Fans of the legendary Boxer burble, look away now.
It’s time to pour one out and raise a toast to the fallen: The Subaru WRX STI as we know it is no more.
The new-gen 2022 WRX will not be getting an STI version, a shock announcement by Subaru USA has revealed. As has been the case for most of our favourite cars and nameplates being culled or unrecognisably altered in recent years, electrification is to blame.
The company states that instead of developing an even higher performance of the FA24DIT engine that powers the new WRX, Subaru Technica International (STI) engineers will instead be exploring opportunities for its next generation of performance cars,including electrification. So although the WRX STI nameplate isn’t completely dead, the next one will be either hybridised or fully electric.
Here's the statement in full:
“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 gasses (GHG), zero emissions vehicles (ZEV), and Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFÉ).
As part of that effort, Subaru Corporation is exploring opportunities for the next generation Subaru WRX STI, including electrification. In the meantime, a next generation internal combustion engine WRX STI will not be produced based upon the new WRX platform.
The Subaru WRX STI and the STI brand represent the zenith of Subaru's performance vehicles exemplifying Subaru's unique DNA and rally heritage. As we look to the future, we also look forward to incorporating the essence of STI into our next generation of vehicles.”
This development has come as a shock because ever since the first generation of Impreza in the '90s, the terms "WRX" and "STI" have been as inseparable as "Golf" and "GTI", "char kway teow" and "mai hum", and "Singapore" and "f***ing terrible place to be a car enthusiast".
Even more than that, as recently as January, Subaru all but previewed what a forthcoming fifth-gen WRX STI could look like when it brought along the WRX S4 STI Performance Concept to the 2022 Tokyo Auto Salon.
This news comes two years after the venerable EJ20 boxer engine was retired after 30 years in service, having powered every single STI generation as well as each of Subaru's contenders in the World Rally Chapmionship since the original Legacy.
It's a somewhat ignominious end for a model lineage with such a huge impact on car culture, and will surely be missed. Not least by Burnpavement founder Joel, who had a Hawkeye STI Spec C back in the day, but also by everyone around the world who appreciated its motorsport-derived genes, affordable pricing, and giant-slaying real-world performance. So thank you, WRX STI, for shaping the automotive landscape, allowing us to pretend we were rally drivers, and for making gold wheels cool. Here's to you.
