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The lack of power in this car is what's the deal breaker for me and why I didn't want to pre-order one without driving it first. I have the current generation WRX and several Subarus before that and remember how Subaru was reluctant at first to introduce turbo cars in the States--and how big of a deal the WRX was when it finally arrived with "only" 200 bhp. Then we'd kept getting escalations until you can walk in to your local dealer and hand over 32-35 grand and drive off in a STi.
No one buys a sports car and praises it for being underpowered and applauds the manufacturer for putting in the smallest engine, especially Subaru who has several turbo boxer fours and a boxer six that'd be readily interchangeable with this car.
If Toyota dealers don't want to work on turbos, that's fine. Then just save the STi model for the BRZ. I don't understand the reluctance to make a powerful version of this car. Toyota asked Subaru to do the engineering, but apparently told them not to do what they do best--give small well-handling cars tremendous horsepower and AWD to better put it to the road. These days you can even get a Ford pickup with a turbo, so the reluctance of making the 86 platform a serious contender is questionable.
There is no good reason this car can't generate 300-350 hp and at least 250-270 torque with a hi-revving turbo boxer. AWD would sweeten the deal. And a turbo/intercooler system from the manufacturer will be much better than some aftermarket bolt-on in terms of reliability and warranty.
If/when the car gets a significant power boost, I wonder how many people will be clamoring to buy the NA underpowered version.
I'd even argue who'd walk into their local Subaru dealership, past the WRX (which has more power, better acceleration, AWD, more cargo space, costs the same OR LESS) and then demands the small NA sports car.
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