What Does STI Stand For On Subaru?

While you may know Subaru for its all-wheel drive SUVs or its adventure-friendly trim levels like the Wilderness series, the brand has a long history of performance cars as well. Go back just a short amount of time in Subaru's history and you'll find several high-performance vehicles with STI badges, rooted in some pretty deep racing history. These days, Subaru's lineup is mostly composed of SUVs like the Forester and Outback — practical, but not high-performance, and certainly not race-bred. Subaru's performance vehicle lineup, while small, is significantly more entertaining.

The BRZ and the WRX are the two performance models currently available from Subaru currently. Both are fun to drive, engaging, and they offer a good amount of value for the money, but neither have STI badges — Subaru's former high-performance seal of approval, so to speak. Simply put, STI stands for Subaru Tecnica International. 

STI is the high-performance division of Subaru, and vehicles with the STI badge are some of the most entertaining and potent vehicles in Subaru's history. STI states that their purpose is to "empower the driver with a more engaging, responsive experience," and that's a pretty accurate take on their vehicles. They offer extra flare, serious performance upgrades, and the opportunity to make your daily driver feel extra special.

Subaru has been racing for decades. Back in 1971, Subaru entered an FF-1 into the Baja 500. It was their first car with the iconic Subaru Boxer engine and their first front-wheel drive vehicle. Then, in 1972, a Subaru GL competed in the Baja 500. Then, in 1980, Subaru entered the first all-wheel-drive vehicle into the World Rally Championship. These entries didn't exactly set the racing world ablaze, but they set the stage for Subaru's ongoing commitment to rally racing and by 1986, Subaru driver Chad DiMarco had six rally podiums under his belt. Eventually, in 1988, STI was founded, meant to participate in motorsports and develop parts for Subaru's sportiest cars.

Since its foundation in 1988, Subaru Tecnica International has a long list of wins under its belt. They've racked up several class wins in the 24-hours of Nürburgring, as well as dozens of wins at WRC. The first production STI models included a Legacy STI released in Japan in 1992, and a WRX STI released in 1994. However, it took another decade for STI vehicles to land in the United States — the first of which was the 2004 WRX STI. STI remains Subaru's benchmark for high performance, even if there's an STI-shaped hole in its current lineup.

With all its racing history, STI has lent its name to some pretty epic production vehicles from Subaru. One of the most iconic STI vehicles is one of the earliest — the Impreza 22B STI. The 22B STI was built to commemorate several of Subaru's WRC championships and its 40th anniversary. Limited to just 400 production units, the 22B STI is one of the rarest vehicles Subaru has ever made, with recent examples selling at auction for over $300,000.

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Of course, one of the most-popular STI-badged vehicles is the WRX/Impreza WRX, with several generations of the WRX STI available in the United States. The first generation of the WRX STI might be the most iconic to make it to the U.S. When it arrived in 2004 with its legendary "bugeye" headlights and its classic blue-paint-and-gold-wheels color scheme, it was an immediate hit. 

The BRZ got the STI treatment a few years back too — sort of. Subaru debuted a BRZ STI concept, but unfortunately, it was never put into production. The U.S. did receive the BRZ tS (the tS stands for tuned-by-STI), which is a nice addition to the lineup, but not the full STI package fans would like to see. While there aren't currently any STI vehicles to lust after, that doesn't mean that fans can't hope for performance mills to return in Subaru's future.