It’s a fact: Flare the fenders wide enough, and you can make any car look way cooler. That design element, often necessitated by engineering (fatter wheels and tires) has been used for decades on manufacturer’s top performance models. And it was the flared fenders, not the audacious rear wing or even the mailbox-size hood scoop, that made the last generation of Subaru’s WRX STI look so menacing. The design of the all-new WRX, from which the 2008 STI you see here is based, was not greeted with universal praise by the press or Subaru’s fiercely loyal fans—too plain and pedestrian looking, they said.

Well that may change when they get an eyeful of the new STI down at their local Subaru dealer. Yes, the STI now comes only as a five-door hatchback, instead of the popular sedan bodystyle. But who cares? In the flesh, those flared fenders transform the WRX from a slightly vanilla wagon into a purpose-built rally raid car.