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The Story of S209 From Japan with Love
February 05, 2020
For a long time, any Subaru fan or Subaru owner in the US knew the WRX and the STI mainly as the highest performance models that we could not get. That didn't stop a number of people from importing an engine, drivetrain, etc., out of a WRX or STI so that they could build their own.
That was the first indicator of how much demand there was in the US market for these high performance cars built by Subaru.
And early on, you have to remember that the name-plates on an STI read a little differently than they do now. At first, they said WRX tuned by STI. The reason for that is that STI stands for Subaru Technica International, which is actually a completely different company that is owned by Subaru, but specializes in building performance into Subaru models. On the first models, STI was actually involved in modifying the standard WRX to a higher performance level that made them worthy of wearing the STI badge.
When the WRX first came to the US as a 2002 model, it received rave reviews, and that laid the foundation for the STI to finally be made available to us in 2004. From that point on, the STI was the highest model available here in the US, and it became the measure for the level of performance that Subaru could build into a car.
By this point, the WRX STI was coming off of the same assembly line that the WRX was. And even though it was built using differently spec'd parts, the connection with Subaru Technica International was not entirely the same as it was when the first WRX was tuned by STI.
But starting in 2000, the special "S" models came around to follow the success of the 22b STI. For these cars, STI started with a standard STI, but they once again would completely re-work the car to their specification to extract even more performance from the car. Because of the added performance, better parts, and the small production of these "S" models, they once again became something that enthusiasts here in the US wanted, but that we could not get.
But all of that has changed. For the first time, the S209 is an "S" model developed and tuned by Subaru Technica International, and it is only available in the US market. What is also new is that Subaru documented the process of developing and building the S209, and all that went into making this car available for sale in the US.
If you are reading this, you need to watch these two videos. It shows so much of what STI is about, and what Subaru was willing to do to make the S209 a reality. It is truly an impressive piece of design and engineering, and it is a perfect example of why so many people here are proud to drive a Subaru.
- Jon Cooley