From the Village of Itasca:

During the Memorial Day parade, you may have noticed the newest addition to the Police Department Fleet In cooperation with Subaru of America, OCE, Lund Industries and Suburban Accents, the Itasca Police Department unveiled a sleek 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI. The vehicle was provided by Subaru at no cost to the Village. The emergency lights and graphics were also provided at no cost.

“Subaru’s commitment toward furthering police community partnerships and being a valued corporate citizen have been remarkable”, said Chief Scott Heher.

The vehicle is emblazoned with the Illinois Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics and National Night Out graphics. This 305 horsepow¬er beauty is more than a car. According to Subaru, the vehicle is “built upon a rally car heritage for those who want to be a part of a brotherhood of speed and performance.” The vehicle will be used at promotional and special events including the opening ceremonies of the Illinois Special Olympics in Bloomington, Illinois on Friday, June 13, 2008.

"We care about the safety of our customers and applaud the Itasca Police Department on their initiative to promote safe driving," said Tim Mahoney, senior vice president and chief marketing officer, Subaru of America, Inc. "For Subaru to be able to participate in that quest is a pleasure."

From Subaru's Drive Magazine:

The Itasca (Illinois) Police Department has been loaned a 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI for use in promotional and special events. Decked out with Illinois Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics and National Night Out graphics, the STI won awards at the Carol Stream Police Department Wheels of Justice car show in May and participated in the opening ceremonies of the Illinois Special Olympics in Bloomington in June. It is also involved in educating the area’s young people about driving performance cars.

[Subaru/Village of Itasca via Kicking Tires blog]

Believe it or not, the Subaru team hasn't won a WRC rally since back in 2005. So obviously, team drivers Petter Solberg and Chris Atkinson are very much looking forward to the potential of a new car. Said to already be faster than the existing WRC2007, the new WRC2008, as it's called, certainly stirs hope for Subaru fanboys the world over. The first challenge it faces will be the Acropolis Rally of Greece, a notoriously brutal course which will be quite the proving grounds for the rally wagon. Though if they ever decide to make a version with rear seats, we'll be the first to strap ourselves in for a ride-along. We even promise not to ask if we're there yet.
[WRC via autoblog]

First of all, let's talk a bit about the 2008 Saab 9-3 Turbo X. When we first saw the Darth Vader-like sedan from Trollhättan, we were impressed by it's Swedish looks, the engine under the hood and the bits n' pieces connecting the power to the road. Why wouldn't we be? We're talking about a Saab with an intercooled turbo'ed 2.8-liter V6 under the hood with an output of 280 horses mated to a six-speed manual transmission and a fourth-generation Haldex XWD system to put the 295 lb-ft of torque to good use.

But it doesn't just have all the right pieces. As we've already said — it also looks good — from the 18" black-rim wheels to the interior evoking the look and feel of the classic black Saab 900 Turbo. Even the steering wheel's purpose-built for performance.

But enough, let's move on to the test procedure which is what we were all here for anyway. GM asked the Corvette Racing support team from Pratt & Miller to break away from their Jakegasm for the day to time the laps, and behind the steering wheel of each of the vehicles they dropped the Scandinavian sensation Jan Magnussen and sent him out on the track to do some laps on both a dry and wet track. Yes, that's the same Jan Magnussen with 25 Formula 1 starts, and triple Le Mans 24 hours wins for Corvette Racing. Good guy to have behind the wheel, right?

Each of the vehicles were sent out as stock, and all of them were sent out with traction control nanny systems fully engaged. So how'd the Turbo X do? Well, it's a GM event, so how'd you think they did? Actually, surprisingly better than expected. On the dry track, the Turbo X garnered commendable middle-of-the-road status, beaten by the Subaru WRX STi and the M3 by a couple of seconds and the 3-series by only a few tenths of a second. The Turbo X surprisingly put away the A4 by almost 2.5 seconds.

But it was on the wet track that that new 4th-generation Haldex XWD system really appeared to prove its mettle — blowing away the A4 Quattro, besting the Subie and dropping behind the best M3 lap time by only one tenth of a second.

While that's great for Saab to have a product that can take on the best of the mid-size performance sedans, it's still only a limited-run vehicle. Approximately 600 of the 2,000 special edition 9-3's produced will make it across the ocean to be snatched up by Saab-ophiles, which is not enough to really make a dent in the marketplace. Still, with that understated look and those respectably tough performance numbers, it's an interesting choice for performance-minded buyers of mid-size sedans. That is if you happen to be one of the lucky few able to snatch up this spicy Swedish meatball. But we guess that's the point. Saab marketing folks hope the 9-3x will build a buzz about their cross-wheel drive system that'll be hitting the rest of the 9-3 lineup in the near-term future, and expanding to, you know, other Saab models shortly. In that, we think, they've accomplished what they'd set out to do.

We'd have liked to provide a bit more detail on our experience driving the new 2008 Saab Turbo X after the day's testing was complete. However, because the boss's left foot got a little bit heavy — and a lot bit forgetful — we didn't get more than a lap and a half. And by "we," we mean him. We'll just let his sidebar explanation over yonder explain that one to you. Suffice it to say, the Saab folks were mighty good sports, and our intrepid boss was mighty red-in-the-face at the end of the day as he remembered exactly why his road test editor was given the responsibility for track-days.

All we've heard is that Mine's is bringing their white test car here next month. We're not exactly sure why this mega-Godzilla is coming to our shores, but we thought we'd give you a warning now, just in case things go terribly wrong and the monster destroys a city or eats a helicopter or something. [2009GTR.com][GT Channel]