RSS RSS Twitter Twitter
Leftlane - news, reviews, and info for the auto-industry
 
 

More Subaru/Toyota sports coupe details emerge

05/28/2008, 8:56 AM

By paulee

It seems Subaru’s earlier concerns about having to share the marketplace with a nearly identical model from Toyota will be put to rest, as Wednesday’s reports say Toyota will only sell its yet-to-be-named version in Japan. While this may be bad news to Toyota fans, the car will have a typically Subaru feel, as its mechanicals and platform are sourced from the Impreza range.

Turning the coupe’s rear wheels will be a naturally aspirated version of Subaru’s 2.0 liter flat-four (long discontinued in North American versions) tuned to produce somewhere around 220 horsepower at 6,500rpm, according to Inside Line. Expect the engine to be a bit of a screamer, in similar vein to Honda / Acura’s great and late Integra Type R, which the two automakers reportedly used as a benchmark. A six-speed manual borrowed from the WRX STI is the only transmission revealed thus far.

The image of the Subaru-branded coupe comes courtesy of Japan’s Holiday Auto magazine, although it is not an official picture of the car. The car portrayed in the photo reminds us of Honda’s latest Accord coupe, especially in its profile and C-pillar.

The uniquely-styled cars will be built at Subaru’s Gunma plant in Japan. The four-seater coupes should ride on a 103-inch wheelbase, and tip the scales at around 2,866lbs. Pricing is still expected to start below the $20,000 mark, while availability is scheduled late in 2011.

    Print This Post

New car price quote

Zero obligation price quote from a trusted local dealer.
 
 

05/28, 9:06 AM

posted by:

DeansterTJ

The time is absolutely right to bring back the RSX. They can drop that 240 hp S2000 engine into it and let it push the company into the financial stratosphere.

05/28, 9:27 AM

posted by:

mr.meanpants

And they say VW won’t be bringing the Scirocco. Just you wait…

05/28, 9:34 AM

posted by:

Need4SSpeed

“Toyota will only sell its yet-to-be-named version in Japan.”

F**K YOU TOYOTA. That was the only car by Toyota that I had been anticipating since this news came out. Toyota will only hurt themselves if they don’t bring something like to the North American market. ^ I certainly hope so mr.meanpants because this is bull ****.

Toyota could do so much better if they had an affordable, small, efficient, lightweight RWD car offerred over here.
Whatever, I’m praying that Nissan’s 240SX revival happens now…

05/28, 9:43 AM

posted by:

xyunya

Deanster, S2000 engine is north-south configuration, RSX needs east-west. Expensive to re-arrange. With Honda engine craftiness they can tune existing 2.0LCivic Si mill into 220-230 HP without any sweat. Honda engine will run much smoother then Subaru boxer, but will have less torque. RSX would be welcome news now in Acura lineup even if it is re-worked 5 door Civic from Europe (even better with 2.2L 180 HP diesel now in use in Europe)

05/28, 9:47 AM

posted by:

Need4SSpeed

Doesn’t Acura offer a re-badged 4 dr Civic for the Canadian market what’s that called?

^ Yeah when I was back in Rome a week ago I saw the Honda Civic CRZ with the diesel, pretty interesting looking car. Definitely reminds you of the old CRX’s…

05/28, 9:53 AM

posted by:

jonstew

Good Job Toyota; you sure would not want to change the median buying age of your cars from within 10 years of retirement to something just a bit younger.

05/28, 9:54 AM

posted by:

shaver

Package sounds sweet. The styling will be the big question. We will probably see 2.5L in NA and this begs question of.

05/28, 9:56 AM

posted by:

mr.meanpants

They have these drifting events by my house. The 240SX are the kings of it. Never paid that car much mind, until I saw one go sideways.

05/28, 10:03 AM

posted by:

purdue

Well, what the heck is Toyota up to in Lafayette?

05/28, 11:27 AM

posted by:

jumpoffit

toyota needs a sports car in their line up bad- all i see on the road from toyota are boring boxes- no more celica, no more supra (yeah i know it has been a decade) and no more MR2 spyder? is there anything else toyota doesn’t WANT to give the US market?

05/28, 12:37 PM

posted by:

xyunya

jumpoffit, Toyota want to sell what public wants to buy. MR2 and Celica are gone, because production did not justify sale volume. People wanted 10 mpg SUV’s not 35 mpg Celicas. This is new day and new opportunity.

05/28, 12:44 PM

posted by:

RaineMan

Wow… so much for Toyota offering a “sports” car in its lineup. I guess the soccer moms, family men, and old geezers will be happy.

It is going to be a 2WD Impreza coupe… that will probably cost more than the AWD WRX. Where is the fun in that?

05/28, 12:46 PM

posted by:

Need4SSpeed

yeah xyunya, well now that gas has reached $4 a gallon and is only increasing you think Toyota would have been smart to bring back those cars now or soon. Obviously they are working on the joint sub-compact sports car w Subie, but not offer it in North America? What kind of stupid **** is that? Unless Toyota is just waiting to offer future Celica, or MR2 in the near future, but damnit i’m tired of waiting already…

05/28, 12:50 PM

posted by:

xyunya

Need4SSpeed, Toyota is known all over the world. In darkest corners of Africa they know Toyota, may not know what Chevy or Ford is, but know Toyota. If Toyota build car jointly with Subi, and Toyota owns good chunk of Subi, it may be marketing schema to sell the same car in US as Subi and in markets where Subi is not a player (Europe!) sell the same thing as Toyota.

