The Subaru WRX STI is officially dead. According to a press statement issued by the carmaker, no such variant will follow the release of its 2022 WRX sport compact sedan, which had its global reveal in September 2021.
It's the end of the road for the Subaru WRX STI in gasoline form
This is expected to dash the hopes of the nameplate’s longtime fans expecting a higher-spec WRX equipped with a manual transmission, an option currently offered only on the base trim. The fifth generation WRX STI was rumored to have a 2.4-liter engine packing 400 horsepower, benchmarked against the Mercedes-Benz AMG series.
However, Subaru clarifies that the only the standard gasoline version of the WRX STI will be phased out. The company confirms that it is exploring various options, including electrification, for the variant’s next generation.
“As the automotive marketplace continues to move towards electrification, Subaru is focused on how our future sports and performance cars should evolve to meet the needs of the changing marketplace and the regulations and requirements for greenhouse gases (GHG), zero emissions vehicles (ZEV), and Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFÉ),” part of the statement reads.
Customers will have to get by with 271 horsepower and a continuously variable transmission on the top-spec 2022 WRX
It would hardly be a stretch to say that this marks the end of an era. The WRX STI has served as Subaru’s performance flagship since 1994, offering advantages over the standard WRX through performance-tuned engines, gearbox options, and improved suspension systems. These tweaks made the WRX STI popular among street racers and brought success in rally racing.
At the very least, the next WRX STI could be a hybrid model similar to North America’s Crosstrek (marketed as the XV elsewhere), if not a full-on electric vehicle. The current generation WRX STI, based on the Impreza chassis, was introduced in 2014. Subaru has since moved the fifth generation Impreza to the new Subaru Global Platform in 2016, also using it to underpin the second-generation WRX.
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