The internet has been humming with rumours lately of a turbocharged version of one of the most popular sports cars released recently — the Toyota GT86. A report by Japan’s Best Car magazine has reported that the famous coupe will be getting an increased capacity 2500cc option from the Subaru bin.
To add to the speculation the magazine mentioned the 2500cc will be turbocharged. The only logical option would be the 2500cc Subaru WRX STI engine, which boasts 221kW and 407Nm of torque.
With the WRX weighing in at a hefty 1525kg, and the nimble 86/BRZ weighing in around 1250kg (without all-wheel drive), performance would be impressive. With turbocharged vehicles becoming heavier and heavier in the last few years this could certainly be the breath of fresh air we all need.
As a comparison, 20 years ago the Subaru WRX STI weighed in at a lightweight 1220kg and produced 206kW compared with today’s 1525kg and 225kW. Although largely different these figures aren’t a great comparison as gearbox technology, tyre size, and torque, along with smarter computer-aided traction control, has helped improve acceleration and handling.
With that being said, we are certain that a modern, lightweight coupe combined with Subaru’s torquey turbocharged flat-four would be an absolute monster. Best Car‘s report did carry on to say that although the new 2500cc engine would be all-wheel drive it won’t be manual, but rather an eight-speed automatic with paddle-shift. We’ve driven the MY15 WRX STI and trust us, the paddle-shift would come in handy as acceleration is that impressive.