Beyond The Revenge Of The Son Of More Toyobaru Details
Like us, Autocar has been paying close attention to the development of Toyota and Subaru’s forthcoming rear wheel-drive (RWD) coupe. The Brit pub says Subie’s working on the engine (two liter boxer) and chassis, while Toyota gets the interior right. And once again, this is not an Impreza replacement we’re talking about. Autocar quotes a Subaru rep as saying “this will be a smaller, lighter car with more niche appeal.” And the “smaller, lighter” ethos means there will not be turbocharged WRX or STI versions of the coupe– part of its rationale is passing Europe’s new, tougher emissions laws. Meanwhile, 7Tune has some rendered speculation on the looks of the wee beastie, while raising some concerns about the development process. Besides noting that Toyota is looking to answer its styling critics with the new design, 7Tune reports that “members of Toyota’s development team have admitted that the suspension from the Legacy is ‘weak and terrible’ but have endeavored to make some changes that will produce more sports car-like handling.” Still, the new coupe should provide plenty of opportunities for the tuning and aftermarket crowd, while also offering a light, fast, efficient coupe for the mass market. Still sounds good to us. You know; in theory.
More by Edward Niedermeyer
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I wonder if this collaboration is why Subaru massively bumped up the power of the WRX & STi for 2009. Early reports at nasoic say sti (330hp'ish) at 0-60 in 4.4, wrx(280hp'ish?) 0-60 in 4.8 Perhaps Subaru doesn't want this joint venture to be seen as competition for the WRX/STi ?
From the looks of the photo I looks like a baby Legacy, that would be so awesome if it keeps those clean looks in a smaller package. I really hope it doesn't turn out like the ugly stuff Subaru and Toyota have been churning out lately, I would really like to get one. Not sure where the Toyota boys get off saying the Legacy suspension is 'weak and terrible' they need to drive some of their Toyota's to find out what terrible is. I love the handling of our LegacyGT, and after almost 50,000 miles we haven't had any problems with the suspension, except for one wheel bearing which isn't a suspension component that is an axle part. I wouldn't mind it a tad stiffer but it's a good compromise of comfort for my wife who drives it all the time and flat handling for myself who takes it out for fun. 2700lbs/200hp/RWD I can't wait. Any info on transmission 5 or 6 speed, and balance. Sounds like a 21st century BMW 2002 that BMW couldn't make.
I guess Toyota's finally decided to free the sports car engineering team from their dungeons. Let's hope they still remember what a sports car is.
It's probably not turbo due to cost. The legacy suspension is, admittedly, a bit squishy. Maybe it's a mistranslation of something from Japanese?