WRX STI

The VAB WRX STI

The VAB, on sale in Japan from 25 August 2014, was the first STI to drop the Impreza name, and it came only as a four-door saloon. It kept the 2.0-litre EJ20 with a twin-scroll turbo at 308 PS and 422 Nm, a six-speed manual and a multi-mode DCCD, and it was the last car Subaru built with the EJ20.

The June 2017 update was the big change: a new electronically controlled multi-mode DCCD, new Brembo brakes, new 19-inch wheels, steering-linked headlights and a revised exterior and interior. STI's S207 (2015, 400 cars, 328 PS) and S208 (2017, 450 cars) are the rarest versions. Orders for the regular car closed on 23 December 2019, and the 555 EJ20 Final Editions, with balanced engines, drew about 13,000 applications.

What VAB owners upgrade

Brakes come first on the VAB: brake upgrade kits and pads, with Endless and Project Mu among the makers. Then the EJ20: manifolds, sports catalytic converters and full systems from the exhaust range, turbo kits and blow-off valves, intake piping, and larger radiators to keep temperatures in check. HKS, Tomei, Blitz and GReddy are among the names owners choose.

ChargeSpeed aero kits and STI's own emblems and exterior parts set the look, and replacement alternators from Advance Alternator are a regular order too.

Genuine parts

The June 2017 update changed the brakes, wheels and centre differential control, so brake and DCCD parts depend on which side of it a car was built. The EJ20's timing belt is due every 100,000 km under Subaru's schedule, sooner under severe use, and pads, discs and filters are the regular service items on a car driven as these often are. All are in our genuine Subaru parts catalogue.

Wheels

The VAB has five studs on a 114.3 mm PCD with M12 x 1.25 nuts. It came on 18x8.5 +55 wheels, and the 19-inch wheels of the June 2017 update are 19x8.5 +55. Other sizes are listed under wheels that fit the VAB.