Australian website Motoring is reporting that Subaru is working on a new sports car to top its range, something akin to the SVX sold briefly during the 1990s. But it isn’t to be a conventional sports car like the SVX but rather a radical hybrid coupe with a six-cylinder boxer engine and shooting brake-style body. Similar claims were made back in 2009.
Underpinning the car would be a new modular platform dubbed the Subaru Global Platform, which appears first in a next-generation Tribeca crossover due in 2016. The exterior, meanwhile, would likely take cues from past Subaru concepts such as the Viziv 2 and Cross Sport Design, the latter of which is also a sporty shooting brake.
Power would come from a 3.3-liter six-cylinder boxer engine (just like in the SVX) paired with a hybrid system borrowed from Lexus rather than Subaru’s own design. This is because the Subaru system, currently found in the XV Crosstrek Hybrid, is designed for low power applications, unlike the Lexus system which can work with engines containing up to eight cylinders. Peak output of the new Subaru could reach as high as 375 horsepower, according to the report.
If the report is accurate, don’t expect to see the new Subaru sports car before 2017. Interestingly, there’s a chance it may be built at Subaru’s plant in Indiana as the U.S. is expected to be its key market.
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