Subaru teases hot Forester STI

BASED ON JAPANESE CONCEPT; PRODUCTION VERSION DEBUTS NOV. 25

    Last month, Subaru showed off a Forester STI tS concept at a Super GT race in Japan. At the time, Subaru said the car was built to gauge customer reaction. Now the company has teased the car in darkened pictures, which we hope means the flared, turbocharged, up-rated SUV is coming to a dealer near us sometime soon.

    Subaru will pull the sheets off the Forester STI on Nov. 25.

    We don’t know too much about the new car. From the teaser photos, we can see the redesigned front fascia with large wheel arches, big, STI-branded brakes, a new wheel design and some crazy C-shaped headlights that remind us a little of the new Volvo units.

    Powertrain is also a mystery, but we’re guessing it’ll be something like the 305-hp, turbocharged 2.5-liter boxer engine in theWRX STI. We hope for a six-speed manual, but we’re expecting the company’s CVT.

    This new Forester could be exactly what Subie buyers want: something a little bigger than the WRX, but with the same power and fun (or most of the fun). Also, it could be argued that no adult should be seen driving something with a spoiler more than 3 inches high.

    Subaru has given no indication of whether this will come to the U.S. or Japan or Europe -- we’re hoping for all three. It should be noted that the previous Forester STI, launched in 2004, was Japanese market only. We’ll update when the company gets back to us.

Subaru has given no indication of whether this will come to the U.S. or Japan or Europe