There’s One Problem With New Subaru VIZIV Performance Concept

Subaru unveiled their new Subaru VIZIV Performance Concept at the Tokyo Motor Show this week. Performance fans want to know one thing.

After the Subaru VIZIV Performance Concept was unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show this week, fans want to know one thing. Where’s the hatch body style? The concept is a preview of the fifth-generation Subaru WRX and it’s a sleek sedan body, but where’s the hatch? While fans like the overall design of the performance machine unveiled in Japan, they still want a 5-door WRX/STI.

Subaru unveiled a preview of the next-generation WRX and WRX STI design language that’s likely to hit showrooms in 2019 as a 2020 model. Of course the final production model won’t look like the concept, but it gives performance enthusiasts a good idea of what the designers at Subaru Corporation have in mind for the future direction of the new performance model. Add a wing on the back and it gives fans an idea of the 2020 WRX STI.

We also know the performance models will be the next in the lineup to get the new Subaru Global Platform after the Forester and new Ascent 3-Row family hauler. The sedans are due for a complete remodel and fans are hoping for more changes like a new 5-Door hatch body style to return, and a new FA20 2.0-liter DIT powerplant under the hood. Neither has been confirmed by Subaru.

Subaru will infuse the fifth-generation WRX/STI with all of its core values which includes, Symmetrical all-wheel-drive, rally-bred driving performance, a Boxer engine, and improved safety technology. As reported in USA Today, Americans want hatchbacks more than sedans. And, the new-generation STI needs a hatch body style to compete with the new Honda Civic Type R, and Volkswagen Golf R hot hatches.

Look for the 2020 Subaru WRX STI to get a more powerful turbo boxer engine, (possibly a FA20 2.0-liter DIT), it will get a more rigid Subaru Global Platform architecture, have an even lower center of gravity, and it will be lighter with the use of carbon fiber parts in the bumpers, fenders, and roof, and it will get improved driving dynamics. What we don’t know is whether the fifth-generation models will get a 5-Door hatch body style with greater cargo-carrying ability and versatility.

Photo credit: Subaru