[shagwit]

My dealer mailed me and told me that he is going to a sales and marketing meeting on the 29th April where he will be told price and timescale for the STi!! Will pass on more when I know..

 

[quickdraw]

That sounds pretty promising, especially since it sounds like there may be an announcement to the public at the Rim of the World Rally May 3-4. It would make since they let the dealers know a few days before that. My fingers are crossed! :smile:

 

[danc]

shagwit, what part of the country are you in? I'm curious since it's probably a regional meeting.

 

[shagwit]

Calgary.

 

[danc]

Oops. Guess I should have asked what part of North America do you live in. :smile:

 

[shagwit]

Calgary Canada

 

[danc]

No, I know it's in Canada. But my first question assumed you lived in the U.S., which you don't.

 

[pizzamangood]

Oh man, i can't wait! that car is gonna be so freakin awsome

 

[erict]

This is great news-- that is the first I have heard of a Canadian dealer acknowledging that it may be coming-- here in Toronto all the dealers seem to be in denial...

FWIW, I guess that they will announce the car is coming at the ROTW rally, and we will be able to order it in the fall, for delivery in January. I also would guess that they could release it now, but they are waiting until the rest of the world gets the facelifted version so that they can release the new look worldwide-- I can't see them manufacturing 2 different versions for a long time, and I also can't see them selling a potentially better looking version overseas and loosing market share in North America as people wait for the new look they are bound to discover in the news.

Eric

 

[jesse370]

I would be very suprised if SOA held off until the facelift of the impreza chassis. There have been times I can think of that companes have cars that look different from one country to another. I believe the escort was one. IF SOA would announce the car at the rim of the world I can see them showing up in the summer if they were smart. what better way to stay on top than having there top dog allready here when the evo hits.

 

[erict]

That's a good point-- and we are usually a little behind here in getting new models. However, I was thinking more in terms of production-- I think all the various Impreza models are produced at the same place, but doesn't Ford produce it's european models over there? I thought it might be too expensive to have an assembly line tooled for 2 different body styles.

Anyway, it will be interesting to see what they decide to do. Personally I like the current style, and I would be more than happy to get an STi version of it; however, if I knew that in the short term there would be a facelift (and it seems like this will happen), I would be tempted to wait a little longer to see what they do with it.

Eric

 

[jesse370]

Everyone has speculated that the facelift won't hit the us shores until 04 and I can see that. If they wait that long the sti will be lost in a sea of turbo cars. Think the rx8 and Z car will be NA forever? I'm truly hoping that the rumors are true and the sti will be released at the rim of the world. It makes sense with everything that is going to be there. Imagine petter driving the sti out to the people.

 

[tisbe]

Peter should be in a pretty good mood when he drives out that STi, judging from his performance in the Cyprus rally. He lost like 4+ minutes in the first day due to mechanical problems. But over the next two days he fought all the way back to end up in 5th place. Quite an amazing performance.

(And to think, I never even heard of rally until we picked up Speedvision last year...)

BTW Subaru, by picking up 3rd (Makinnen) and 5th place, moved into a tie with Ford for 2nd in the overall manufacturers points race - still way behind the leader Peugeot.

 

[shagwit]

It is a shame that the WRC does not have a rally in Canada/USA. I went to a couple in Europe (say McRae win in the UK a few years back) and they are a great event.

 

[TiTaNiuM sAMuRai]

I'd like to know what is meant by 'regional'. Why would our Canadian dealers -- half of whom only recently found out what 'STi' means -- be told before the yankees?

As for rallying, I don't think that you could pry enough people away from all the professional sports and races, aggravating the fact that the population here is WAY more spread out than the people in Europe. We do have NA rallies, but look at how few people watch...

I think I'll just go overseas instead.

 

[erict]

True, and there is too much emphasis on Nascar racing here-- you would think that people would find rally racing more interesting than watching cars turn left for three hours... :smile:

Eric

 

[White97SVT]

I watch Rally all the time. But its not as popular in the United States as everywhere else in the world. Over here i think people like the circle and Le-Mans style racing over here.
I don't mind NASCAR, i actually like it i love going to the races and i go to the Rolex 24hr every year in daytona. But i have never had a chance to hit a Rally

 

[alfredob1]

Rallying and F1 for me.

 

[BuDDyLeE]

in texas its all about NASCAR.... too many F'in hicks. im all about rallying but NO ONE in texas besides cobb does it, and they are moving in may to Salt Lake City.

but i heard of the thing called the GunterRing Motorsport Country club that is in the process of determining its value/impact to the locale. an auto country club imagine that.... High Society here i come baby.

 

[Set18]

Ive got a dealer in Joplin Missouri that is going to a meeting in early May. Says he should find out release date price and other tasty details. If he gives me any useful info ill relay it to you guys.