We chat with three men from STI to find out more about Subaru
15 Jul 2014|25,949 views
Last Friday, Motor Image Malaysia launched their brand new showroom at Petaling Jaya, Malaysia in addition to revealing the Subaru XV STI Performance Edition. At the event, we managed to have a short dialogue with three key people from Subaru Technica International (STI), a prominent brand in the ever expanding JDM culture: Kengo Hori (KH), General Manager of Sales Department (banner, left), Yoshio Hirakawa (YH), President of STI (banner, middle) and Makoto Shibuya, General Manager of Experimental Division (banner, right)
Conceived back in 1988, the STI branding's collaboration with Prodrive in its early years has witnessed much success in the World Rally Championship (WRC), perhaps one of the key defining moments in the Japanese performance brand's long and illustrious history.
Among other aspects, the Subaru and STI partnership is also known for the manufacture of perhaps one of the most famous and sought after performance sedans on this planet - the Subaru WRX STI.
SGCM: Is the STI Performance Edition a bridge between the normal cars and the more powerful STI variants - like in the case of Audi S-Line and RS or BMW M Performance and BMW M?
KH: The STI Performance Edition is a package added to the XV model. The aerodynamic kit fitted to the XV is not just merely for cosmetics but also functionality. In that sense I believe the aero component stuff on the XV is unique in the market.
SGCM: As such, can we expect other models in the Subaru lineup to adopt the STI Performance package?
KH: I hope so. Of course, right now I can't tell you which models will get the Performance package or when, but we do hope to expand the STI Performance package to the other cars too.
SGCM: When Subaru established the STI brand 26 years ago, in 1988, did you expect it to be such a huge success around the world?
KH: Subaru was, at that time, known as the car company with a focus on motorsports. Back then, when the new Legacy was launched to the market, Subaru needed a 'face' to promote its motorsport capabilities, transferred to road use.
One of the publicity events Subaru did then, was a 100,000km challenge in 1989, on a circuit in Arizona, U.S.A. It was STI's first project and a big challenge for Subaru as the firm had never done such an endurance event, but it was a good opportunity to show the potential of the Legacy.
SGCM: What is the reason behind a 'soft aero upgrade' for the XV STI Performance Edition and not a 'full' STI treatment like in the case of the WRX STI?
KH: We haven't done the full study yet, but there seems to be some regulations we have to clear, especially when raising power output, which affects emissions output as well.
SGCM: Is there a reason why Subaru mainly uses Boxer engines besides the known benefits like better centre of gravity and small packaging and what was the source of inspiration?
KH: Way back when the engineers were looking at engine designs, they were looking at airplane engines. And airplane engines are star like in shape and if you cut it into half, you get your flat engines.
The company preceding Subaru was involved in the aviation industry and that probably affected and inspired the engineers at the time. Subaru decided to keep the legacy from its past. I believe that was the reason why Subaru has stuck to Boxer or flat engines.
SGCM: Is there a reason why Subaru hasn't made a supercar in the likes of the GT-R or NSX?
KH: Well, we can't answer for Subaru, but I believe if anything, STI has the capability of working on such a high-performance project. I am not saying firmly we will, but there may be a possibility that STI will work on a high-performance car. Well, since 1998 we have been providing the high-powered S Series performance engines. If we could expand the business that would be great!
Last Friday, Motor Image Malaysia launched their brand new showroom at Petaling Jaya, Malaysia in addition to revealing the Subaru XV STI Performance Edition. At the event, we managed to have a short dialogue with three key people from Subaru Technica International (STI), a prominent brand in the ever expanding JDM culture: Kengo Hori (KH), General Manager of Sales Department (banner, left), Yoshio Hirakawa (YH), President of STI (banner, middle) and Makoto Shibuya, General Manager of Experimental Division (banner, right)
Conceived back in 1988, the STI branding's collaboration with Prodrive in its early years has witnessed much success in the World Rally Championship (WRC), perhaps one of the key defining moments in the Japanese performance brand's long and illustrious history.
Among other aspects, the Subaru and STI partnership is also known for the manufacture of perhaps one of the most famous and sought after performance sedans on this planet - the Subaru WRX STI.
SGCM: Is the STI Performance Edition a bridge between the normal cars and the more powerful STI variants - like in the case of Audi S-Line and RS or BMW M Performance and BMW M?
KH: The STI Performance Edition is a package added to the XV model. The aerodynamic kit fitted to the XV is not just merely for cosmetics but also functionality. In that sense I believe the aero component stuff on the XV is unique in the market.
SGCM: As such, can we expect other models in the Subaru lineup to adopt the STI Performance package?
KH: I hope so. Of course, right now I can't tell you which models will get the Performance package or when, but we do hope to expand the STI Performance package to the other cars too.
SGCM: When Subaru established the STI brand 26 years ago, in 1988, did you expect it to be such a huge success around the world?
KH: Subaru was, at that time, known as the car company with a focus on motorsports. Back then, when the new Legacy was launched to the market, Subaru needed a 'face' to promote its motorsport capabilities, transferred to road use.
One of the publicity events Subaru did then, was a 100,000km challenge in 1989, on a circuit in Arizona, U.S.A. It was STI's first project and a big challenge for Subaru as the firm had never done such an endurance event, but it was a good opportunity to show the potential of the Legacy.
SGCM: What is the reason behind a 'soft aero upgrade' for the XV STI Performance Edition and not a 'full' STI treatment like in the case of the WRX STI?
KH: We haven't done the full study yet, but there seems to be some regulations we have to clear, especially when raising power output, which affects emissions output as well.
SGCM: Is there a reason why Subaru mainly uses Boxer engines besides the known benefits like better centre of gravity and small packaging and what was the source of inspiration?
KH: Way back when the engineers were looking at engine designs, they were looking at airplane engines. And airplane engines are star like in shape and if you cut it into half, you get your flat engines.
The company preceding Subaru was involved in the aviation industry and that probably affected and inspired the engineers at the time. Subaru decided to keep the legacy from its past. I believe that was the reason why Subaru has stuck to Boxer or flat engines.
SGCM: Is there a reason why Subaru hasn't made a supercar in the likes of the GT-R or NSX?
KH: Well, we can't answer for Subaru, but I believe if anything, STI has the capability of working on such a high-performance project. I am not saying firmly we will, but there may be a possibility that STI will work on a high-performance car. Well, since 1998 we have been providing the high-powered S Series performance engines. If we could expand the business that would be great!
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