A Liberty limited edition for Xmas?

Subaru Australia displayed a brace of new models at Sydney including the yet-t-be-confirmed B9 Tribeca, however, the focus of the maker's presentation was a new limited-edition version of its Liberty GT.

The 'Tuned by Subaru Tecnica International (STI)' Liberty GT is the result of customer feedback and Subaru Australia's strong relationship with Subaru Tecnica International in Japan said Nick Senior, Managing Director, Subaru Australia.

Under the bonnet an upgraded Electronic Control Unit (ECU) increases peak power to 200kW and torque to 343Nm in the manual version. The auto is limited to 190kW. Both auto and manual sedans and wagons will be offered.

Suspension upgrades include STI lowered springs that drop the car by 15mm, sports tuned Bilstein front and rear struts, and a titanium-look front strut. Body changes include a front lip and rear boot spoiler (on the sedan). The Liberty GT-STI gets 18-inch wheels and Pirelli P Zero Rosso tyres.

Inside, there's an all-black interior with plenty of leather and STI goodies.

With a limited production of 300 vehicles, the Liberty GT Tuned by STI will be on sale from January 2006 and starts from $59,490 for the five-speed manual sedan.

In addition to its hi-po Liberty, Subaru also launched a satellite navigation system available on selected Liberty and Outback models from November.

The touch screen-based system is fitted in the vehicle's dashboard centre console and is DVD-based

The Subaru Navigation System will be priced at $2990 available as a factory-fitted option on:

Liberty 2.5i Premium sedan and wagon
Liberty 3.0R – all 3.0 litre variants
Outback 2.5i Premium
Outback 3.0R – all 3.0 litre variants.
The new Impreza range was on display and it was the local debut of the 2006 WRC Impreza.