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Subaru has dropped the ball on the WRX STI and its fans deserve better.
It all started back in March 2022, when the Japanese automaker officially announced the end of the legendary STI brand after 27 years, citing stricter global emissions standards, along with potential plans for an electrified model.
It was a bitter pill for STI fans to swallow. As the affordable AWD king for two decades, Subaru was bowing out of the segment, leaving it to younger, flashier rivals such as the Toyota GR Corolla, Volkswagen Golf R and Hyundai i30 N; cars that wouldn’t exist without it.
Still, the hope of an electric off-shoot was better than nothing. Subaru, with credit to the Mitsubishi Evo, helped pioneer the rally-bred hero 27 years ago, they could surely do it again, even if it meant going electric.
Subaru's Solterra STI concept was revealed, giving fans a preview of a souped-up version of the car maker's first EV, but fans were let down when it proved to be more of a styling exercise than a possible release.
Then things fell quiet.
12 months later, unofficial news of Subaru’s trademark application for the ‘STe’ label in Germany leaked. Finally, it looked like maybe the ball was starting to roll. An image of the new logo even surfaced, looking eerily similar to that of the STI.
The brand's Sport Mobility Concept at the 2023 Tokyo motor show further revealed its electric performance car aspirations with a cyberpunk-inspired two-door sports coupe.
But another year passed, and with no word from Subaru, the rumour pot stirred again. It was just last month on Spike’s Car Podcast when Senior Features Editor at US-based MotorTrend Jonny Lieberman, purported that the STI is coming back, albeit with an internal combustion powertrain.
“Subaru’s bringing the STI back. They’re gonna use the 2.4-litre that’s in the WRX, and it’s gonna make a lot of power.”
When asked who his source was by his co-host, Lieberman responded coyly: “from a good source, that I trust”.
Car publications quickly hopped on it, repeating his claim word for word. All the while Subaru remained silent.
It doesn’t take an automotive expert, especially in the current climate, to see that a car brand making a complete u-turn on a model that it had previously abandoned due to emissions standards is out of the question. But when a car company decides to stay silent for so long, it's this kind of conjecture that prevails.
Even worse is that, during Subaru's absence from the hot hatch segment, Toyota's GR brand has boomed. The all-wheel drive Yaris and Corolla continue to climb the sales charts in a market that is arguably more competitive than the one the WRX STI ever faced.
In the past 12 months, Toyota has sold 639 GR Corolla's, a figure that will rise with the introduction of an automatic gearbox next year.
It's not just Toyota's GR that is flourishing, though. Volkswagen has told CarsGuide previously that Australia is one of the biggest fans of its R cars, while the Hyundai i30 N continues to sell strongly.
Whether or not STI fans decide to punish Subaru if and when it decides to reinstate the STI brand (or an electric offshoot) remains to be seen, but one thing is for certain, the hot hatch segment will have plenty of other compelling options.
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