I had a strong suspicion that this would be the case, but Subaru has never had a limited production like the STi before. I knew it was a long shot, but the idea of getting the STi at invoice.... :-)

For reference:

http://www.geosociety.org/members/subaru.htm

along with the other clubs note this. So the downside of this is that it really makes the STi more expensive than the regular WRX since now it is invoice for the WRX vs. MSRP for the STi, so likely over $10k difference. The dealers keep telling me that I can add all the horsepower to the WRX, but they seem baffled by the idea that it isn't the power so much as the suspension, brakes, more rugged transmission, quicker steering ratio, and so on that I want, and that is very expensive to add (and nigh impossible with the transmission and steering ratio). I guess they're all drag racers or something. Since I would like to autocross and don't drag race, "stop" and "turn" are at least as important as "go". The 2.5L engine would also be a huge benefit here as well.

 

samurai is so right.

S202 is limited 400 units.

rumored to be booked out in hours.

people horde them ...

All STi can be viewed as limited productions..

i d be happy just paying MSRP

thats if i can even get in front of that long list..

there is no way Sub will cut bulk buyers a deal..
they dont' need bulk buyers..

you can pretty much consider all units sold..

 

OK, never mind. I do suspect that you guys didn't even read the rest of my article nor the title, which had nothing to do with whether Subaru the worldwide company has ever had a special edition in their history, but whether any limited editions have recently been on the market in the USA from regular Subaru dealers. Bringing up Japanese market special editions is silly.

 

Samurai,

Sorry for the confusion.

I see now -- if you read my first paragraph without the subject or the rest of the paragraphs, it is blatently false (besides the use of STi making no sense). My bad.

Here was my thinking. Two years ago I found out about the Subaru "VIP Partners" program. At the time, the program had no restrictions whatsoever on model -- "any new Subaru vehicle" (in the USA, from an official Subaru dealer, new cars only -- none of the esoteric special-path-import cars desired by the Über-enthusiasts). No huge surprise since there were no particularly interesting models available. Then came the Impreza WRX -- touted as "limited" (wasn't it supposed to be 10,000 the first year, even though they ended up selling almost 20,000?). I really expected the WRX to be excluded. But guess what -- the VIP Partners program still had no restrictions -- any Subaru, which means the WRX is acceptable. For various reasons I kept putting off my car purchase. Then the WRX STi rumours began, and I put off the purchase some more, and they firmed up, and I began to wonder if the VIP Partners program would still have no restrictions with regards to the model. At first no word, then I found the various web pages had been updated.

I thought to myself, perhaps I will share this with other people -- the VIP Partners program now has one model exclusion -- the Impreza WRX STi. That was supposed to be the point of my message.

I still debate the wisdom of calling attention to the program. Obviously dealers would prefer customers not know about it. They do have a 6 month membership restriction, so that keeps the impulse buyers (probably 90% of the American public) from abusing it. But if you're like me and make it an annual tradition to almost buy a car but decide to put it off another year instead...