Yahoo Autos Don't Worry, Subaru Has a Replacement Planned for
Speaking to Dutch automotive site AutoRAI, David Dello Stritto, the marketing manager for Subaru Europe said the current WRX STI is nearing the end of its life in Europe, and there's no immediate replacement. Concerning news, but US Subaru fans have nothing to worry about. A Subaru spokesperson confirmed to Road & Track that there's no plans to pull the current WRX STI from the US market, and that the company has a direct replacement in the works.
Earlier this month, a "Final Edition" WRX STI was announced for the UK market, which raised fears that the model was dead everywhere. It turned out that the IM Group, the UK importer for the STI, decided to stop bringing the car into the country.
Dello Stritto said the reason the STI was being pulled from the rest of Europe was over tightening emissions regulations. The standard WRX uses a newer 2.0-liter flat-four, but the current STI is powered by the same 2.5-liter flat-four that debuted in the 2004 model. The STI's engine, the EJ25, is probably on its way out, and while it's still emissions-compliant in the US, it might not be in Europe. A Subaru spokesperson couldn't comment on whether the next-generation STI would be powered by the EJ25 or a newer engine.
In any case, the STI still has some life left in the US. Next year, Subaru is bringing out the more track-focused WRX STI Type RA, which gets all sorts of chassis and aerodynamic upgrades over the standard model. The next-generation WRX and WRX STI will be based off the new Impreza, which debuted last year, and could look like the VIZIV concept we saw last month at Tokyo.
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