Hit the nail on the head. I
Hit the nail on the head. I have an 08 STI 5-door that I love, and would be considering replacing with the 15, except for two things: no 5-door, and no change in the engine. Yes, thrust-vectoring would be nice, and the interior is a nice upgrade, but that's not enough to make me swap out the great car I already have.
One point not made here is that the 5-door style is not only enormously more practical (which it is), but is also a draw for fans of rally racing, of which Subaru has many. It's not that Subaru can't field rally teams based on the sedan, of course, but for some of the rally fans, STI 5-door=rally, and in fact that was the specific rationale for the 5-door GR model in 07/08, that it would make a superior base for that purpose.
Bottom-line, Subaru blew it with the 15, and as the article points out, bottom-line, they'll probably still sell like hotcakes. But not to me. I'll hope to see better in 17.