Fast and Furious - Subaru WRX STI

March 2015 was THE MONTH when it is all about the Fast and Furious franchise, which lasted for 14 long years. This latest installment was already much anticipated by fans but with one of its main character's actor's recent demise, even the non-fans rushed to the cinemas to catch the latest movie, Fast and Furious 7. I was one of the earliest who watched on the first day it was released in Malaysia. Despite what critics said, I thought it was a great movie with everything from action, cars, family values and story closure. This article may contain spoilers. At first I was waiting for the part where they were going to kill Paul's character off and kept guessing when it was going to happen. Luckily, they changed their decision and made him retire instead. Of course some cried when they were watching the ending, which is a tribute to Paul Walker and it showed clips of each of the Fast and Furious movies which brought back memories for every audience. I immediately downloaded all 6 other movies of the franchise and decided to make a TOP 3 list of JDMs that appeared in the all movies. However, the list does not include many cars that appear as background cars in the first 3 movies in the series.

First up, we have the Subaru WRX STI. It is a model that made its debut quite late in the series but maintain appearance in every movie onwards. It made its first appearance in Fast and Furious (2009). Brian O'Conner was driving his iconic Nissan Skyline GT-R R34 through the desert but was later blown up by Dominic Toretto. After that, Brian told him Dom owes him a 10 second car, he smashed the WRX STI's window, gave him the keys and told him they are now even. After a great action scene, the WRX STI was filled with bullet hole and later smashed.

Before all the holes and beating it took.

That is how you buy a WRX STI

Rally Gene Shining

Next, it appeared in Fast 5 (2011) in its Face-lift, sedan form. It was one of the few cars that the team collected and tested in their hideout to slip through the many high speed cameras installed exactly like how it would be in the police station. I think Han thought the WRX STI could beat the camera (I certainly agree to this) but even with him driving, it was not enough. Even though it was only 20 seconds of footage but clearly it is worth the mention. Especially with Han stating that if this (WRX STI) could not get pass the camera, they are going to need invisible cars.

Han: The only way is to get invisible cars.

Talking about short appearance, who could forget the appearance of the WRX STI for 2 seconds in Furious 6 (2013). Dom was in London seeking out Letty and we were shown the racing scene in London. Out come 2 cars that were sideways on 2 wheels and one of them is a hatchback WRX STI. As if you can't tell it is a WRX STI, it even have a STI decal right on the hood. There some other more expensive cars but only JDMs count in this list.

Must be bad for tires

From this point onwards, there might be spoilers. You have been warned.
Last but not least, the WRX STI is one of the main stars (to me) in the latest, Furious 7 (2015) and it is driven by our Brian O'Connor. Clearly if you have watched the trailer before the movie was released, you already know that the WRX STI will be drop off a plane and what will happen to it. It is one of the most difficult sequence to shoot and timing was crucial to land on the ground via parachute. Then, we see a lot of action with the WRX STI and it was the end for it when Brian jumped into the bad guy's trailer. What a waste when I saw it crashed and they certainly could have donated it to me instead (wishful thinking).

Is it me or bullet holes goes well with the WRX STI ?

Drop Time

In action

STI Surfing !!

You'll be missed !!

Here I will reveal a surprise that many of you fans might have missed or maybe you saw it just like I did. Before the "dropping cars from a plane scene", we see the team reunite in an army-like base and were discussing their plans to infiltrate and stop the enemy. There was a sedan WRX STI parked in the base with almost the same color as the hatchback that was used in the drop. It was weird that they had a sedan but used a hatchback instead. I was happy though because I prefer the sedan version and do not want to see it get wrecked.

Also, since this is a Subaru article, I want to mention that there was a surprise Subaru that many might missed out or have forgotten about. In Furious 6, there was a blue Subaru BRZ in the background. In the beginning when Dom pays Brian and Mia a visit, you could see a BRZ when Dom's Dodge Challenger SRT8 drives in. However, a better shot of it would be when Shaw's men were after Mia and Elena. Does this ring a bell to all of you ?

The best shot

Remember to come back for the next JDM on the list: Toyota Supra MkIV.

Reunion

On the day of the Hyundai Veloster Turbo test drive, some Celicas joined in on the occasion. To be honest, I did not expect to have this many Celica to turn up and it was definitely a nice view with all the different colors. I have lost count how long ago was the last time I had an event with the Celica club and I am happy to see them. There were some old members that I have not seen in a long time and there were some new faces along with new rides. It has been such a long time since I had someone to have these car talks with. There were moments with the old members where it felt like the time we were apart did not happen and we were chatting like how we used to. Around the new faces however, I felt very much older being 2 generations of owner before them and was sharing some knowledge I have accumulated back in the days. Definitely feels good to be back in the club and how much I have missed being around motorheads like me.

Among all the photos I have taken on that day, I particularly like the photos that I took below. The reason being it is a rare shot of both the Pre-facelift model and the Face-lift model side by side. I would say nice to see both models being so stock but you can see that the silver Pre-facelift model has skirting from the front all the way to the rear and you may not see it, the grey Face-lift model is sitting on aftermarket rims. For an untrained eye, the difference between these 2 models might be limited to just a re-worked front bumper and new rear lights. I can assure you there are 2 more differences on the exterior. It might not be clear but the Face-lift from lights have a small design change and is now height adjustable xenon lights instead of projector lights. The cover just above where the car plate would be is of different design with a chrome line on top. It is really nice to see them both together side by side. What a sight !

When I was an active member of the Celica Club Malaysia, this is particular Celica was my twin car. Just like my ex-Celica, it is a late Face-lift model and it also shares the same color. This body color is actually a special color called the Thunder Grey (yes, that is the name used in UK) and is made only available for Face-lift models. You might not know it but there are very, very less Face-lift models that could be found on the road especially with this color. So, you could say it is quite rare. I have only seen 3 of them including my previous ride. One of the member present asked me whether it reminds me of the days I had my Celica. Truth be told, seeing one with the same color and also a late model, it does stirred something inside of me.

At the end of the day, it was really good to catch up with the old members and to chat up with some new faces. Is that a sign that I will be coming out of retirement and join club outings more often ? The answer would a NO. I really enjoy this car talk especially about Celica with guys and going out on convoys but I think I am more comfortable to join once in a while for a big event such as the test drive. Maybe when I get a new sports car, I would join more often because right know it feels a little weird being the odd one out. Who knows what the future hold ?