Toyota/Subaru RWD sports car confirmed for 2011 with boxer engine

Toyota/Subaru RWD sports car confirmed for 2011 with boxer engine

[IMG2=left]http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2008/04/948895225_250-op.jpg[/IMG2]At a press conference in Japan today, Toyota CEO Katsuaki Watanabe finally confirmed that his company is jointly developing a pair of rear-wheel-drive sports cars with Subaru. Each brand will get its own version of the car, which will be powered by one of Subaru's boxer engines, though the engine's displacement, power output and even number of cylinders is not yet known. We're also not sure if the Subaru version will feature the brand's trademark all-wheel-drive system either as an option or standard equipment, or whether Toyota might offer AWD as well in an homage to the Celica GT4 (we hope so!). The styling will most likely resemble the sketch that was published by Autocar yesterday, though we don't expect one car to be a rebadged version of the other. Mark your calendars for 2011, which is when the new sports cars are scheduled to arrive. They'll be riding on a brand new platform and be built in Japan at a new plant by Fuji Heavy Industries, the parent company of Subaru. Toyota also confirmed rumors this morning that it will be buying up more of Fuji, raising its stake in the company from 8.7% to 16.5%.

These RWD sports cars will mean a lot for both companies, as Subaru hasn't offered a performance coupe since the slightly odd SVX, and Toyota all but abandoned performance models after the Supra, Celica and MR2 were cancelled.

[Source: Automotive News, Autocar]
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this should be interesting. curious to see the concept and hope the styling doesn't take some of the designs from subaru.

no kidding. The new WRX is fugs.

fingers crossed lets hope this turns out good.

MY fingers are crossed that this actually makes it out the factory.

Once you see the new STi in the flesh it looks good. There is something about it that you can't get away from.

I would rock one any day.

X

+1. I love hatches/wagons. Always have.

+1

The reason why I drive a hatch...

thats what i heard but then i saw it at the auto show and i gotta say the evo looks better than the sti. yes, i said it, THIS YEAR the evo looks better than the sti. the sti looks like an egg on wheels. however the wrx they had there was sex on wheels. i did not like the wrx on paper but it looks great in person.

The evo front looks like it's still incomplete. I pick the STi over that any day.

i would of also, but the technology in the evo is better along with the interior. subaru hasn't put anything really that new in the last few models of the sti. bascially the same engine it has always had with modifications for emissions. i have test driven them both and definitely would pick the evo.

This whole RWD thing is terrible. I wish they would make an AWD version instead. When and if this car comes out, I would feel like I'm driving a Subaru knock-off made by toyota and would feel very awkward...

Just buy Subaru. But then again, Subaru will now be under the influence of Toyota now. Ugh... I hate Toyota now! All their stuff is turning into crap.

I guess i'll wait for the current impreza to get a face lift and consider buying the new one. As long as its made and assembled in Japan, I'll still buy it whether its a Subaru or Toyota.

You forgot "and AWD".

I don't care if its AWD or not. in fact, If i could get any cheap car right now just for fun, i would want a vitz/yaris or aigo. I love those small cars...

Actually, I've always wanted the first generation Yaris with the TRD turbo option.

Wow long wait for this baby to arrive. I hope it's worth the wait...RWD sound's cool.