We’ve seen the pictures of the disguised test mule at the Nurburgring a couple of times now but these are the first undisguised on-road pictures of the new 2008 Impreza WRX STi (taken in Japan) that we’ve come across.

Unfortunately, the car pictured is white which makes it harder to distinguish some of the lines but you can see the pumped guards, especially at the front that give away the cars identity even though the badges on the tailgate have been taped over.

Their appears to be a hint of the hoped for quad exhaust pipes, if you squint and look at the pictures long enough which would indicate the rendering of the STi we showed you last week could be close to the mark - although the pumped guards (borrowed from the WRC Concept) appear to have been toned down a little. Maybe white is not the new STi’s best colour but not even the sexy charcoal alloy wheels make this car look terribly ‘dangerous’.

Due to be unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show next month there is still speculation as to the exact engine that it will be running with some Japanese magazines claiming it will be a 2.0-litre turbo-charged boxer engine while others speculate that it will run a 2.5-litre turbo-charged boxer. Our best guess is that Australia and some other markets will see the 2.5-litre while the 2.0-litre will be standard fitment in the Japanese domestic market cars.

Steane

[Source: Straightline via Carscoop]