Skip to main content

Subaru’s STI-tuned wagon can haul lumber — and a lot more

Subaru Levorg STI teaser
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Enthusiasts asked, and Subaru listened. The Japanese carmaker has announced plans to build a STI-tuned variant of the Levorg, an Impreza-derived station wagon sold in a number of global markets.

Technical specifications haven’t been published yet, but it’s not too far-fetched to imagine the hot-rodded Levorg will borrow its engine from Japan’s version of the WRX STI. If our assumption is correct, the wagon will land with a turbocharged and direct-injected 2.0-liter four-cylinder that produces 308 horsepower at 6,400 rpm and 311 pound-feet of torque at 4,400 rpm. Subaru’s hallmark all-wheel drive system will of course come standard, but what remains to be seen is whether the turbo four will be bolted to a six-speed manual transmission, or to a continuously variable transmission (CVT).

Subaru Levorg STI teaser
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Moving out of the engine bay, the Levorg will receive a full body kit made up of a more aggressive-looking front bumper, side skirts, flared fenders, and an air diffuser built into the rear bumper. Subaru’s dark teaser image also suggests the wagon will gain a roof-mounted spoiler. All told, the Levorg STI will share more than a passing resemblance to the Levorg STI Concept that was shown to the public earlier this year at the Tokyo Auto Salon.

The performance treatment will continue inside with sport seats for the front passengers, and a STI-specific instrument cluster. Out back, it will be just as practical as the standard model thanks to a generously sized trunk.

Read more: Subaru’s 2017 Impreza is sharper, more dynamic to drive, and safer than ever

The Subaru Levorg STI will make its full debut in the coming weeks. Now, for the bad news. The standard Levorg isn’t offered in the United States, and Subaru has previously made it clear that it’s not planning on returning to the compact wagon segment anytime soon. That means there’s virtually no chance of seeing the Levorg STI land on our shores.

Editors' Recommendations

Ronan Glon
Ronan Glon is an American automotive and tech journalist based in southern France. As a long-time contributor to Digital…
Hackers are trying to sell a haul of more than 73 million user records
Hands on a laptop.

More than 73 million user records stolen from across a number of online services are being offered for sale on the dark web by hacker group ShinyHunters, according to ZDNet.

Affected services include online dating app Zoosk (30 million user records), printing service Chatbooks (15 million), food delivery service Home Chef (8 million), online marketplace Minted (5 million), and U.S. news site Star Tribune (1 million).

Read more
Twitter is sharing more data with advertisers and you can no longer opt out
Jack Dorsey

Your Twitter experience is now a bit less private. As its revenue faces headwinds, Twitter announced it is withdrawing a privacy setting that allowed users to control whether some of their data should be shared with third-party advertisers. The move, Twitter said in a notification sent to users on Wednesday, will help it "continue operating as a free service."

Prior to this update, there was an option to "Share your data with Twitter’s business partners" which allowed you to opt-out of Twitter sharing information such as ads you saw or interacted with and your phone’s tracking identifier with advertisers. That is now enabled by default with no opt-out for anyone except for those who live in the European Union, the European Free Trade Association, and the United Kingdom.

Read more
It’ll take a lot more than $1 billion for Delta to go carbon-neutral
Delta CEO Ed Bastian

On Friday, Delta Air Lines pledged to commit $1 billion over the next decade to lower its emissions — with the goal of becoming the first airline to go carbon-neutral.

The move is fitting, considering the United Nations warned last year that there are only about 10 years left to take decisive action on climate change in order to “avert catastrophe.”

Read more