Subaru's new-generation STI to offer petrol-electric power boost and motor-driven rear axle
Subaru is going gangbusters, having just unveiled concept versions of its next-generation Impreza sedan and hatch, both of which will be based on the company?s new global platform but remain two years away from Australian showrooms.
However, company CEO Yasuyuki Yoshinaga announced at the Tokyo motor show that the new Subaru Global Platform (SGP) will also underpin the Japanese car-maker?s next WRX STI, some tantalizing new details of which have now come to hand.
Expected to debut in 2017, the new STI will boast a sportier sedan body, heavily flared fenders, carbon-fibre air ducts, a rear diffuser and a huge rear wing, as indicated by this rendering based on inside knowledge of Subaru?s design plans.
But under that turbo-friendly bonnet where the main event lies. Aiming to radically improve fuel economy while maintaining the STI?s class-leading performance, Subaru is working on a new powertrain that will incorporate a revised version of the FA20 2.0-litre turbocharged boxer engine with an electric motor.
Output of the new hybrid system should clear 240kW ? a 10kW increase on the current EJ20 engine.
However, a source close to Subaru also tells us that engineers are currently evaluating a new all-wheel drive system employing ?motor-drive? on the rear axle.
Married to a new dual-clutch six-speed automated manual gearbox, the repowered MY17 STI should achieve fuel economy figures of less than 6.5L/100km.
To clear more stringent US emissions regulations, Subaru has to push forward with its hybrid endeavours, which is why the new SGP platform has been configured to carry battery packs, motors and support hardware.
But our source confirms Subaru is also testing a plug-in hybrid version of the radical new Impreza-based STI hybrid, which should break cover at the next Tokyo show in 2018.
Subaru has just posted its fifth back-to-back year of record US sales and expects to clear 600,000 units in North America by the end of 2015, which would be an eight per cent rise over last year.
Subaru sales are up almost eight per cent in Australia so far this year too, and the company expects to push towards the million mark in its 2016 financial year after selling 928,000 cars in FY2015 ending in March.
Peter Lyon
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