The success of Gran Turismo and other racing games during the late ‘90s and early 2000s is often cited as one of the influencing factors behind Subaru and Mitsubishi’s decision to bring their performance compacts stateside. In Subaru’s case, the WRX STi’s story in the United States began with the 2004 model, lovingly dubbed “Blobeye,” as opposed to the earlier “Bugeye” and later “Hawkeye” revision. That’s the WRX that’s arriving in in the next update slated for Thursday, and it’s kind of poetic that we’ve come full circle.

The 2004 STi joins the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution III from 1995 and the new hypercar in the . The Valkyrie, a product of collaboration between Red Bull and the British automaker, comes highly requested. And while GT7 certainly isn’t hurting for Impreza and Lancer representation, the addition of both of cars, particularly the WRX, fills out gaps in the lineage that are worth representing.

Also, WR Blue Mica looks astonishingly good in GT7, given Polyphony’s expertise in replicating color and light. Iconic hues like this just hit different in Gran Turismo.

But then I also have to give it up for this shot: a Scape image, combining a real-world, depth-aware photo of the Nürburgring with a black in-game car model. Years ago you could’ve effortlessly had me convinced this was a frame from an episode of Top Gear.

Personally I’ve always been most fond of the Bugeye of all the GD/GG Imprezas. It was the original face for that generation, and came across a desperate effort to morph the car into something else, which made the whole exterior less cohesive. Also, the STi flavor with the black inserts in the round clusters are peak Y2K aesthetic.

The Blobeye and Bugeye were mostly similar under the skin. In 2003, when Japan received the refreshed STi a year ahead of its North American introduction, Subaru also began offering its Driver’s Control Center Differential as an option for modifiable torque distribution across the front and rear axles.

The particular Blobeye in GT7 is a Japanese-market model, which means it’ll carry the higher-revving, with the twin-scroll turbocharger and sometimes forged pistons, unlike America’s larger-displacement EJ257-equipped STis.

The Subie as well as the Evo III will each be featured in their own Extra Café Menu books celebrating the WRX and Lancer Evolution lineages. Update 1.35 also adds new Music Rally stages for the first time in GT7's 15 months since release — strange for a feature that Polyphony was . No new circuits are due for June, unfortunately, so that wait for Mid-Field Raceway will have to linger into the summer.