We use cookies to make your experience better. To comply with the new e-Privacy directive, we need to ask for your consent to set the cookies. Learn more.
The Next STI Will Make at Least 400 Horsepower
February 25, 2020
No, this isn't a drill. This is really the information that is coming out about the next STI.
Before we can talk about this, I have to tell you a story.
It is late 2007, and the 2008 STI has just been revealed. At the time, our Subaru representative was someone who had worked for Subaru for over 20 years in a number of positions, and he had recently come back from getting a preview of the new STI before it was to be released. When he got to see the car, and it was what was eventually revealed, he was brought into a room, and then he had to set down his phone, and everything that he had brought with him. He couldn’t bring anything at all, not even a pencil and or paper into the next room, and that is where the car was. He was only allowed about 1 minute in the room with the car, and there was a Subaru representative there the whole time to make sure he wasn’t getting too close, etc.
Subaru knows how to keep something under wraps.
My representative also met with some engineers who he knew and had worked with. And now that the car was revealed, he could tell me another interesting detail about the new STI. Remember that the new Evo X was also just revealed. Subaru was watching the Evo X release, and they wanted to be prepared. He said that Subaru was ready to release the new STI with up to 340 hp based on what Mitsubishi did with the Evo, but when it came out with just under 300 hp, they were content to just give it a minor bump up to 305 hp.
Think about that for a moment.
Subaru could have pushed the (then) new STI into a whole new performance category, and at the same time dealt a fairly crushing blow to their main competitor. But they decided not to.
Subaru likes to keep their cards close to their vest.
I believe what I was told to be accurate, but it is still a rumor none the less. If you look at Subaru’s history though, it does follow their behavior. They haven’t changed the STI’s engine except for small tweaks since 2008 (and not much even since 2004). When they came out with a new power plant that was fully re-designed from the ground up, the FA20DIT was only put in the WRX, not the STI. Was it because they didn’t want to change the known quantity in the STI until they were absolutely sure they were ready? It would fit with their conservative actions to this point. It kind of makes sense.
If you have a winning formula, it can be riskier to make a big change than to just leave it alone.
Remember New Coke?
No one???
Exactly my point.
That may have worked for a long time, but the automotive industry is now changing fast, and there are some new aggressive players. Right now it is more risky to be conservative than it is to take a big swing. But if you take a big swing, you have to make sure you hit a home run.
It seems like this is exactly what Subaru is doing. We want an STI that is faster, lighter, handles amazingly, and re-defines what a turbocharged sports sedan can be. We want an STI that can take on cars that cost a lot more than it does because of the strength of Subaru’s design and engineering. Subaru can absolutely build it, and it sounds like they may actually do it. If the rumors coming out are true, Subaru is benchmarking the Mercedes A45 AMG that makes 416 hp and 369 ft/lb of torque froma 2.0 liter engine for the new STI, and they are saying it will make at least 400 horsepower. And there is talk that it may finally get the dual clutch transmission that we have wanted for so long, and that is becoming more and more the standard every model year.
In my opinion, they don’t have much of a choice. If Subaru doesn’t take a big swing with the STI, they are nearing the point where that name plate will no longer stand for groundbreaking performance and engineering like it once did.
But this isn’t all on Subaru’s shoulders. If they do make this crazy next generation STI that we have been dreaming about, it is also on us to make it a hit. It needs to be the best selling STI yet.
And it really should be.
But we need to do what we can to show Subaru that we are serious about what we want. And the reward is that if we do, maybe we get even more cool cars… Like a turbo BRZ, or maybe an Outback that is off-road capable with a Hi-Lo transfer case…
The sky is the limit!
But it is all still rumors until the curtain goes up and I can take a picture of it.
- Jon Cooley
Here is the original Forbes Article