Auto: STI recalls Pearl Anniversary; 30 Years of performance tuning

Subaru Tecnica International (STI), the motorsports division of the Japanese car

maker has been one of the most successful since being introduced in 1988, scoring 47 WRC wins along with three World Rally Championships, four class wins in the Nurburgring 24 Hours and a lap record at the same track for sedans in 2017.

The competition-proven engineering has been always present in high-performance Subarus, with the latest, limited production 2018 WRX STI Type RA celebrating the record attempts of the specially prepared WRX STI Type RA NBR at the Nurburgring and the Isle Of Man TT.

The 2018 Subaru WRX STI Type RA is limited to 500 units and offers more power, a carbon fiber roof, Bilstein STI Sport Suspension and a modified Multi-Mode Vehicle Dynamics Control (VDC) system.

Subaru also currently offers the limited-run BRZ tS which is tuned by STI and features aerodynamic enhancements, a tuned suspension and 18-inch wheels with stickier tires.

Perhaps the most famous STI road car of all is the 1998 Impreza 22B STI (above left), which was built for Japan only. Subaru made just 400 22Bs, all of them finished in Sonic Blue Mica with gold BBS forged alloys. Power comes from a turbocharged 2.2-liter flat-four engine with a conservative rating of 280hp.

In 2004, Subaru introduced the WRX STI in America, featuring a 300hp engine paired to a six-speed manual transmission and the company’s DCCD all-wheel drive system.