Car companies working together usually goes well. Of course, there are some instances when partnerships have gone wrong. The combination ofChrysler and Mercedes-Benz was the worse German-American partnership since Mr. Busch met Mr. Anheuser and developed that tasteless brew called Budweiser. Those keen TopGear watchers will know that’s not our joke, but it worked here anyways.
The same can be said of Daewoo and Chevrolet. Sure, they made some cheap cars, but they were just terrible. In fact, they might have set Chevrolet back a few years in Europe, due to cheapness image they still have.
We’re not sure if this is going to happen with Toyota and Subaru. Both of these companies are strong and create wonder vehicles that are fun to drive on one end and practical on the other. This combination might make for the best all-around Japanese entry-level sports car we have ever seen.
Updated 06/01/2011: Automotive News has unveiled new details on the Subaru FT-86 sports car set to be revealed later this year at the Tokyo Auto Show. Subaru expects a longer-than-average life cycle for the car and is looking at variant packages, including a possible STI version, but while the usual STI models are all about turbocharged version, the FT-86 STI will keep the engine naturally aspirated. The sports car will be offered with the new generation 2.0-liter, four-cylinder boxer engine combined with manual or automatic transmission.
The Performance
Subaru’s have never wowed us with their design, but what always gets us is the way they drive, and we imagine that this one will be no different. A 2.5-liter turbocharged flat-4 engine will be under the hood of the performance STI, somewhere in the region of 300-bhp and all-wheel-drive seems like a good call. A 2.0-liter flat-4 is the most logical choice for the base models.
The chassis is said to come from a modified Subaru Legacy platform, with suspension components donated from the smaller Impreza. Now, don’t be fooled by talk of rear-wheel or front-wheel drive. This talk is for the Toyota version. The Subaru will most certainly have all-wheel, or that’s what we thought.
Now, we should point out that there have reports that this version won’t pack all-wheel drive due to cost and that makes sense. That being said, we don’t think that the automaker would abandon all-wheel drive entirely. If these rumors are true, a base model will likely carry FWD or RWD, but we would imagine high-end models would feature AWD.
When Will It Go On Sale
The Subaru FT-86 could go on sale as early as late next year, in time for the 2012 model year, It will start with a base price of under $25,000, while the STI might hit $35,000.
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