Our intrepid spy photographers have managed to capture the first images of Subaru's STI performance variant of the upcoming FT-86 Coupe, presently being jointly developed with Toyota. Rumors continue to swirl about the car, with suggestions that development is delayed and over budget. Let’s stick with what we know—or at least what we can see in these spy shots.
The styling appears to be, well, not what you’d call traditionally beautiful. Fans of the first generation BMW Z3 Coupe (1999 to 2002) will love the stubby-looking, shoebox-shaped silhouette. For everyone else, this remains one really odd-looking car. At this early stage of development, we’re not certain if we should lambast the Subaru design department or send our congratulations to the person responsible for what could simply be some very misleading camouflage.
Aesthetics aside, the bump on the hood of this test vehicle hints at there being a high performance STI-spec powertrain lurking under the sheet-metal. A front-mounted intercooler can just be spotted in the lower grille opening. A 2.5-liter turbocharged flat-4 engine will likely power this 2+2 coupe—somewhere in the region of 300-bhp and all-wheel-drive seems a safe bet for the range-topping STI edition. A 2.0-liter flat-4 is the most probable choice for the base model.
The chassis is said to come from a modified Subaru Legacy platform, with suspension components donated from the smaller Impreza. Ever since the concept first appeared at the 2009 Tokyo Auto Show (as the Toyota FT-86 Coupe), rumors were rampant that the car would be rear-wheel drive. That might be true for the Toyota version, though highly unlikely for Subaru—a brand that built its engineering reputation around all-wheel drive.
The Subaru and Toyota sport coupes could go on sale as early as late next year, in time for the 2012 model year and with a base price under $25,000.