Heat on for Subaru coupé

Meet the car that’s going to put the excitement back into Subaru!

Following Toyota’s unveiling of its Celica replacement – the rear-wheel-drive FT-86 coupé – Auto Express can bring you the best picture yet of its Subaru sister car.

It’s codenamed the 086A, and features a racy Subaru makeover. But the most exciting news is that the firm’s STi tuning arm is developing a hot version. This will get a next-generation 2.5-litre Subaru boxer, giving 250bhp – that’s 50bhp more than the standard 2.0-litre car.

As well as a new engine, the STi model will benefit from Subaru’s usual aggressive look, so expect a wider stance, lower ride height and flared wheelarches, along with a bodykit, bigger wheels and a more prominent spoiler.

The hot new coupé isn’t likely to debut until the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show, although the lower-powered 200bhp model will be revealed at next year’s Geneva exhibition.

Toyota has already started testing its version. Our spies caught engineers assessing a prototype FT-86 – complete with a body made of modified Subaru Legacy panels – at the Nürburgring circuit in Germany.

Sources have revealed that the engine is a next-generation version of Subaru’s 2.0-litre boxer with Toyota-developed cylinder heads. This is mated to a six-speed gearbox, with a rear differential from Lexus’s IS 250.

The FT-86 debuts at this week’s Tokyo Motor Show, and is due in dealers next year, with a price tag of around £22,000.