AUTONEWS

Subaru WRX STI won't be the same as before

Since the days when it was still known as the Impreza, the Subaru WRX STI has always been a reference among sports and rally enthusiasts.

Well, for them comes news that nothing will ever be the same again. In any case, everyone who was waiting for a new generation of the Subaru model, you better sit down, because it won't arrive soon... if it ever will.

In a surprise announcement, Subaru confirmed that the STI will not arrive with the new WRX. In a statement, rather diffuse in fact, it says that “Subaru Corporation is exploring opportunities for the next generation of the Subaru WRX STI, including electrification”.

It goes on to state, unequivocally, that a next-generation STI with an internal combustion engine “will not be built on the basis of the new WRX platform”.

The surprise is certainly real, because it's been a while since we've reported on the rumors of the next generation STI. In fact, last July we heard that the creation of a 345 hp STI was being studied.

But it wasn't just the rumors that gave illusions. In January 2022, Subaru arrived at the Tokyo Motor Show with the S4 STI Performance prototype. We thought it was an advance on something that will arrive later this year.

In any case, whatever happens to electrification in this environment, the reality is that the WRX STI as we know it is dead.

The first version appeared in 1994, catapulting the modest Impreza to superstar status in the World Rally Championship, through Carlos Sainz and Colin McRae, and has survived to this day, exponentially increasing its yield and performance, generation after generation.

It remains to be seen whether the WRX STI will eventually revive through electrification in a next generation. Subaru leaves the door open on that front, but nothing has been officially confirmed.