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Subaru WRX STI Diamond Edition is the most powerful ever offered

The U.S. is no stranger to seeing Subaru create special-edition WRX STI models that are significantly more potent than what it sells here. Just in the last few years, we saw the W208 and the Type RA-R with over 320 horsepower, compared to the 300 in the standard American STI. That latter one particularly stung, since our Type RA just had 310 horsepower. But what we're not accustomed to seeing is Subaru's home market of Japan being cut out of a special-edition STI, which is exactly the case with the 2018 Subaru WRX STI Diamond Edition. This special STI was developed by Subaru South Africa of all places. And it's a serious machine. It makes a whopping 349 horsepower and 342 pound-feet of torque, which means it's the most powerful WRX STI offered by Subaru to the public. The car also features Brembo brakes with 6-piston calipers up front and 2-piston calipers in the back. The car stands out from regular STIs with its florescent yellow body kit. The car was created by Subaru South Africa to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of Subaru Technica International, the company we all know as STI. Because of that, the Subaru branch is only offering 30 for sale. Prospective customers can register for a chance to have one of the cars at this official website. Also interesting is that this isn't the only ultra-limited edition STI from Subaru South Africa. The company did the same thing for the fifteenth anniversary, and only sold 15 examples of that car. It had a remarkable pun for the name: Subaru Impreza WRX STI STImulating Edition. Really, we're not making that up. Related Video:

Porsche 911 Turbo and Nissan GT-R Nismo star in World's Greatest Drag Race 4

We love Motor Trend's annual World's Greatest Drag Race video. Now back for its fourth appearance, the idea of lining some of the world's fastest cars up for a ten-wide, straight-line, full-throttle run is, well... it's pretty freaking badass.
The lineup this year boasts some impressively fast cars to be sure. The group of ten includes the following darlings: Alfa Romeo 4C, BMW i8, BMW M4, Chevrolet Camaro Z/28, Ford Fiesta ST, Jaguar F-Type R Coupe, Nissan GT-R Nismo, Porsche 911 Turbo S, Subaru WRX STI and, last but not least, the Volkswagen GTI. Give us any one of those for the weekend, and we're happy to take the keys.
It must be said though, that for a publication that draws as much water as Motor Trend does, there are some big cars that we might expect to be here instead. The Lamborghini Huracán or Ferrari 458 Speciale would have added some exotic flare to the list, and the omissions of the Chevy Corvette Stingray (for the second year in a row) and the Dodge Challenger Hellcat are real head-scratchers.

Toyota, Honda, Nissan and more collaborating to increase fuel efficiency

Toyota, Honda, Mazda, Nissan, Subaru, Mitsubishi, Suzuki and Daihatsu have announced an alliance that will see a push to improve fuel economy from both gas-powered and diesel-powered engines by as much as 30 percent before the end of the decade.
The newly assembled Research Association of Automotive Internal Combustion Engines put the roughly $20-million project together, with the Japanese government committing to half the cost while the eight manufacturers will chip in the rest.
According to Automotive News, the automakers will team up and share basic research on internal-combustion engines in a bid to cut costs. Eventually, the results of the research will find its way into a production vehicle, although it's unclear just when we'll see the fruits of this partnership on the road.