Subaru Seemingly Ghosts WRX STI on Consumer Web Sites

Tim Healey
by Tim Healey

In the wake of the news that Subaru is killing the WRX STI going forward, it appears that the STI is already dead on the company’s U.S. and Canadian consumer Web sites.

It does seem that one can use the build and price tool to price out a 2021 STI, but otherwise, the car has been seemingly memory-holed.

I’ve reached out to Subaru to see if there’s a deeper meaning to be gleaned here — is all STI inventory sold out, or is this just a natural adjustment to the fact that the STI won’t exist in 2022? I have not yet heard back. UPDATE: Subaru replied with a comment that addresses the lack of the STI for 2022 but doesn’t get into specifics about the car’s disappearance from consumer sites: “Yes, we recently announced that there will be no 22 STI. In fact, there will be no STI based on the new WRX platform as we look to the future of the product. We are looking at electrification for the next generation. No timeline as of yet.”

It is, of course, not unusual for a car that’s not being carried over to disappear from consumer sites. It just seems to be happening awfully soon after the demise of the STI was announced, and it’s also a bit confusing that the B and P tool is still up but the car is otherwise not shown.

Slow news heading into the weekend, I know. But mildly interesting, nonetheless.

[Image: Subaru]

Tim Healey
Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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 8 comments
  • Ajla Ajla on Apr 01, 2022

    For a vehicle model they offered for 30 years and had a decent following I'm surprised they just so unceremoniously dumped it with no concrete replacement. They could have at least popped a 2022 "Final Edition".

  • Tele Vision Tele Vision on Apr 01, 2022

    My friend Dave had an STi many years ago. He'd always been enamoured of them and finally bought one. The love wilted quickly. He's a country boy and can drive anything well - because he had to from the age of ten - and he said that his STi had to be on full-boil to get going from a stop. Being out of the turbo meant he was in a heavy AWD four-holer that would bog badly until the boost came on. Also, he said nearly every moderately sporting car near him wanted to race. Perhaps an electric STi is the way to go: 100% torque at zero RPM ain't a bad thing - Dave would love it.

    • Stuki Stuki on Apr 05, 2022

      What's the point of paying for 300hp, if you're not going to be at a point in the rev range where you get those 300hp..... Engines are always comparatively dull and boring, away from where they breath the freest.

  • MitchConner MitchConner on Apr 01, 2022

    If Subaru withdrew from the US entirely I’d miss it about as much as when Daihatsu, Isuzu, and Suzuki left.

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