Subaru is putting money and manpower behind cheap sports cars, but Australians might not reap the rewards.
Interviewed by Japanese publication Best Car, Subaru’s global Chief Technology Officer Tetsuo Fujinuki explained that the popularity of Subaru’s hybrids and EVs in their home market gives the company leeway to reintroduce higher-performance cars.
A ‘Sports Vehicle Planning Office’ has been set up to oversee the new crop of sports cars, as well as to sidestep corporate habits. By Mr Fujinuki’s own admission, Subaru is overly risk-averse, adding that he hopes to develop the cars “without being bound by existing values”, according to fellow Japanese publication Auto Sport Web.
STI by another name?
The new office appears to duplicate the role of Subaru Tecnica International or STI, Subaru’s evergreen motorsports and tuning division. STI ran the company’s legendary rallying program and is responsible for Subaru’s most famous models, not least the WRX STI.
Chasing Cars has contacted Subaru to clarify what this office is if not STI. Subaru has teased the return of STI road cars for years, most dramatically with two concept cars at last year’s Tokyo Motor Show – the Impreza-based Performance-B and clean-sheet Performance-E.
The closest this has come to fruition are tS (‘tuned by STI’) models, lightly upgraded versions of the BRZ, WRX and periodically the Forester.
Since the WRX STI ceased production in 2021 to prioritise outdoorsy models like the Crosstrek and Outback, reports of a full STI revival have come to nothing.
The Sports Vehicle Planning Office is readying three projects for launch by the end of 2027. Subaru’s existing WRX sedan and BRZ rear-wheel-drive sports car will get new enhanced variants, as will a “5-door hatchback” that’ll indirectly bring the Performance-B concept car into production.
Teaser images show different bodywork to the current Impreza hatchback, so under the covers is either an all-new Impreza or a wholly new model line.
Subaru describes the yet-unnamed five-door as a lightweight “affordable base car”. Subaru is already one of the last bastions of the affordable sports car, with the WRX and BRZ priced before on-roads at $48,890 and $47,890 respectively. If the Sports Vehicle Planning Office intends to undercut this, customer interest could be immense.
Subaru will offer all three new models with a manual. The company has restarted production of the WRX STI’s ‘TY85’ gearbox, rather than use a current gearbox, because it can withstand 600Nm of torque, strongly implying engine upgrades are planned.
For all three, said engine will be the FA24, a 2.4L flat-four engine which produces 174kW and 250Nm in the BRZ, and 202kW and 350Nm in the turbocharged WRX.
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Reviving the TY85 gearbox enables the WRX STI’s advanced electronic centre differential to be reintroduced, though this is uncertain as some components are out of production.
This is the second time in 2026 Subaru has resurrected a mothballed unit. For Japan’s Super GT racing series, the BRZ’s flat-four has been replaced with a 3.3L flat-six from the 1991 Subaru SVX.
NVES could hinder Australian introduction
The reason Subaru can launch new sports cars should be familiar to Australians. Japan averages the CO2 emissions of all cars sold by a brand in a year, and much like our New Vehicle Efficiency Standard or NVES, if this yearly average exceeds a certain threshold, the brand is penalised. This incentivises them to bring low-emissions cars to market.
This forced Subaru to curtail its sportier offerings – WRX sales have stopped in Japan for emissions reasons. But now, with cars such as the Forester hybrid and electric Solterra in Japanese showrooms, the average CO2 of a new Subaru is low enough that higher-performance, higher-emissions cars can return.
However, Australians can’t be sure of getting the new super-Subarus for exactly this reason. Subaru was named and shamed by the NVES regulator as one of 2025’s biggest underachievers, incurring nearly $7,000,000 in fines.
Subaru Australia urgently needs its EVs (Uncharted, Solterra, Trailseeker) and hybrids (Forester) to sell well. If not, Subaru will keep losing its Australian profits to fines, and selling the new sports cars here will be impossible.
Chasing Cars has contacted Subaru regarding the new models’ prospects for Australia.