Subaru BRZ STI teased, power specs remain shaky

Since the inception of the Subaru BRZ, people who don’t understand what makes the little sports car so good have been lamenting its lack of a turbocharged powerplant. And every once in a while, a rumor will surface, bringing temporary hope to the hoards of the power hungry.

That’s what happened Sunday, when images of a BRZ with STI badging appeared on STI’s Japanese website.

 

And there hasn’t yet been a more convincing reason to get your hopes up, for sure. But it turns out that, in this case, the STI badges may signify that this is simply a BRZ with STI badges. Called the BRZ tS concept, this one has suspension developed by STI as well as some other body modifications to differentiate it from the run-of-the-mill car.

A Subaru rep at the company's U.S. headquarters told MSN Autos that the tS is a "tuner kit" and that it was "very likely" to arrive in the U.S. However, the company did not confirm any details about a possible STI model with more power.

There’s still a lot of speculation that a real, higher-power BRZ STI will see production, but we’d advise you not to get your hopes up too high. Toyota has already confirmed that it won’t build a turbocharged Scion FR-S (the BRZ’s sister car in the joint venture between Toyota and Subaru), and the economies of scale afforded by the partnership play a big role in the affordability of the BRZ. We’re not saying it won’t happen; we just wouldn’t bet on it.

Heck, if you wanted to believe every crazy BRZ rumor, you may as well have a look at the diesel hybrid convertible version.

 

[Sources: Subaru Technica International, Automotive News; Photo: Subaru Technica International]

Source: MSN