Now be honest; if you were a kid, wouldn’t you go crazy over a toy like Takara’s 2003 Subaru Impreza Rally Team WRC Transformer? Heck, we like it so much that we’d buy one now that we’re in an age to have kids ourselves! Released in 2003 as one of Takara’s first Binaltech Transformers figures, the Impreza WRC was used for the Autobot character Smokescreen. The 1:24 scale die-cast model looks pretty realistic as it features working doors, trunk and hood even a normal interior!

Like it or not, the 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI pictured above is one of the cars that will star alongside Vin Diesel (yes, he’s returning) in the fourth incarnation of “The Fast and the Furious” film that is scheduled to hit cinema screens in June 2009. The modified Subie features a two-tone color job complemented with red stripes and black alloys along with a full bodykit. The FNF4 Impreza WRX STI was spotted by Flickr member Chad at a Motor Press Guild meeting in Los Angeles, CA earlier this month.

Today, Subaru announced U.S. pricing on its revised 2009 Impreza line up that includes the more powerful WRX that gets a 41 HP bump, now delivering 265 HP and the newly introduced 224 HP 2.5 GT model. The Impreza WRX sedan has a starting price of $24,995 (from $24,350 for the outgoing 224 HP MY’08 WRX) while the hatchback is priced at $25,495 (from $24,850).

An estimated 1,100 Subaru car owners and thousands more fans honoured the late Colin McRae this weekend with a convoy that stretched more than 30 miles. The Subaru owners left the Rally Champion’s home town of Lanark on Saturday morning. The convoy which was led by Colin’s father Jimmy McRae, drove for nine hours covering a distance of 300 miles to arrive at Prodrive’s headquarters in Banbury on Sunday morning.

At next month’s Paris Show, Subaru will unveil the first-ever diesel-powered versions of the Impreza and Forester models. The Japanese automaker has very high hopes for the Forester 2.0D as it expects it to account for a massive 80 percent of sales and eventually turn the SUV into the company’s best-selling model in Europe. First introduced in the Legacy and Outback in the beginning of the year, the 2.0 litre, four-cylinder horizontally-opposed Boxer Diesel engine delivers in the Forester 147 PS at 3,600 rpm and 258 lb-ft of torque at 1,800 rpm.

As you may have already guessed by know, Subaru is celebrating the Impreza WRX STI’s 20th birthday with the launch of a special edition model that will be available only in Japan with production limited to 300 units. The Impreza WRX STI 20th Anniversary gets a sportier suspension setup with new coilover dampers while exterior upgrades include the addition of a flat black front lip spoiler and rear wing as well as special decals and 18-inch alloy wheels as standard.

Another day, another special edition model from Subaru. This time the Japanese firm turned its attention on the Legacy sedan (2.0 GT and 2.5i) and Legacy Outback (2.5i and 2.5XT) that are offered in Japan in a new limited production version called “Premium”. Despite the snazzy name, there’s not much going on here other than the addition of newly designed alloy wheels, a two-tone leather interior with contrasting stitching on the seats and aluminum trimming. The Legacy Premium Edition models will be offered exclusively in Japan.

Just as we we’re starting to worry about the lack of any official Subaru proposals for the SEMA show the Japanese automaker revealed the Forester XTI Concept. Designed and built by the folks at Subaru of America, the concept features the engine and entire drivetrain from the Impreza WRX STI. Thanks to the addition of a custom stainless steel cat-back exhaust system, the 2.5-liter intercooled turbo engine develops an output of 315HP (+10HP) and 300 lb.-ft. of torque (from 290 lb.-ft. stock). With this engine, Subaru claims that the Forester XTI Concept can hit the 0 to 60mph (96km/h) mark in under 5,0 seconds - not bad at all for a crossover.

Along with the STI-prepped Forester XTI Concept that sports a modified 2.5-liter turbocharged boxer engine from the ’09 Impreza WRX STI, Subaru will also display a second concept version of its crossover model at SEMA called the “Mountain Rescue Forester”. Built in cooperation with Detroit-based Specialized Vehicles for the National Ski Patrol (NSP), the concept is based on the ‘09 Forester 2.5XT. The all-wheel-drive crossover has been modified to cope with rescues in difficult terrain and weather conditions delivering more than 14 in. of ground clearance (stock Forester: 8.9in.) through an Air Lift custom adjustable ride height air suspension system.

If it looks like a Toyota bB and a Daihatsu COO (marketed as the Materia in Europe) that is because the new Subaru Dex is in fact the same vehicle. Sure Subie’s designers slapped on a Tribeca-sized grille and a couple of logos here and there, but other than that, there’s nothing ‘Subaru’ about the Dex. We never liked badge-engineering and seeing the Dex it’s not hard to understand why.