True, the latest Subaru WRX is less edgy (no STi wing, that is) and with horsepower and torque levels that are downright mainstream (271 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque).

It happened again. I was asked the question. Every time I drive a WRX model these past few years, especially special editions ...

For 2025, Subaru updated the WRX to now include the tS, which at first glance appears to be the same flannel-wearing street ...

With tuned suspension, Brembo brakes, and rally-inspired DNA, the WRX tS carves out its own niche—but doesn’t quite fill the STI-sized void. The Zeekr 9X is the brand’s first plug-in hybrid ...

Therefore, the 2024 Subaru WRX TR is shaping up to be a sports sedan that will blend elements of the STI we now miss so much, along with the usability and capability of the current WRX.

The car isn't the WRX STI replacement performance fans have been longing for ever since Subaru last year said there won't be an STI, at least for this generation of the WRX.

In March 2022, there was a startling announcement: Subaru would not produce a next-generation gas-powered WRX STI. Nearly three years later, the company appears to have had a change of heart.

This is, of course, still not a WRX STI. The tS badge, which is worryingly close to the TR badge on a very different WRX variant, stands for "tuned by STI." Just as with Japan's WRX S4 STI Sport ...

Subaru revived the WRX STI with the S210, but a few key details have left fans wanting more.

This time around, though, it's based on a WRX S4 STI Sport R EX that Subaru doesn't offer here. And just like the S209, production is also seriously limited, although it won't be quite as rare.

Subaru says that just 500 examples of the WRX S4 STI Sport♯ will be built for the Japanese market, all priced at the equivalent of $43,000.