https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a6...duction-ready/

Looks like Subaru is making an STI after all.

Having owned one, I am a fan of the VB generation and really think it's underrated, mostly due to people hating the cladding, which is funny because when Porsche does it to the 911 and calls it a Safari everyone goes nuts.

Anyway, the FA24 in the VB is a solid performer, and the platform really has no fatal flaws, just let down by Subaru not giving it the full treatment with better brakes (initially) and AWD system. But if they give the VB the full STI treatment, it would be a seriously good car.

I sort of got the impression this was always up their sleeve, the fact that they make a WRX hatch overseas, and that we have the Impreza hatch here sorta tells me that they were saving the body style, that everyone has been clamoring for, for something special, much like how Honda saved the Civic hatch for the Type and didn't make an Si version of it.

Good on Subaru for making it, hope it does well, I can smell the vape pens already.

 

And a hatch, no less. They should have had the WRX and STi be a hatch going back about a decade and they would have sold many more.

 

They announced in 2014, no more hatch WRX or STi. They said they didn’t have the cash to make both, but that was an outright lie to the face. They made the Levorg. And they put the WRX motor on it. FA24, turbocharged. And they f’d us.

So this is 11 years late, and it will be $50k. And knowing Boobaru well, this will be a parts bin car. If they use the existing STi drivetrain, then it will drive like a tank and understeer into every corner. They sorely need to modernize their AWD systems, at least for a performance variant. But they talking the same symmetrical shit as always. What they need is torque vectoring via half shafts, and not brake based. Car needs to rotate in the corners, even if it’s very minor oversteer, but it won’t. But at least this will be something for the Boobaru folks who are sycophants for the brand. I think it’ll be heavy, and it looks like they made it out the Crosstek. Same awful center stack iPad thing that in today’s market is a travesty. Good luck to them though. I’d love to be wrong.

 

All they need to do is take the VB and give it the proper AWD system with the diffs as mentioned, and it should be solid. Current WRX only weighs 3300lbs, so with the proper upgrades it should be very capable.

 

Hot Import Nights Crosstrek? Better painted flares than black plastic, though still too much black plastic..

 

Personally, I think it looks great for what it is, and the Crosstrek isn't a large vehicle to begin with like a Rav4/Forester.

One of the JDM darlings that enthusiasts have been clamoring for stateside was the Forester STI.

 

Looking at it, maybe it would actually be cooler with a Crosstrek long travel offroad suspension...
Then it could be the "STI CrossRally", a genuine rally car from the factory (as the last ICE performance car that Subaru builds).
That would definitely be collectable!

 

FWIW the current VB is a rally car, reviews on it actually rallying is actually positive, it already has decent ground clearance, etc. I mean it's not a Safari/Dakkar lifted setup, but for a factory basic hot hatch it's decently set up.

While I would love love love a rally car with higher ground clearance, I think the market would want a typical street setup first, and the later add a Safari version which would be awesome.