Sporting that for several years fulfilled the dreams of many Portuguese “aspiring drivers”, the Subaru Impreza WRX STI ended up disappearing from the national roads, due to importers' problems.
The Subaru WRX STI — in the last generation became an independent model, separating itself from the Impreza — will no longer be sold in Europe this year, with the Japanese brand having announced the end of production of units for the European market sometime early on of next summer. The reason? The increasingly stringent emission standards and new certification of the model to meet the new WLTP and RDE test cycles that will come into effect in September.
A situation that makes us regret even more the announcement that the Japanese brand has just made and that it schedules for the next Tokyo Auto Salon — not to be confused with the Tokyo Auto Salon; the Auto Salon is dedicated to accessories, tuning and more — the presentation of a prototype that could very well form the basis of the future WRX STI.
The prototype, which takes the name of Subaru VIZIV Performance STI Concept , besides, has a teaser already published. Which, although not revealing more than a part of the exterior aesthetic, reveals the STI (Subaru Technica International) “treatment” applied to the Subaru VIZIV Performance, a concept known at the last Tokyo Salon, in October 2017.
It already announces devastating lines, a rear wing that commands respect, in addition to optics, for now, too conceptual. And that will hardly be able to see the light of day… unfortunately!
Mechanics? Installments? It's still early…
Naturally, and even because of the model's too embryonic state, information about mechanics, specifications or even features, it's something that simply doesn't exist yet. Even though there is no lack of rumors, for example, about the possibility that the model may come to display a plug-in hybrid engine. Even as a way to be able to be traded again in the Old Continent, complying with the increasingly strict anti-pollution rules...
What is certain is that, after the Japanese brand recently launched an update to the model, with new optics and fenders, a new multimedia system, an improvement in the interior insulation, as well as new suspensions and brakes, a future generation of the Subaru WRX STI can hardly be the same, or even similar, to what we know today. Which, we recognize, makes our mouths even more watering, waiting to learn about the new forms (and arguments!) of the WRX STI…
The 2018 edition of the Tokyo Auto Salon opens its doors on January 12th.