Expectations were high when Subaru rolled out its renewed Subaru WRX last year. The regular WRX version of the model was the first to hit the market, and we’re still waiting on the beastlier STI variant. Or we were...
Subaru has held back on many details regarding the STI, but it has just shared one that won’t make fans of the model too happy.
The company has confirmed that the gasoline-powered STI will not be coming to its lineup. Meaning that if you own a 2021 model, you are now the proud owner of a future collector’s model.
However, all is not lost when it comes to the high-performance variant. Subaru has hinted that a next generation could be a thing one day, but that it would all-electric.
When that might happen remains a complete unknown at the moment, though.
Subaru says its intention is to focus on electrifying its performance models, this as the entire industry continues its transition to electric mobility. The company alludes to the need for reducing emissions and complying with ever-tightening emissions regulations as drivers of its shift.
Indeed, the automaker’s first all-electric vehicle is expected soon. The Solterra SUV was developed jointly with Toyota, which will soon present its own version, the bZ4X. We will be test-driving that model in California in two weeks, and a similar test of the Solterra should logically follow not long after.
So it appears that the letters STI will live on in the Subaru lexicon. We already had an idea of the company's intentions at the 2022 Tokyo Motor Show when it presented an STI concept version of the Solterra. It's clear that future performance variants of its models will swap a gasoline engine for an electric motor and batteries.
As for this year’s WRX, it’s equipped with a 2.4L turbocharged 4-cylinder engine good for 271 hp. We were expecting something around 400 hp with the new STI. We could still get that... but in electric form.
Stay tuned.