[Veloist]

I normally don’t comment on the “needs more power” threads (I’ve seen/heard it for 6 years) but I’m pretty bored.

Long story short is this topic is rarely viewed from the perspective of engineers who need to follow a high standard of quality that both brands are known for meeting.

Toyota and Subaru (for the most part cough cough mid-late 2000 head gaskets) are known for long lasting daily drivers. Toyota & Subaru nailed the target market for this car—car enthusiasts who want a fun daily driver. If you don’t believe me, go make a poll asking “Who daily drives their twin?” I bet at least 80% of people will say that they do.

So if you’re going to make a daily driver and target it to young adults you need to have a reputation for reliability/dependability and longevity. Apart from that you need economical benefits like good gas mileage and low maintenance. You will probably want to be safe everyday too in your daily driver so safety is important also. Finally, you have to squeeze this car into a price range that is reasonable for the target market.

So if you break down the most important aspects here...

Reliability
Fuel Economy
Safety
Price

...and ask yourself, can we increase power in this car, and still keep a sweet spot in all 4 aspects?

And if you’re thinking “YES, YOU CAN” then you have to ask yourself, “OK, but can I do this and still have a car comparable or better than the competition? (Competition= Miata, Genesis, 370z, Mustang, Camaro). And finally “can I still do this and follow transportation certifications and emissions requirement around the world?”

There are so many factors as to why power remains modest in these cars. I bet the engineering and development team knew this car would be better with more power back when they were testing it in 09/10. We may never know all the things that limited the car from getting a more powerful engine, but we do know the car is still fun to drive, and not to mention a pretty cool daily driver!