charchar, didn't get a chance to meet you...I met Alfredob1 and ScoobyDo there! Yep it was awesome, I was surprised they had buffet brunch tables for us, as if it was a big awards ceremony!
No new specs, they just reiterated what we already knew. Some of the guys seemed to know even less than us! I fielded some of the questions on the "Questions for SOA reps" to them and didn't get many answers. Brad, an SOA rep, mentioned the history of the North American Impreza that began a few years ago with the introduction of the 2.5 RS and has culminated with the STi. And they weren't stopping either...A turbo Forrester is coming in August (correct me if I'm wrong, anyone who was there) and it would be called the XT.
In addition to the STi, ESX and Prodrive were there with their modified WRX's. Prodrive did not currently have a kit for the STi (cmon now, it just arrived here!) but as soon as they got to check out the ECU they would have something. ESX had some nice rides there too...
One thing I didn't like is that there is no trunk pass-through. Supposedly that's a feature that adds weight too, and there were further hints that the STi's weight would be close to the WRX's. Mark Lovell only knew the weight in kilos of the WRC car: 1200...which computes to roughly 2645 lbs. Of course it only has 2 seats...Brad mentioned that the audio system was left out to bring the car under the gas guzzler status, so that gives you some idea of how much the car will weigh. Other than that, all of our questions remain unanswered.
The rear passenger windows were thinner, but the front passenger and driver windows appeared to be of the same thickness as the WRX's.
The headlights had an adjustable tilt feature, I think Alfredob1 got some video of that. They even turned on the car for us and revved it a few times in the museum! At the very end of the show, we were treated to seeing the STi drive out of the museum, and got a taste of its speed!
I will be uploading my pics so please check back for updates
