No Direct Replacement For Subaru’s WRX STI, Hybrid Tech Considered For New Model


Subaru has no plans for a direct replacement of the WRX STI but that doesn’t mean that we won’t get a new one at all.

With the current WRX STI steadily heading to retirement, Subaru will soon have a very emotionally significant hole in its range that will remain vacant for a few years, before the successor shows up.

The reason for this delay, according to Subaru Europe’s General Manager of sales and marketing David Dello Stritto who spoke with Dutch Autorai, is because the company is still looking at how the market develops in order to finalize the concept of the next WRX STI.

With the current turbocharged 2.5-liter boxer engine being too dirty to pass the upcoming stricter emissions regulations, Subaru has to find another way of giving its customers their rallycar-for-the-road fix. "We're not really giving up on ‘fun to drive’. The new Impreza also provides this, but in a different, more environmentally sound way, "said Dello Stritto.

Among their options is of course an electrified powertrain as Subaru’s latest Global Platform was developed with hybrids in mind but Dello Stritto avoided confirming it, saying only that all options are investigated and "there's really a new WRX STI coming, but it’ll take time."

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