Summarize

To me, 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond’ is to me perhaps the most poignant piece of music ever produced. The nine-part Pink Floyd composition written by Gilmour, Waters and Wright as a tribute to fallen band member Syd Barrett in the album Wish You Were Here touches my (and so many other people’s) deepest emotions as it strikes a special chord right back to the highs (and lows) of my youth.

So I suppose Shine On would never avoid being sucked into this piece — see like Floyd, the Doors and one or two other classics, Subaru is indelibly stamped on my brain alongside a few other brands close to my heart — Ferrari, Ducati and KTM among them. Suppose it’s no surprise — the Subaru brand arrived in SA more or less when we started publishing and we’ve been like two peas in a pod ever since — we have written about them, raced them, tuned them and loved them and to be honest, this Diamond Edition touches just as soft a spot as Shine On does to take me straight back to the great old days. Suppose it was inevitable… 

Now we’ve been fortunate enough to be the first to get our hands on this Crazy Diamond —  the thirty-off exclusively South African developed 2019 Subaru WRX STi Diamond Edition —Subaru SA’s most powerful STi and the latest jewel in Subaru's performance car crown. The Subaru Southern Africa technical team developed Diamond Edition builds on that extreme World Rally bred STi — for Subaru Tecnica International — philosophy of extreme driving enjoyment.

Developed and exhaustively tested over 18-months to a point where Subaru SA is entirely satisfied with the results, the team has fitted a performance exhaust and remapped STi's Electronic Control Unit to massage that 2.5-litre turbo Boxer four to 260kW at 4500rpm and 464Nm torque at 4000rpm. Subaru claims a 5.03-second 0-100km’h dash, a second quicker to 160km/h and the same 255km/h top end at the Reef and I can confirm it is quicker at the coast, but you will have to wait for Performance car of the year in December to learn by exactly how much. 

Shine On also benefits a series of technical tweaks and now runs a 20mm wider front and rear track, its sports suspension is lowered 10mm and a STi engine brace adds stability. The full five-star safe Diamond Edition STI has Brembo 6-pot brake callipers up front with 2-pot Brembos at the rear backed by 4-sensor 4-channel ABS with EBD and it rides on 19-inch 245/35 R19 shod darkened lightweight Y-design alloys. It stands apart by a Day-Glo yellow all-round body kit finished in the same hue the Brembo callipers for that classic STi and Subaru WRC look, complemented by distinct little stainless steel STi badges and a black 30 badge to the right of the rear wing. 

All the signature STi features remain unchanged: from those hawk-eye LED DRLs to that large bonnet intercooler scoop and a typical STi rear wing, while interior tweaks include unique Diamond Edition dash inlays and a numbered panel. Add a 7-speaker, 440W Harmon Kardon power audio to STi’s standard 7-inch Touch Screen Infotainment System with 6-speaker CD and Bluetooth functionality now incorporating Apple CarPlay and Android Auto phone interface too.  

I heard Diamond Edition rumbling up the street as it arrived — first impressions were plain and simple STi. Splendid. Yes, that yellow petticoat doesn’t appeal to all tastes, but then some of us are too young to appreciate the irony. So be it, but I love it. All of it.

Swing open the door and a familiar hot Subaru feel greets you — OK, not quite as hard as those old race-like buckets did, but slip into them and press that button to start a history lesson of note. Strangely enough, Floyd’s lyrics fit it like a glove — 'Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun?’ Well I certainly do — that boxer four growls to life just like my Group N racer did all those years ago, rough and rorty, it resonates through the chair tempting you to take it by the neck, like hose first MY98 STis also did.

So I took it by the neck. First impressions are brilliant. First off, STi is manual — woo boy, is that a relief? Changing gear by hand will soon become a forgotten art — it’s a tragedy to consider that people will one day not be able to do what I did with this car. Imagine eliminating foreplay? That’s what they're doing killing manual cars. Happily there are a few exceptions. So yes of course — Diamond Edition is demanding to drive, just by dint of it being a manual!

Taut on the road, that electrically assisted quick ratio steering is finely weighted and reports back all you need to know about whats going on between the car and the road, while that typical, sublime Symmetrical All Wheel drive shines on through and that gruff Subaru soundtrack is ever present as it edges you on. Midrange punch really impressed me — it gets you in the small of the back as Diamond Edition distorts the horizon with its progress towards it. Impressive stuff.

I must confess we struggled to launch it consistently — and you find yourself panting and sweating after a stint over a good mountain pass, but that's just the driver trying to keep up with the car. Subaru promises a driver’s car through and through and I am afraid that I am forced fo fully concur, for not only is that a fact without doubt, but Diamond Edition salutes the STi legend in superb style…

First impressions are sufficient to warn you that if you want one, you’d better get down to your Subaru dealer right now as pre-orders are open for the R799K Diamond Edition with deliveries set for January 2019 complete with a special Owners Certificate certifying limited-edition validity; a 3-year/75 000km Full Maintenance Plan and a 5 year/150 000km Subaru Warranty. 

There are a few most enticing special editions going around right now, but I’m not sure how many of them match the charisma, remind me of my and its heritage and make me smile quite as much as this thing does. Subaru South Africa certainly has captured the essence of STi in this car — shine on you crazy diamond!