Subaru will only make 400 copies of this WRX STI S207, and you can’t have one

By Stephen Edelstein Published October 29, 2015

Subaru used the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show to launch a limited-edition version of its WRX STI, which will only be offered in Japan. Just 400 examples of the Subaru WRX STI S207 will be sold in the company’s home market, and buyers will likely be clamoring for one.

The S207 gets a number of performance and styling tweaks, starting with the 2.0-liter turbocharged boxer-four engine. It gets tuned to produce 323 horsepower and 317 pound-feet of torque, compared to the 305 horsepower and 290 pound-feet of torque of U.S.-spec WRX STI models. As always, that power is fed to the pavement through a six-speed manual transmission and all-wheel drive.

There are plenty of chassis tweaks as well, including a faster steering ratio, flexible tower bar, adjustable dampers, and a brake-based torque-vectoring system, which helps turn the car into corners by shunting torque side to side. The S207 rides on special 19-inch BBS forged aluminum wheels, and boasts upgraded Brembo brakes and a sport exhaust system.

Visual changes include a new grille and larger front spoiler, different rocker moldings, and a new rear bumper with some boy racer-isn air outlets. On the inside, the S207 is distinguished by STI-spec Recaro front bucket seats and customized instruments. All seats are trimmed in black leather with silver stitching, and the obligatory S207 callouts are sprinkled throughout the interior as well.

As if a 400-unit production run wasn’t exclusive enough, Subaru will offer an even more limited run of 200 cars with what it calls the NBR Challenge Package. Its main upgrades include a big carbon-fiber rear wing and a plaque commemorating Subaru’s SP3T class win at this year’s Nürburgring 24-hour endurance race. On top of that, Subaru will also offer 100 cars in the eye-catching Sunrise Yellow pictured above. The standard colors include Crystal Black, Crystal White Pearl, and Subaru’s traditional WR Blue Pearl.

While S207 won’t be offered in the U.S., Subaru does plan to offer more performance models here in the future. It wants to expand the footprint of its STI performance brand by offering more models, although they’ll likely be along the lines of the mildly tuned tS series already offered in Japan.

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Stephen Edelstein

Contributing Editor

Stephen is a freelance automotive journalist covering all things cars. He likes anything with four wheels, from classic cars…

Cars

Audi halts vehicle deliveries to the U.S. as it mulls impact of tariffs

2021 Audi Q5

If you’d been thinking of buying an Audi, now might be the time. The German brand, owned by the Volkswagen Group, has announced it would halt shipments to the U.S. in the wake of President Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on all imported vehicles.
Audi is currently holding cars that arrived after the tariffs took effect, on April 3, in U.S. ports. But it still has around 37,000 vehicles in its U.S. inventory, which should be able to meet demand for about two months, according to Reuters.
Automakers on average hold enough cars to meet U.S. demand for about three months, according to Cox Automotive.
Audi should be particularly affected by the tariffs: The Q5, its best-selling model in the U.S., is produced in Mexico, while other models, such as the A3, A4, and A6 are produced in Germany.
Holding shipments is obviously a temporary measure to buy time for Audi and parent company Volkswagen. If tariffs stay in place, vehicle prices would likely have to go up accordingly, unless some production is shifted to the U.S. Volkswagen already has a plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and is planning a new plant in South Carolina. That latter plant, however, isn’t expected to be operational until 2027 and is currently dedicated to building electric vehicles for VW’s Scout Motors brand.
Other global automakers have also taken drastic measures in response to Trump’s tariffs. Jaguar Land Rover on April 5 said it is pausing shipments of its its UK-made cars to the United States this month. The British sports-luxury vehicle maker noted that the U.S. market accounts for nearly a quarter of its global sales, led by the likes of Range Rover Sports, Defenders, and Jaguar F-PACE.
And on April 3, Nissan, the biggest Japanese vehicle exporter to the United States, announced it will stop taking new U.S. orders for two Mexican-built Infiniti SUVs, the QX50 and QX55.

Cars

Waymo faces questions about its use of onboard cameras for AI training, ads targeting

Two people exit a Waymo taxi.

In an iconic scene from the 2002 sci-fi film Minority Report, on-the-run Agent John Anderton, played by Tom Cruise, struggles to walk through a mall as he’s targeted by a multitude of personalized ads from the likes of Lexus, Guinness and American Express, everytime hidden detectors identify his eyes.
It was clearly meant as a warning about a not-so-desirable dystopian future.
Yet, 23 years later that future is at least partlially here in the online world and threatens to spread to other areas of daily life which are increasingly ‘connected’, such as the inside of cars. And the new testing grounds, according to online security researcher Jane Manchun Wong, might very well be automated-driving vehicles, such as Waymo’s robotaxis.
On X, Wong unveiled an unreleased version of Waymo’s privacy policy that suggests the California-based company is preparing to use data from its robotaxis, including interior cameras, to train generative AI models and to offer targetted ads.
“Waymo may share data to improve and analyze its functionality and to tailor products, services, ads, and offers to your interests,” the Waymo’s unreleased privacy statement reads. “You can opt out of sharing your information with third parties, unless it’s necessary to the functioning of the service.”
Asked for comments about the unreleased app update, Waymo told The Verge that it contained “placeholder text that doesn’t accurately reflect the feature’s purpose”.
Waymo’s AI-models “are not designed to use this data to identify individual people, and there are no plans to use this data for targeted ads,” spokesperson Julia Ilina said.
Waymo’s robotaxis, which are operating on the streets of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Austin, do contain onboard cameras that monitor riders. But Ilina says these are mainly used to train AI models for safety, finding lost items, check that in-car rules are followed, and to improve the service.
The new feature is still under development and offers riders an opportunity to opt out of data collection, Ilina says.
But as we all get used to ads targeting based on everything that’s somehow connected to the web, it seems a once-distant vision of the future may be just around the corner.

Cars

Waymo’s driverless cars are about to begin an overseas adventure

Waymo Jaguar I-Pace

Waymo’s autonomous cars are about to appear on streets outside of the U.S. for the first time.

The company on Wednesday announced on social media that its autonomous cars will be driving onto the streets of Tokyo, Japan, “soon,” with some reports suggesting the rollout will begin as early as next week.