THE HEAD OF SUBARU AUSTRALIA has said it would be “unlikely” that the Subaru-branded version of Toyota’s upcoming FT-86 budget RWD sports car (above) will ever come to Australia, citing the non-availability of an AWD variant as the car’s biggest handicap.
The car, a joint project between Toyota and Subaru, has had a large amount of Subaru input in its design.
Based on a shortened Impreza chassis and powered by Subaru’s naturally-aspirated 2.0 litre EJ20 flat four engine, the lightweight coupe differs from the rest of Subaru’s local lineup by taking drive to the rear wheels only.
The basic design of the car, with the engine placed far back in the engine bay, means an AWD version is unlikely to eventuate. This, according to Subaru Australia managing director Nick Senior, means it won’t fit in with the company’s other Australian-market offerings.
“There are elements of that car (FT-86) that don’t fit with our Subaru DNA in Australia,” Senior said in an interview with Drive.com.au.
“The obvious issue is it is rear-wheel drive and quite plainly no-one is building an all-wheel-drive version at the moment so there is one key thing.
“We have hung our hats on all-wheel drive for nearly 12 years now, so why would we step away from something that has been ultra-successful for us and given us the highest share of any major Subaru distributorship in the world?”
While Toyota has already unveiled its version of the RWD coupe - the FT-86 - the debut for the Subaru-badged variant is still some distance away.
Camouflaged prototypes have been spotted undergoing testing in Europe, but pundits say much of the car’s sheetmetal will be shared with the FT-86.
Powertrain and driveline specs will likely be similar to the Toyota too, however some speculate a high-performance turbocharged STi model may arrive later.
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Why the hell do we need an AWD version? That’s a crap reason not to bring it.
A not so crap reason would be that Subarus are dog ugly and we wouldn’t buy it regardless of the drivetrain!
I’m scared.
.
Seems as though they have a fantastic looking vehicle (I think it looks great), and they’re gunna cock it up with a pissy little engine
From looks alone, they could have a 370z competitor… put in a 3.5LV6 (or similar), or even the turbo boxer from an STi.. pop it in the market for $60k and I think it’ll be a winner.
BUT, alas, it looks like they are going to pop in a NA 2.0 boxer engine and call it a Celica!
May the hairdressers of the world rejoice!
What a shame Subaru Australia is so short sighted.
Subaru have turned out some very ugly cars for the past 10 years. Now they finally have one that’s quite attractive and they want nothing to do with it.
With Australian’s love of RWD, I think it would be quite a high selling car. Lets hope they change their mind because I’d hate to been seen driving a Toyota!
actually i dun mind if Subaru isn’t bringing it in if Toyota is.
Toyota parts/services are cheaper and insurance would probably be the same.
but knowing Toyota Australia, i guess it’s not gonna happen.
If Subaru Australia don’t have plans to bring it into the country, then let’s hope that Toyota Australia sees it differently.
Honestly, dismissing the car because it’s not AWD is ridicous. The whole point of the the FT-86 is to offer an offerable rear-wheel powered sports car. There’s a market for these in Australia, fingers crossed Toyota Australia see this and already plan to bring it in.
Hopefully the FT-86 won’t be another Hyundai Genesis Coupe tease for us.
That is quite idiotic for Subaru imo
I think it has more to do with Toyota not allowing Subaru to sell this in small markets like Australia.
Competition for sales would hurt the bottom line, so Toyota are focusing on a single brand approach rather than diluting sales across 2 brands.
Subaru - Bloody Idiots !!!! Wake up to what WE want.
this sucks
Not many people on (R12s to be more precise) here get what these two companies are trying to create. A cheap RWD sports car! No, not a $60,000 370Z (we already have one… It’s called a 370Z!). And it’s not the same as the Celica… That was a FWD that was based on a all show no go tactic.
I think what they are doing is amazing. The boxer is one of the best sounding four cylinder engines out there. Sounds like it’s much bigger than it really is.
Let’s bring back the days of the SIlvia, Hachi Roku, and all the cheaper RWD sports cars.
Nah, I “get” what they are trying to do, I just think it could be so much more. It’s got heaps of potential.
Putting a 2 litre naturally aspirated engine in there is such a waste in my mind. Strong chance it’s not going to be as quick as it looks. (And as I mentioned, it looks great!)
FWD or RWD it’ll still be a celica in that case… just as you said, all show and no go.
I read elsewhere they they are aiming for 140-150kw. That’s underpowered in today’s world. (unless they get it under a tonne)
There IS a chance that they will produce a *FUN* underpowered RWD car, but I rate the MX5 as the only vehicle to have achieved that feat so far.
Meh.
Won’t matter. It’ll get SEVS pretty quickly and anyone who wants it will get it from Japan anyway.
“There are elements of that car (FT-86) that don’t fit with our Subaru DNA in Australia,”
*facepalm*
I suppose “Subaru DNA” does mean “boring”, really.
Is it that hard to understand that Subaru has been pushing the benefits of all wheel drive for years and to bring this in as RWD would be going against the message they have put years into? And it would cost more than a Toyota RWD version…
I hope Toyota give their version more poke than you get out of a MX-5
Im nothing short of ammused at the nay sayers. You all want a car to be exactly as you beleive it should be. Wouldn’t it be fantastic if we could all have exactly what we want? Unfortunately, this is reality and business on the whole sets about releasing products that appeal to the masses.
The fact that the platform is a joint venture means both companies have a chance to introduce a what will utlimately be a niche vehicle for far less R&D money than would be required for an individual venture. Perfect business sense. Subaru’s choice to refrain from releasing their version on the basis of wanting AWD is their choice and again does make sense. Subaru have become known for having AWD across the range and expecting them to change for one vehicle that ’some’ would prefer as RWD is like expecting a family car from Ferrari. They haven’t said they wont release it at all, just that they’d prefer to have AWD.
For those complaining about no Subaru version:
http://www.autoblog.com/2009/10/27/japanese-rumormill-reports-subarus-ft-86-will-get-turbo-power/
Look forward to seeing this released with a hybrid drive train allowing turbo like performance while maintaining fuel consumption and emission figures that allow this vehicle to offset the consumption and emissions of the monster trucks and SUVs Toyota sells on the US market. This will be a requirement to allow Toyota to continue selling those gas sucking pigs in the USA. Expect to see similar fleet consumption and emission standards in Australia.
A hybrid drive train will also allow Subaru to use electric drive to the front wheels while not having to deal with mechanical drive through the engine bay. In board mounted high torque compact electric motors controlled by microprocessors driving the front wheels in perfect harmony with the mechanical rear wheel drive. Bring it on.