The Subaru lineup is laden with nameplates that most Americans, even non-enthusiasts, are likely familiar with: Outback, Forester, Crosstrek. But for gearheads, there’s one three-letter name in those showrooms that fires up the engine better than most: WRX.
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Well, okay, if you want to be a real stickler, you could argue that the three letters that really excite car lovers are STI — at least, when appended to WRX. (On their own, the only people those letters excite are urologists.) But Subaru hasn’t offered a new WRX STI since 2019, leaving the WRX alone to stand above the BRZ and represent the pinnacle of the brand’s performance aspirations over the last few years.
While the Rex, as it’s affectionately known by some, is still fairly fresh in automotive terms, the recent arrival of a new generation of Impreza — the compact car with which the WRX has traditionally been based upon — has us wondering what the next stage of Rexy’s evolution will be like. Hard details are still few and far between, but based on what we’ve heard and what we know about the brand, we can start to form a picture of the future of Subaru’s three-letter four-door sports car.
When will the next WRX arrive?
The current WRX was introduced in 2021, but the fifth-generation Impreza it’s based on — Subaru may have tried to distance the two cars, but the identical wheelbases don’t lie — first showed up at the end of 2016. The previous generation of WRX arrived in 2014, but its Impreza counterpart debuted in 2011. The arrival of the new sixth-generation Impreza in early 2023, then, suggests that a next-gen WRX could arrive somewhere in the 2026–2028 range.
Evidence pointing to the latter end of that time frame: Subaru is a small company, at least by global automaker standards, and with so much energy and money being spent on revising big-sellers like the brand’s crossovers and trying to push into the electric vehicle market, it’s easy to see the brand letting the current WRX rest on its laurels as long as possible. Plus, a 2026 arrival for the next-gen car would mean the current Rex would only be on sale for about four years — a very short lifespan for a modern production car, especially one still selling fairly well for its category. (Subaru moved around 25,000 WRXes in 2023 in America.)
Evidence pointing to an earlier arrival: Subaru has already begun rolling out variants of the WRX, in the form of the 2024 WRX TR. Combining features from the top-shelf WRX GT with the desirable manual gearbox (the GT only offers a CVT automatic), it’s the sort of new addition to the lineup that a carmaker might roll out towards the latter part of a model’s run
Then again, it’s also the sort of variant a carmaker might roll out right before a mid-life refresh, which seems like a more likely case for the Rex. If Subaru does plan on refreshing the car rather than replace it outright, expect a few subtle design tweaks and maybe a handful more ponies from its turbocharged flat-four — but nothing extreme, at least until the true next-gen WRX arrives.
Will there be a new WRX STI?
That’s the $64,000 question. (And we’re not calling it that because that’s how much we expect it might cost.) When the current WRX launched, that was the first question on everyone’s lips, and one quickly answered by Subaru: no, at least not based closely on the new-for-’22 Rex.
“If we designed [a new STI] now, it would have a very limited shelf life,” Dominick Infante, Subaru’s U.S director of corporate communications, told Road & Track when the new WRX launched. “The regulations are changing so quickly that it kind of wouldn’t make any sense.” Subaru was even more direct with Autoweek: “A next-generation internal combustion engine WRX STI will not be produced based upon the new WRX platform.”
Subaru isn’t likely to let such a fabled nameplate go completely defunct, however. Common sense — and Infante’s comment — suggest that any forthcoming STI would need a powertrain capable of complying with a wide range of regulations and requirements, which in turn likely points to either an electric vehicle or a hybrid of some sort.
Given Subaru’s cagey remarks, a future STI might be anything from a standalone electric model related to the gas-powered WRX in name only to a hybrid version of a future development of the Rex. One thing feels guaranteed, however: something wearing those initials will arrive sooner or later.
Will the next Subaru WRX be a sedan, or a hatchback?
For the current-generation WRX, Subaru chose to only build it in sedan form, for both the sake of simplicity and because that’s what the majority of buyers were choosing. The sixth-gen Impreza that any future WRX would (presumably) be built upon, however, only comes in hatchback form — again, both to streamline the lineup and because that’s where the market was. Same goes for the closely related Subaru Levorg, which isn’t sold in the U.S. but shares much of its bones with the Impreza and WRX.
Given that Subaru’s compact cars seem generally to be heading towards hatchback body styles — which also makes it easier to convert them to crossovers like the Crosstrek — our money is on a next-gen WRX being more two-box than three-box.
Will the next WRX have a manual gearbox?
SubaruWe certainly hope so. While Subaru began offering an automatic on the WRX with the current-generation model, it — like all of Subaru’s automatics bar the one in the BRZ — is a continuously variable transmission, which foregoes traditional cogs with set ratios for an adjustable-ratio belt. Subaru’s version is one of the better ones on sale, but the manual still outsells it 3:1, according to the brand. So yeah, it seems pretty likely a future WRX will pack a manual gearbox.
Of course, whether it sticks with the stick may boil down to the answer to our next question…
Will the new Rex be an electric car?
Probably not — but, let’s face it, it depends on how long we have to wait. Assuming it rolls out in our best-guess timeframe of 2026–2028 and is based to at least some degree on the sixth-gen Impreza, it should be gas-powered. (Though given that the new Forester proves Subaru is getting more serious about hybrids, there’s a chance it may have a little electric help.)
If the future WRX winds up repeatedly being back-burnered, however, there’s a chance it could wind up being an EV. After all, as of now, the European Union and California alike are planning to require all new cars sold starting in 2035 to be electric. Unless that changes, or unless Subaru is willing to leave those markets behind, the Rex will need to go electric by then.
Will we finally get a WRX Crosstrek?
Tyler DuffyKeep dreaming. Subaru’s PR department told us at the launch of the Crosstrek Wilderness that there are zero plans to drop any sort of turbocharged motor and / or stick shift in the compact crossover, no matter how much journalists, rally drivers and lead-footed Vermonters would like to see it.
SubaruSubaru WRX
Specs
| Powertrain | 2.4-liter turbocharged inline-four; six-speed manual or CVT automatic; all-wheel-drive |
| Horsepower | 271 |
| Torque | 258 lb-ft |
| EPA Fuel Economy | 19 mpg city, 26 mpg highway |
| Seats | 5 |
Pros
- Lots of fun to drive
- All-weather grip and confidence
- Affordable for the performance it delivers
Cons
- Body cladding an acquired taste
- Gas mileage mediocre at best
- Requires a heavy foot to extract its potential
