According to rumours from the NASIOC forums, Subaru will be offering an optional grille design on its new Imprezas once they go on sale.

The chromed-eggcrate appearance of the original grille as it appeared on the New York show cars generated a lot of negative reactions to the design, with many believing the bling was unnecessary on the Impreza. The solid bar of chrome linking the Altezza-esque tail lights on the hatchback has also drawn the ire of Fuji Heavy fans, however there’s been no word yet on whether Subaru of America (SOA) will be addressing this as well.

Member Scooby South says a Subaru representative told him that “Subaru recognizes the [need] to have a grill option on the ‘08 Impreza and SOA has already sourced [one] and it will be made available when the ‘08 comes out.”

As for the rest of the world, NASIOC member Flyinpig posted up a (poorly) scanned photo of a JDM Subaru S-GT (don’t worry, it’s an Impreza by any other name) sporting a similar, open-mouthed look along with a rather fetching aero kit. The S-GT is rumoured to be hitting Japanese showrooms soon, perhaps within a matter of weeks so it shouldn’t be long before we start seeing more (correctly focussed) pics of Subaru’s newest car.

[Source: NASIOC, Autoblog]
[Image courtesy of Paul Wall]