The next-generation Subaru WRX STi will make utilize of an all-new hybrid powertrain aimed at boosting performance as well as efficiency. It’ll sit on the exact same worldwide platform (SGP) as the new Impreza as well as should introduce by the end of the decade, auto reveal can reveal.
Speaking from the European introduce of the latest Impreza, UK advertising director Chris Hawken suggested hybrid tech was inevitable: “[SGP] has been designed to take hybrid as well as electric,” he told us. “That is the method STi is going.”
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Hawken didn’t provide any type of more detail on the forthcoming hybrid WRX STi, however it is likely to take much of its style motivation from this year’s Viziv performance Concept. That means a similar variety of visual tweaks over the basic Impreza, including bigger wheels, an aggressive body set as well as an aero-optimised wing. The idea was a coupe, however it’s likely that the production design will stick with a more familiar saloon or hatchback shape.
The existing vehicle creates 296bhp as well as 407Nm from its 2.5-litre flat-four engine, so it’s expected the new version will significantly enhance on those figures. like all electrified powertrains, much of that torque will be offered from lower revs, enabling the new version, in theory, to outsprint present car’s 5.2-second 0-62mph time.
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However, provided Subaru’s commitment to its EyeSight security tech on every new model, the new WRX STi will be required to utilize the Impreza’s stepped CVT transmission – so there will be no handbook version.
Having only just revealed the restricted run WRX STi final Edition, there will be a short hiatus before the all-new hybrid STi arrives. however to plug the gap, the firm is establishing a choice of downsized turbo engines that are expected to appear in the Impreza hatch within the next 12 to 18 months.
“We are definitely working on downsized turbo engines,” Hawken said. “With Euro 6c coming in next September, vehicles like the existing STi have to stop. By 2019 as well as 2020 manufacturers have to show a huge decrease in CO2. The future is petrol, hybrid as well as electric.”
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