Here’s Another Subaru WRX That Isn’t An STI

The Japan-only STI Sport R-Black may have bright blue paint, a big wing and Recaro bucket seats, but it’s also got a CVT gearbox

Mike Bartholomew

12 Dec 2024

Not that it makes much difference to us here in Europe, where it’s not available anyway, but the ongoing lack of a full-fat STI version of the latest Subaru WRX continues to puzzle and disappoint us. Now, however, there’s a new special edition of the car in Japan.

It comes in WR Blue, it has a big boot spoiler, it’s got chunky Recaro bucket seats up front, and it’s even called the STI Sport R-Black… but it’s also mechanically unchanged, and only comes with a CVT gearbox. Sigh.

Yep, Subaru’s once again raised our hopes only to dash them against the rocks. In all fairness, the basic mechanical recipe still offers a lot to like: a 271bhp, 2.4-litre boxer four driving all four wheels. The lack of a manual option, though, is disappointing, although given how popular a gearbox choice it is in Japan, we imagine Subaru won’t have a problem finding homes for the 200 a month it plans to sell.

The optional, nostalgia-feeding spoiler and the big Recaro buckets in the front are the biggest nods to the STI badging, whereas the ‘Black Limited’ part comes from the black mirror caps and the suede-ish stuff on the dash.

Because cars are shockingly cheap in Japan compared to the UK, the Black Limited starts at ¥5,302,000 – around £27,500. Subaru’s also given the closely related Levorg estate a similar treatment (sadly minus the big wing). It’ll be selling 900 of those a month, for ¥5,368,000 (around £27,750).

It’s the latest in a line of special editions of the new WRX that look like STIs but definitely, unequivocally, absolutely are not STIs, including the Australia-only Club Spec and North American-market tS. What exactly is stopping you, Subaru? The Toyota GR Corolla needs some proper company.

The first full sentence spoken by an infant Mike was a review of the ride quality of a Volvo 850. It was “Daddy’s car goes bumpy-bump on a bumpy road,” so would probably need proofreading a bit, but it was a start.