when first responders realized that the supposed victim in the front seat wasn't a person at all, but an extremely lifelike, life-sized mannequin. The mannequin was dressed in a sweater, blouse, slacks, and shoes and had an oxygen mask covering its nose and mouth. Glasses, lifelike hair, teeth, and even a smattering of liver spots on the hands and face completed the illusion. Eventually, the Subaru's owner showed up and explained the strange situation. He told police he was a sales manager for a medical supply company, and that the mannequin was a CPR training device. He told the officers that he regularly transports the mannequin buckled into the front seat of his car. The HPD was not particularly happy with this explanation, while the Subaru owner was annoyed that his car was smashed open. "I can't put what he said on air, but he was not very happy with the police department for forcing entry into his car," Hudson Police Department Sergeant Randy Clarke told WTEN. "If it was a joke, it was a very poor tasteful joke. If it was a matter of convenience for him, it was a station wagon, carry your mannequin a little bit better. The mannequin was in the front seat with a seat belt and appearing to be a passenger in the car." There are no charges pending in the incident, HPD said. Related Video: News Source: ABC News, WTEN Auto News Weird Car News Subaru hudson