► Subaru unveilts its latest hot WRX
► Targets 300 metric horsepower, yob-spec bodykit…
► …and features a CVT?!
Subaru’s WRX STI still lives on, albeit in extremely small numbers. This is the S210 Prototype, a special edition of the current-generation WRX model. It’s just been unveiled at the 2025 Tokyo Auto Salon.
STI – or Subaru Tecnica International – has been hard at work with its latest ‘S’ series model, and has managed to tick all of the usual boxes when it comes to a Subaru performance car. Subaru says the latest S210 model ‘was developed by incorporating the technology and knowledge gained from the Nürburgring 24-hour race.
So, let’s go through the checklist. Over the top bodykit? Yup. Splitters front and rear, wide side sills and bespoke 19-inch wheels shod in Michelin rubber are all present and correct – as is an enormous rear wing. Inside, properly serious-looking carbon-backed Recaro front seats are fitted.
The S210 isn’t just for show, though. Subaru has fitted six-piston Brembo brakes up front with bespoke brake pads, and it features ‘specially tuned electronic control dampers and coil springs, and newly developed rear stabilizer bushes.’
All of this performance engineering is naturally designed to complement the powertrain. With the S210, a modified version of the ‘FA24’ turbocharged 2.4-litre flat-four engine is used, developing up to 297bhp and 277lb ft here. Subaru says it’s achieved these numbers by some new turbocharger components and a bespoke ECU.
But here comes the interesting part, as the brand says that power is sent to the wheels via a Subaru Performance Transmission – code for Subaru’s own CVT. This is the first ‘S’ car to use one.
Yikes.
Subaru says that it has worked on its in-house CVT by ‘tuning the gearshift characteristics to match the engine output, with a high degree of controllability.’ The result is, apparently, ‘an extremely heightened pleasure of driving as the driver’s intentions are precisely transmitted to the car.’
Just 500 S210 models will be sold.