Subaru has officially announced this morning that its new rear-wheel drive (yes, RWD) sports car concept (internally known as the “216a”) which has co-developed with Toyota, will be making its world debut at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show in early March. Besides the official confirmation of the debut date, the interesting bit of news here is the confirmation of its RWD layout.
The new concept will be called the 2011 Subaru Rear-Wheel Drive Sports Car Technology Concept and come powered by an engine with the automaker’s trademark horizontally-opposed ‘boxer’ design. Subaru explains that the concept was designed to show how it plans to integrate its boxer engine expertise in a rear-wheel drive vehicle. [DISCUSS HERE]
Some exciting FT-86 news (if true) today. According to Motor Trend, as part an overall plan to more closely converge Toyota’s products with Subaru, the upcoming FT-86 will be powered by the 305hp / 290 lb-ft Subaru STI 2.5L turbo 4-cylinder engine, rather than the less powerful Subaru engine originally planned for the FT-86.
If true, this would mean that the FT-86 should share the same powerplant as the Subaru version of the FT-86.
In a 東京新聞 (Tokyo Newspaper) interview with the President of Fuji Heavy Industries Mori Ikuo, it has been revealed that the Subaru FT-86 version (internal codename: 216a) will be presented at the end of 2011 (in December). The Toyota FT-86 is also expected to launch concurrently.
The interview also reveals that testing, as well as the body of the car have been almost completed, and tests are been carried out at the moment in order to fine tune the car for foreign markets. More info HERE.
The upcoming FT-86 has always been speculated with a Boxer engine, but Car and Driver has now uncovered even more proof — this logo for the Toyota FT-86 version.
The logo shows a cross section of a boxer engine, featuring one horizontally opposed piston on each side and a number 86 inserted in the center where the crankshaft would be. It also gives an indication that Toyota is planning to use “86” in the production car’s name in some capacity. [DISCUSSIONS HERE]
With the dearth of Toyota FT-86 and the Subaru version (internally dubbed 216a) information lately, many of us are passing the time by oggling continued renderings of potential looks for the highly anticipated models from both companies. Auto Express has posted its latest rendering of the Subaru 216A by combining the FT-86 with the Impreza Concept.
According to Road and Track, the next generation Lexus IS due in 2014 will be based on a stretched FT-86 platform. As a result, the next gen IS will perform (and likely look) sportier than the current model. As for engines, the IS will continue to be powered by 4, 6 and 8 cylinder motors, unlike the FT-86 which is expected to be powered by a 2.5-liter naturally aspirated 4-cylinder and/or a 3.6-liter flat-6. Discussions INSIDE.
In anticipation of Gran Turismo 5’s release, Randolph Ramsay, Dan Chiappini, and Derek Fung talk a bit about the Toyota FT-86 G concept car and then take it for a few virtual laps on the Nurburgring track in Gran Turismo 5 at the Sydney Motor Show.
Subaru will be unveiling a new concept car at the LA Autoshow in just a bit over two weeks [Press Release].
By Subaru’s description, this concept car appears to have “green” aspirations, which makes it seem likely that it is Subaru’s version of the FT-86. However, as our users are speculating, could Subaru’s version of the FT-86 possibly have gone hybrid? There were unsubstantiated rumors in the past that the project had been delayed to work on a hybrid option. We shall see in two weeks! Discussions HERE.
