Photo: Subaru
Having made its debut for the 2015 model year, the current-gen Subaru WRX hasn’t aged too well. What’s worse, it’s been only three years since the Japanese automaker revealed it at the LA Auto Show. Worse still, the 2018 WRX will be just a mid-cycle update despite the fact the 2017 Impreza is an all-new design.
This bit of unhappy news comes courtesy of an unnamed source close to the automaker. Speaking to Motoring, the man put it like this: “We would love to have the WRX on the new platform [i.e. Subaru Global Platform], because the car would be a lot better… but the 2018 will be a facelift only.” In other words, the facelifted WRX won’t be all that different from the current crop.
Motoring’s source added that “the full model cycle will be about four or five years,” which is a heck of a long time to wait. At the earliest, that’ll be the second quarter of 2020. And if a particular rumor is to be believed, the new generation will adopt some sort of electrification for better performance.
When all is said and done, however, all we have at the present moment is a sporty four-door sedan with a 2.0-liter turbo boxer engine that costs $26,695 in its least lavish configuration. The WRX STI ups the ante to $35,195, but adds a rear spoiler and more suck-squeeze-bang-blow from a 2.5-liter mill.
The 2.0-liter powerplant, which is internally referred to as FA20, produces 268 horsepower and 258 lb-ft (350 Nm) between 2,000 and 5,200 rpm. The bigger engine in the WRX STI, known as the EJ257, is a very old design that churns out 305 horsepower and 290 lb-ft (393 Nm) at 4,000 rpm.
Other than that whole full model cycle jibber-jabber, it's worth highlighting that Subaru has another big project to take care of these days. Previewed by an elephantine-sized concept car called Viziv-7, the successor of the slow-selling Tribeca is a make-or-break model for the Japanese automaker.
Motoring’s source added that “the full model cycle will be about four or five years,” which is a heck of a long time to wait. At the earliest, that’ll be the second quarter of 2020. And if a particular rumor is to be believed, the new generation will adopt some sort of electrification for better performance.
When all is said and done, however, all we have at the present moment is a sporty four-door sedan with a 2.0-liter turbo boxer engine that costs $26,695 in its least lavish configuration. The WRX STI ups the ante to $35,195, but adds a rear spoiler and more suck-squeeze-bang-blow from a 2.5-liter mill.
The 2.0-liter powerplant, which is internally referred to as FA20, produces 268 horsepower and 258 lb-ft (350 Nm) between 2,000 and 5,200 rpm. The bigger engine in the WRX STI, known as the EJ257, is a very old design that churns out 305 horsepower and 290 lb-ft (393 Nm) at 4,000 rpm.
Other than that whole full model cycle jibber-jabber, it's worth highlighting that Subaru has another big project to take care of these days. Previewed by an elephantine-sized concept car called Viziv-7, the successor of the slow-selling Tribeca is a make-or-break model for the Japanese automaker.
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