2020 Subaru WRX STI
If you haven’t heard, Japanese manufacturers love to stretch the life span of their products. Honda plans to keep its long-running XR650L adventure motorcycle alive for the foreseeable future and Toyota is finally bringing an end to the Land Cruiser in 2021 (at least here in the US). Now, after nearly three decades, Subaru’s is stopping production its everlasting EJ20 boxer engine with the WRX STI Final Edition’s unveiling at this year’s upcoming Tokyo Auto Show. And, even though the EJ20 was more well-known in Japan, its sendoff will mark the start of an important new era for Subaru.
Since it was introduced in 1988, the 2.0-liter EJ20 boxer engine and its basic architecture found its way into the Legacy, Outback, Impreza and, using its basic architecture, Suburu took home a few World Rally Championships and few class-wins at the Nurburgring 24-hours. To say the EJ20 had an important role in shaping the brand’s modern reputation as far as performance is concerned is an understatement.
The US market is more familiar with the later iterations of the EJ (the EJ22 and EJ25) and its technical predecessor, the FB series engine, which began production back in 2010. While the two engines were in production alongside one another, the FB is more efficient and powerful despite weighing a few more pounds. With the EJ consigned to the history books, it stands to reason Subaru is making room to focus on the FA boxer engine which made its debut in the BRZ coupe.
The FA goes only as far as sharing the FB’s basic platform. The lighter FA engine’s major components like the engine block, connecting rods and pistons are all different and exponentially more refined.
If the way Subaru prolonged the production of the near 30-year-old EJ powerplant is anything to go by, the FB isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. However, you can certainly expect the number of FA engine derivatives to start making their way into production — bigger displacement, turbo and hybrid versions — over the next few years. Now that it’s known a new Subaru BRZ/ Toyota 86 and WRX are on their way, we’ll soon know exactly where the next step in the evolution of Subaru power will go.
