Subaru just quietly dropped a bomb that STI fans have waited four long years to hear
The hottest concept from Japan Mobility Show 2025 just got the green light. And it's only one of three manual-transmission Subarus set to arrive by 2027.
Subaru just confirmed what fans were almost too afraid to believe. The production version of the Performance-B STI Concept, the car that stole the show at Japan Mobility Show 2025, is actually happening. The confirmation was quietly slipped into the Japanese WRX landing page. And it will be one of three new manual-transmission models the brand promises to roll out by 2027.
Subaru set the tone right away — the production Performance-B STI will have its own personality. Not a WRX clone. Not a BRZ remix. Something else entirely. Specs are still under lock and key, but the concept already drops hints — a turbocharged boxer paired with the trademark Symmetrical AWD. Pure, uncut STI DNA.
The show car looked suspiciously close to a production model. Flared fenders, a hood scoop, mean bumpers, side skirts, twin exhausts, and a massive rear wing — everything was in place. How much of that arsenal makes it to the assembly line is the real question for the coming months.
A hatchback in this format automatically lands in the same arena as the Toyota GR Corolla and Honda Civic Type R — and that’s arguably the most exciting twist in the whole story. In parallel, Subaru is cooking up two more surprises: a WRX with the revived TY85 manual gearbox and a stripped-down BRZ based on the STI Sport Type RA. It looks like the Japanese decided to bring everything back at once. And this is only the beginning.