The next-gen Subaru WRX STI will arrive in late 2020, according to a new report.
There’s no doubt that the flagship car over at Subaru is the WRX STI. Here in America, the Forester might make the Japanese carmaker its bank, but it’s the WRX STI that gives it the bad boy (or girl) image.
However, Subaru does some weird things when it comes to regionalization. Instead of having the same EJ20 2.0-L boxer four-cylinder engine, North America gets the 2.5-L EJ257 engine. This wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing, except the smaller Japanese engine makes more power than the EJ257’s 310 horses.
Subaru also did some strange things when it came to the car’s platform. Initially based on the Impreza, the WRX STI is still on an older platform while the Impreza moved to Subaru’s Global Platform (SGP) back in 2017.
But that’s all about to change. Subaru plans to redesign the WRX STI for a late 2020 arrival date, according to Japanese car magazine Best Car.
First, the platform will finally move to the new SGP. Second, the EJ20 engine will get swapped in favor of the new FA20 4-cylinder boxer engine as found on the current WRX without the STI. That engine makes 268 hp currently, but the report mentions it will get bumped up to somewhere approaching 315 hp.
The article just mentions the Japanese version, so there’s no telling if this will be the same story for the American EJ257 engine. That said, it would be truly bizarre for the FA20 engine--which is already being used globally in the WRX--to not also be used for the American WRX STI.
Other changes include new U-shaped LED headlights and an overall look reminiscent of the Viziv Performance STI Concept. No complaints there.
Expect a concept car to debut at this year’s Tokyo Motor Show this October for a good first look. With any luck, Subaru will see the wisdom in a shared global platform and will bring the same car to North America at the same time as they give it to Japan.