Did you know that the Japanese name for the Pleiades constellation is Subaru? Subaru's iconic six-star logo is based on Pleiades' six visible stars, the largest one representing the coming together of five smaller companies to form the automaker. And this was reason enough for Subaru to take us on a tour of the Palomar Observatory as part of the press introduction to the 2008 Impreza WRX.
Palomar's franchise player is the Hale Telescope, and the creation of the 200-inch mirror is the most impressive on an amazing list of engineering, manufacturing, and technological feats. After the mirror was made, the optics lab at Caltech spent 11 years carefully polishing away almost 10,000 pounds of glass to create the concave form required. Add an additional two years of finish polishing and aligning on site at Palomar to finally shape the "Big Eye" to the precise form required to see into space. This much refinement was exactly what Hale's Big Eye needed, and Subaru took this same approach as it smoothed out just about every rough edge of the latest WRX.
These smoothed out edges are most apparent in the styling, which has taken a more Euro-spec turn when compared to the outgoing model's J-pop and lock looks-think less Godzilla GT-R and more Main Street Mazda3. Gone is the controversial propellered proboscis, replaced by a more homogenized, innocuous front end. Even the awesomely obnoxious WRX hood scoop we've come to know and love is smaller and less ostentatious on the new model. At least the played out Altezza tails can only be found on the five-door hatchback, while the WRX sedan-exclusive to North America-makes do with traditional red lenses. Visually not much else, save for some aero bits, a rear wing, and exhaust finishers, distinguishes the chart topping WRX from its more pedantic 2.5i cousin, which is a bit of a letdown for label lovers like us.
Another letdown is the motor; shared with the Legacy GT, the Mitsubishi TD04 turbocharged 2.5L flat four spits out 224 ponies worth of game fed through either a new Sportshift four-speed auto or a traditional five-speed manual. Much like cell phones and manga, Subaru saved its best engine for Japan as the JDM version of the WRX-the S-GT comes with a 2.0L turbo flat four turbo good for 250 horsepower.
The new WRX also shares its platform with the Legacy. A new crossmember drops the engine-50 lbs lighter than its predecessor-by 10mm, which is nice when physics come into play. You know, less mass, lower center of gravity, improved handling, all that sort of business. Cornering on the '08 WRX is also aided by the switch from struts to double-wishbones in the rear. An added benefit of the new suspension configuration is the increased cargo capacity. The Subaru Symmetrical AWD is still in place with the addition of Vehicle Dynamics Control (VDC). Better handling is nothing without sharp steering, and Subaru addressed this by plucking the steering gear from the outgoing STI with a quicker 15.0:1 ratio.