After reviewing the WRX earlier this year, we couldn’t wait for the new STI to get a similar upgrade. Subaru did not disappoint. The new STI has all the benefits of the new WRX, but retains that trademark Subaru sound thanks to sticking to the old EJ257 (for better or worse). Could this be the best STI ever? See Ryan’s first impressions in this video.

The new STI pricing starts at $34,495 (same as outgoing model) for the base model as seen in the video. A special Launch Edition is $37,395 (adds STI short-shift, World Rally Blue paint and gold wheels, limited to 1,000 units) and the Limited (leather, nav, etc.) runs $39,293.

Special thanks to Warwick Patterson, Formula Photographic.

Transcript:

We’re here in Monterey California to drive this, the latest from Subaru. It is, of course, the 2015 Subaru WRX STI.

The STI comes standard with 18inch wheels. These guys right here. And they’re wrapped in high-performance Dunlop rubber. One of my favorite features, though, are these headlights. They’re LED.

Under the hood is Subaru’s legendary EJ257. Most of you are probably familiar with it, but for those new to the STI, let’s take a quick look. As the name suggests the EJ257 is a 2.5-liter boxer motor. That means it has horizontally-opposed pistons and is attached to Subaru’s Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive system. It has an intercooler on top and a big turbo right back there.

Essentially, this is a race motor for the road. Rated at 305-horsepower, it only has 37 more than the new WRX, but the STI drivetrain has over a decade of race development – making it safer choice for competition. Thankfully, they didn’t apply this same logic to the interior.

And we get red highlights in the gauges and we also have this new 3.5-in multi-function display, which also of course had the boost gauge.

Now one of my biggest complaints in the WRX that I drove earlier was this little piece of plastic right here. Well, they actually make it look almost like a piece of metal now. This is of course the old school STI gearbox and it is really magnificent but they’ve made it even better than the old one. They’ve improved the linkage so it’s a little bit smoother.

It has Subaru’s DCCD system, which of course let’s me control the center differential. And I can adjust that middle differential by using the diff control here. Auto plus, auto minus or full manual control. And then of course this also has SI-DRIVE. One of the neat things about SI-DRIVE in this car is that if I set it to Sport – the car will forever be in Sport mode. It’s not going to revert back to I. The steering wheel is this really nice, leather-stitched unit. It’s a softer, much more sports car feel than the outgoing model as well. So, pretty much overall, the interior is a signifiant improvement over the older STI.

This base model is priced at 34,495 — the same as last year’s base STI. And, even though the drivetrain is unchanged, the chassis is all new.

It’s nice you can see that big wing in the back. Now the wing isn’t just for looks, it actually provides significant amount of downforce. That helps neutralize lift at high speeds.

So what are the main differences between this and the standard WRX? Well, first off it has the EJ257 motor which puts out 305 hp and 290 ft-lbs of torque.

This STI also has unequal headers, which means it retains the trademark boxer sound. Why not equal-length headers like in the new WRX? According to Subaru engineers, it would be more cost effective to simply increase the WRX’s FA-series motor to 2.5-liters. For now, however, STI drivetrain still serves up an epic dose of boxer rumble.

…and it’s really quite good. (laughing)

So the main emphasis on the new WRX was, of course, handling. So what do they emphasize in this new STI? Well, it’s not the horsepower because it’s the exact same motor as last year’s STI. No, on this one they also focused on handling.

And this is where the value of the STI starts to become more apparent: Under the skin, there are significant changes versus it’s little brother. Everything from a faster steering rack, to specialized suspension.

…unlike the WRX it has as inverted strut design, that improves the unsprung weight over the wheels, which improves handling.

Is that worth the $8,000 premium over the a WRX? If you’re serious about performance. Absolutely.

Now the only way to really test this car isn’t on a public road like here in Carmel. No, we’re going to have to go to some place… a little better.

Even though Subaru retired from the World Rally Championship back in 2008, STI is still burning the midnight oil building competition cars. These days, its primary focus has been on developing a winning WRX STI for the legendary 24-hours of Nurburgring. That, in part, drives what goes into the production model WRX STI.

Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. 2.2-miles of epic asphalt. Here we’ve brought the new STI to see just how well it handles on one of the best road courses in America.

I love this track.

Sorry, no drifting or donuts today. Subaru hooked me up with a few laps in the new STI and I have to use my limited time wisely. That said, it didn’t take long to discover the difference.

I’m turning, I’m turning and then I can turn a little more and it responds. It doesn’t just, laxidasicly, go “oh, I’m going to go straignt.” The understeer had been dialed out.

It was only a few months ago I drove a 2013 STI on the Isle of Man TT course. If only I could have driven this car, Mark Higgins might not have have escaped me quite as easily.

But, wow! The car’s handling is trans- it’s transformed this car into something more than it was before. Before it it was kind of like, it was fun, you could toss it sideways but it wasn’t very precise. You know, the old ones was kind of a close your eyes and spray in the general direction and you’ll come out of it okay – you’ll get your target. This one, it’s like a sniper rifle, just like want that one? Pew! Pew! Pew! Brilliant!