Auto News 5

The Subaru Impreza WRX STI, previously available only as a wagon, is newly offered as a sedan for 2011. Our black-on-black test car looks pretty cool, although there's nothing subtle about the huge rear wing, which Subaru claims "maximizes the aerodynamic configuration." I figure it also maximizes your opportunities to be noticed by the police, but what the heck, it's part and parcel of the WRX STI experience, just like the big hood scoop. The eighteen-inch wheels are also new for 2011 and are lighter. The changes for 2011 are not just cosmetic, as the suspension has been retuned with higher spring rates, bigger antiroll bars, and new bushings.

So here I am, Mr. Hotshot driving an arrest-me-red 2012 Camaro Convertible in downtown San Francisco on the hottest evening of the spring, and I look in the rear view mirror and see a guy in a 1969 Camaro Convertible tailing me, taking a picture. We pull over and have a chat -- mostly so I can tell him how cool his car is. And thanks to the miracle of camera-phones, I was even able to snap a couple of pictures of the cars together. They're separated by 42 model years, but it was a trip to see a modern Camaro next to the car that inspired its design.