Subaru has given us rally legends, amazing cars, & one of the brightest & best car cultures.

The best part of Subaru is STi. Founded by Noriyuki Koseki in 1988, Subaru Tecnica International was to be the motorsport division for Subaru’s expanding presence in motorsports, which was picking up steam at the end of the decade.

The first STi model was a Legacy RS RA. A boxy 4 door sedan powered by a 2.0L turbocharged motor capable of going over 155mph, which was pure lunacy at the time.

Rallycross was always in Subarus blood. Fielding a Subaru Leone in the early part of the 80s, the Legacy allowed Subaru to race a competitive car. What really brought the best out of Subaru was the competition from other teams that utilized smaller, lighter, & more agile cars.

Subaru’s response was revolutionary - the Impreza. All-wheel drive. Turbocharged. Compact. Powerful, yet efficient motor. A collaboration with British motorsports company Pro-Drive. This formula gave them a car that won 3 consecutive World Rally Championship Constructor championships.

With this car, legendary rivalries were forged. Were you with Colin McRae & Subaru? Or with Tommi Makinen & his Mitsubishi Evo? In addition to the competitive motorsports, the public won by receiving some amazing cars that we could purchase.

In 2008, Subaru pulled STi out of rallycross due to the global economic crisis. Their success in rally was aided by their innovation & technological advances which did trickle down into their street cars.

STi decided to focus on street cars more & boy have they been successful. The STi has created a subsection of the performance car market; forcing Mitsubishi to bring the Evo to US consumers, as well as showing manufacturers that not everyone wants to drive an SUV & that people still want to drive fun cars!

The STi really helped put Japanese cars on the map in the mid 2000s with their out of the box, bang for the buck performance, their huge aftermarket presence, & the sub-culture they helped create. Everyone won with Subaru’s success.

Three little letters changed how we look at cars. STi.

Sources: | wikipedia | Subaru| @chrisvuono |