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.