Subaru is teasing us with a new WRX concept we can’t have

No sooner has Subaru run the WRX STI out of the UK market, it’s dangling the prospect of a new one under our noses. This sketch is our first look at what Subaru is snappily titling ‘Viziv Performance Concept 2’.

Set to star at the 2018 Tokyo Auto Salon later this week, the car “embodies the brand’s vision for the future of making cars that deliver Enjoyment and Peace of Mind to its customers”, says Subaru. The capital letters are the company’s own…

Essentially, what we’ve got is the Viziv concept wearing the usual WRX STI get-up: deeper side sirts, flared intakes and pumped wheelarches. Is it just us, or does that complex wing and the red pinstriping give this thing more than a hint of the latest Honda Civic Type R’s wacky visual?

Now, this is the part of the story where we ought to speculate – salivate, even – about the idea of a production version of this concept, perhaps with a 350bhp turbocharged boxer engine, clever four-wheel drive via several differentials, a manual gearbox and an exhaust the size of your head. But Subaru’s adamant that the WRX STI is out of the UK for good. So we’ll not torture ourselves. 

Meanwhile, you may be reading this in Japan, or the USA, or another territory in which Suabru continues to sell its rally-bred performance saloon. So while we sob at this teaser, feel free to deliver your verdicts below. You lucky lot.