The 2015 WRX and WRX STI made headlines last year and are still going strong. In April 2015 alone, some 2,700 examples were delivered to American customers, so you can just imagine how many there are in Japan. But that leads to an interesting problem: what to do in order to stand out?
There's always the option to use decals and neon lights, but that's so 90's. Instead, why not do something classy and fit a clean aftermarket exhaust system?
Rowen International, a Japanese tuning company, just released a quad exhaust system that fits nicely with the 2015 STI. It's the classiest setup we've seen in ages, since it features Heat Blue finish for the tips, just like you see on some Nissan GT-Rs.
Why would you do this to your car? For starters, weight reduction… bro. You save about 8 kilos (18 lbs) because the system is made entirely from Titanium. There are also performance gains since, at their widest, the pipes are 80mm wide.
The bad news? Well, the Japanese WRX STI uses a different engine. Instead of the 2.5-liter boxer, they get a 2-liter turbo to offer 308 PS (227 kW or 305 hp US) and maximum torque of 422 Nm (311 lb-ft). That's right, it has the same power and slightly more torque than that old 2.5 Subaru decided to carry over in America. The upside is that the exhaust probably works with the basic WRX.
Considering they also make exhausts for supercars, we aren't surprised that the STI will be expensive to re-muffle. The basic Heat Blue exhaust costs 380,000 yen ($3,200), but the version with active valves costs 500,000 yen ($4,200). Considering a full-spec STI Type S costs 4,114,800 yen (about $39,500), that means you cold spend 12% of the car's value just on the exhaust. Ouch!
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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