A couple of days ago, Subaru shocked the masses by announcing that there would be no STI version in the next-gen WRX lineup. It never explicitly stated the reason, but said it was “studying the possibilities” and could later produce a new STI car not based on the WRX platform.
Road & Track was able to contact Subaru Corporate Communications Manager Dominick Infante, who said the rules were changing so fast, “a new STI would have a very limited shelf life.” It appears obvious that he was referring to environmental laws changing too fast to design a future-proof performance car running on fossil fuel.
The latest WRX debuted in September 2021 with a 2.4-liter engine on board rated at 275 PS (271 hp / 202 kW). An STI version was expected to debut with north of 300 PS (296 hp / 221 kW) at its disposal, but never did.