Shifting priorities at Subaru and in the global car market means the Japanese automaker has put less effort into maintaining its rally legend personality in recent years and more into building a brand known for SUVs and EVs.
But now it looks like those two worlds could be about to collide because Subaru is getting ready to unleash a Solterra STI. That’s according to Japanese magazine Best Car, which claims an STI model will be added to the electric SUV’s lineup in the summer of 2024.
This news isn’t totally unexpected, at least not to anyone who remembers that Subaru showed a Solterra STI concept (seen in the images on this post) at the Tokyo Motor show back in 2022. The blue show car featured red highlights across its splitter, side skirts, rear diffuser and wheels, and wore a rear spoiler with the ‘STI’ legend on each end plane. But at that time there was no suggestion from the automaker that it was anything other than a concept.
Related: New Subaru BRZ Touge Limited Edition For Italy Looks Like The STI We Never Got
If Subaru does create a Solterra STI, it might not be in the mould of the STIs of old. The JDM STI version of the current WRX, for instance, is only a trim package and offers no more power than the stock WRX. But it would be a stretch to apply the STI to a Solterra with no power-boosting performance modifications at all, given how ordinary the base 215 hp (218 PS) dual-motor SUV’s acceleration is. Zero to 60 mph (96 km/h) in 6.5 seconds isn’t exactly slow, but it looks it when you consider that Ford, Hyundai, Kia and Tesla offer same-sized EVs that can get there up to 3.1 seconds faster.
It’s possible that Subaru might not badge the new car STI at all, but STe. The firm recently filed a trademark with the German Patent and Trademark Office for ‘STe,’ a badge clearly intended for a sporty electrified, or fully electric performance car.