05/28, 1:29 PM

posted by:

Need4SSpeed

^ yeah that scheme may work in other markets but not here in the U.S or Canada. I agree with RaineMan as well, I think it will be difficult for Subaru to sell a 2dr coupe in the U.S especially if you can get a Impreza WRX with similiar performance for a cheaper price, but then with the way the Subarus are starting to look I don’t know, I hope this looks better.

I can see Toyota doing this with Subaru in Europe but over here not so much. My guess though is that if it’s a Subaru and seeing that it’s a Subaru I doubt it will even be offered in only RWD, it’ll have to be AWD, have the Turbo Boxer and probably cost in the high 20’s and 30k’s. Already missing it’s main mark.

05/28, 1:46 PM

posted by:

RaineMan

Toyota could start manufacturing “new” Supras right now… not change a thing from the last ones they made… and they would still sell like hotcakes for 20-25k.

05/28, 2:19 PM

posted by:

HemiRoadRunner

Toyota makes $H!T anyway.

05/28, 2:34 PM

posted by:

johnnycanuck

Now, now HemiR. There are millions of pathetic, drooling, mindless drones that could well take offence at a comment such as yours. Mind you, they might have to grow a pair first.

05/28, 2:42 PM

posted by:

HemiRoadRunner

yeah you’re right, my bad. Excuse me for everyone’s personal taste in cars no matter how crappy they look. I can almost bet though you won’t see “pristine” 2000 nissan maxima’s and 2008 toyota camry’s at car shows 20-30 years from now like you see classic American cars whether they’re cruisers, muscle cars, sports cars, trucks etc. To me, asian cars are just so tasteless. No someone please complain about this post.

05/28, 2:47 PM

posted by:

LaCaLover

Why does it have hYundai styling motifs?

05/28, 3:00 PM

posted by:

tripleonefive

Damn that Integra really was legendary(no pun intended)
Hasnt been around for 6 years and Toyota is benchmarking it. I wish Honda would bring back the Prelude type SH only with AWD That was a great car to drive. Light and powerful

05/28, 4:30 PM

posted by:

NoNameDenton1

Toyota is a bland mobile, they are becoming more conservative then Buick ever was. Even if this car does reach production, I will still think Toyota will mess up Subaru and wreck a good thing.

05/28, 4:59 PM

posted by:

Impulsive

Jesus, stop with the ****ed up headlight design!!!!!!

05/28, 7:00 PM

posted by:

Need4SSpeed

Haha hell yeah RaineMan, I’d spend 25k for a MXIV Supra in a heartbeat. Pretty true HemiRR about what you said about about classic American cars vs Japanese, but have you ever been to a classic car show anywhere else besides North America? They could have them else where. I know one Toyota that’s pretty legendary the 2000 GT. Those things are selling for over six figures.

05/28, 7:24 PM

posted by:

VictorRaikkonen

“Why does it have hYundai styling motifs?”

I would say look at the last RSX in “Blazing Orange Metallic,” and this looks like what the next RSX should have evolved into.

05/28, 8:31 PM

posted by:

LaCaLover

Victor, this car has full-on genesis coupe headlamps

05/29, 8:54 AM

posted by:

HemiRoadRunner

Speed: I know barret jackson, pebble beach etc. is basically ALL American and Euro cars. Apparantly, in japan they aren’t too much into car shows because they’d rather spend their money on iphones and nintendo wi’s.

05/29, 9:13 AM

posted by:

Blakkarr

The yellow rims look nice, but likely will not make it… go buy aftermarket.

But the “ultimate warrior” headlights have got stop showing up. The LF-A was tolerable. The Genesis coupe was fun. But this is just pointless. Not ugly or awkward. Just pointless.

05/29, 1:26 PM

posted by:

Need4SSpeed

lol true that HemiRR…

08/06, 6:48 PM

posted by:

iafb83

This makes me miss my 98 Prelude Type SH. Yeah it was front wheel drive, but due to the SH torque transfer, it felt like a rear wheel drive car. When you floored it and turned there was no wheel spin, ever. When you took a turn too fast, the back end would start to slide out predictably. Amazing handling. Honda should bring that concept back w/o making it into a 4000 lb sedan for trendy people.

 
 
You need to log in with your user name and password before you can leave comments.

    

Forgot your Password?

Don't have a user name yet? Simply fill in the form below and click the link provided in the
confirmation email. You must supply a valid email address to complete the registration process.

  
 
 
 
 
  • Login
  • About
  • Contact
Please note that you need to log in with your user name and password before you can leave comments.
  

login
cancel
Forgot your Password?
Don't have a user name yet? Click here to register now.

Simply fill in the form below and click the link provided in the confirmation email. You must supply a valid email address to complete the registration process.

  
submit
cancel
Leftlane is the leading source for automotive industry and vehicle news, new car research, future vehicle information, and reviews. Read by car shoppers, driving enthusiasts, autoworkers, executives, and investors, the website is updated throughout the day with the very latest auto news - as it happens.

Leftlane also provides consumers with accurate and media-rich information on every car currently on the market. In-market shoppers can review specs, read overviews, view high-resolution images, watch videos, and estimate pricing. No other automotive publication brings together the same degree of timeliness, thoroughness and accuracy as Leftlane.
 
submit
cancel