Ever since the debut of the Subaru BRZ/Toyota GT86/Scion FR-S, people have been positively begging for a steroid-injected version. The best hope for a pumped up version of the joint Toyota-Subaru neo-hachiroku seemed to lie with Subaru’s boxer engineers, specifically STI, who could turbocharge the bejeezus out of the EJ20 motor and create a hairpin destroying weapon. Well, Fuji Heavy’s performance division has gone and done just that, and that car was just unveiled at the New York Auto Show.
So here is a BRZ STI, wearing aggressive widebody flares, a big fat spoiler, and the turbocharged, intercooled 300PS engine from the GT300-class SuperGT race car. Not only that, but Subaru is using it to announce that it is about to take STI very seriously, like as seriously Mercedes-Benz or Nissan takes AMG or NISMO. It will no longer be a side note to a nonstop parade of Outbacks, but a legitimate performance division that offers complete cars, aftermarket accessories, and motorsports programs.
But then, after the big announcement a Subaru spokesman just told us that the BRZ STI is only a concept and will not make it to production.Facepalm. Instead, they brought out the 22B STI and a 1996 Impreza rally car to remind us how they once built totally batshit cars and sold them to the public.
Both of these were plucked from the Subaru Attic at their headquarters in Cherry Hill, New Jersey and allowed to shine in the Big Apple for a week or so (See our visit to the Subaru Attic here in Part 01 and 02).
??????? What?
If i may, those pictures are excellent. How about some nice extras so i can use it as background… he he he
Here you go, Michael. Added larger versions in the gallery below.
I reckon they’d make a Scrooge McDuckian bin full of money if they sold just that body kit alone. It looks killer.
Plus there’s already a plethora of companies making aftermarket performance parts for the car anyway.
Yeah, but if it’s factory-produced, there’d almost certainly be some kind of warranty. The problem with aftermarket performance stuff is that you could blow the engine, and they’d say: “Yup; you got a problem there.”
Maybe I’m just getting jaded, but Sube’s NOT taking performance as seriously as Mercedes. You can get a freaking AMG G-Class (Gelandewagen!).
Now, if they put out the parts to buy and put in/have installed – other than the cute little shift knobs, pedals and tailpipe finishers, that’s different.
Lots of doublespeak here. Perhaps there is a contractual agreement with Toyota to not offer a high performance version for a number of years. Otherwise, why implant the desire?
Man that concept is amazing. Im not sure why suby isnt dropping there WRX Fa20 in the BRZ. I think it would fit just fine have plenty of power and most the R&D is already spent. Seems like a no brainer to me Im not sure what there waiting on? Toyota maybe?
An impressive share! I have just forwarded this onto a friend who had been doing a little research on this. And he in fact ordered me dinner due to the fact that I found it for him… lol. So let me reword this…. Thanks for the meal!! But yeah, thanx for spending time to talk about this subject here on your website.