Subaru Impreza P1 Coupe Owners Celebrate 10th Anniversary

The first and only Subaru road car to bear the Prodrive name, the Impreza P1 coupe, is ten this year. To commemorate the event, 100 owners of the Impreza P1 made their way to Prodrive's headquarters at Banbury on Sunday 9 May. They were joined by some 300 owners of various Subaru Imprezas and more than 1,000 fans of the brand.

Considered by many as one of the most sought after limited edition Imprezas, the P1 was developed as a joint venture between Subaru UK, the Japanese firm's STI division and Prodrive, which was responsible for the automaker's WRC cars.

Based on the Japanese market Impreza Coupe, the P1 had significant enhancements engineered by Prodrive to the suspension, drivetrain, trim and aerodynamics.

It was powered by a modified version of the Impreza Turbo's boxer engine producing 280 horsepower and 363Nm of peak torque, compared to 218HP and 290Nm of the standard version

It came with Subaru's all-wheel drive system featuring a centre differential with viscous coupling while it also shared the Turbo's limited-slip rear differential.

British designer, Peter Stevens who was responsible for the McLaren F1 and Subaru WRC car developed a special front spoiler extension together with a new design of rear spoiler following extensive wind tunnel tests to reduce lift and improve balance.

The two-door car was unveiled by England's only World Rally Champion, the late Richard Burns, at the UK motorshow in 1999, and went on sale in 2000. At launch, Subaru and Prodrive planned a 500 car production run, but due to high demand a total of 1,000 examples were produced, all in the same unique blue color.

Subaru to Launch New Impreza WRX STI Sedan and Impreza XV in Japan

Following on from the world premiere of the four-door sedan version of the 2011 Impreza WRX STI at the New York Auto Show in April and the Impreza XV crossover at the Geneva Motor Show in March, Subaru has confirmed that both cars will be offered in Japan with sales set to begin this June.

The Japanese automaker did not release any more details on the JDM-spec Imprezas, but we suspect that the WRX STI sedan will get the same 2.0-liter turbocharged boxer engine as the Japanese-market five-door hatchback model, while the XV appears to have no visible differences with the Euro-spec version.

Subaru Cosworth Impreza STI CS400: Official Photos of 400HP-Strong Limited Edition

The first official photos [high-res] of the hotly anticipated Cosworth edition of the Subaru Impreza WRX STI hatchback are out in the open. Set to go on sale in this June in the UK only and in a limited-run of just 75 units, the Cosworth Impreza STI CS400 promises to bring supercar-like performance figures to the hot hatch segment.

Starting with the Impreza STI's 2.5-liter boxer unit, Cosworth's engineers installed new high-performance pistons, connecting rods, head gasket and bearings. The tune-up also includes a remapped ECU, modified turbocharger and wastegate, and a custom exhaust system.

The result is an impressive output of 400PS (395bhp) at 5,750rpm, sufficient to dispatch the Cosworth Impreza STI CS400 from zero to 62mph (100km/h) in a mere 3.7 seconds. In comparison, the standard 300PS (296bhp) Impreza WRX STI completes the 0-62mph sprint in 5.2 seconds.

Subaru reports that the Cosworth Impreza STI CS400 also gets a revamped suspension with new coil springs and a 10mm lower ride-height as well as a bespoke brake package with six-pot callipers and 355mm discs at the front that was developed in partnership with AP Racing.

In the styling department, the changes are extremely subtle consisting of a redesigned front bumper with an integrated lower spoiler and a mesh grille, Cosworth logos, a different rear spoiler and specific 18-inch alloy wheels.

Finally, the limited edition Impreza STI CS400 gets a pair of Recaro bucket seats, glossy black dashboard trim and Cosworth badges.

SPIED: 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX STI Spec C Sedan Scooped at the 'Ring

The new 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX STI sedan was officially revealed at the New York Auto Show earlier this month, but our spy photographers have captured the Japanese maker's big-winged saloon testing at the Nurburgring.

At a first glance, it appears that the car is nothing more than the European specification version of the high-performance sedan.

However, a closer look reveals small but important differences clearly suggesting that the STI seen here may very well be a prototype for a limited edition Spec C model.

These include the blacked out alloy wheels, gold colored brake calipers (quite possibly "brembo"), fog lamp covers and the front lip spoiler, all of which were not shown on the New York Show car but are standout features on the JDM Impreza STI Spec C hatchback (see here).

If Subaru follows the same recipe with the five-door Spec C, then the sedan variant should also boast other performance upgrades including a tweaked engine with a recalibrated ECU, revised suspension and steering systems, beefier tires and a different limited slip differential along with a lightweight aluminum hood, laminar window glasses and a downsized battery.

Subaru Impreza WRX STI Spec C Homologated for FIA Group N

Subaru may have pulled the plug on its World Rally Championship team run by Prodrive at the end of 2008, but the Japanese carmaker is trying to keep a connection with the sport.

Today, the automaker announced that its Japanese market Impreza WRX STI spec C successfully completed the vehicle homologation process and received the official Group N Homologation certificate from FIA.

As a Group N vehicle and in contrast to the Group A all-out competition production-derived cars, the Impreza WRX STI spec C features limited modifications compared to the standard specification model that include enhanced engine and chassis performance as well as a lighter body.

The WRX STI spec C Group N will have its racing debut at the Rallye Deutschland of Production World Rally Championship that takes place in Germany on August 22.

*The car shown in the pictures is the road-going version of the JDM Subaru Impreza WRX STI spec C