Subaru FT-86 – Turbo and 4WD

Rendered speculation on the Subaru FT-86

It’s being reported that the Subaru version of the FT-86 Coupe (Subaru 216A) will come with 300bhp and four wheel drive.

Toyota brought the FT-86 – a 2 door coupe concept that may well see the return of the Celica name – to the Tokyo Motor Show this month. Designed to be an affordable coupe – and designed in collaboration with Subaru – it looks a promising new car. But we’ve seen no real detail on the other part of the equation – the Subaru FT-86 (know internally as the 216A). Which has inevitably lead to much speculation on what Subaru has in mind.

Best Car magazine in Japan has taken the speculation a step further and has come up with what they say has been leaked to them by a source at Subaru. Apparently the Subaru version of the FT-86 will come equipped with the company’s trademark four wheel drive and sport a meaty turbo lump from the WRX STI. Which does sound a lot of fun and rather enticing.

But how much of this is wishful thinking? When this project was first announced, Toyota and Subaru said they were to jointly develop a ‘compact rear-wheel-drive sports car’. Which doesn’t really fit in to this speculation. According to Best Car the Subaru will offer either a 250bhp lump or the 300bhp Boxer from the WRX. It will come with All Wheel Drive and be lower and wider than the Toyota version.

There’s a lot of logic to the idea that the Subaru version of the FT-86 will be harder-edged and more powerful than the Toyota version. But until we get some sort of idea from Subaru on this I think we should probably declare this to be wishful thinking.