According to rumors in Japan and China, Subaru is going to consolidate its seven-engine lineup (EJ20/EJ25/FA20/FA24/FB16/FB20/FB25) into just three (FB15/FA18/FA24) to deal with new emission standards around the world. All three engines will be turbocharged with scalable power levels, and the gaps in between will be bridged by hybridization (like Toyota's strategy).
FB15: <150PS, replaces FB16/FB20.
FA18: 170-260PS, replaces FA20/FB25.
FA24: >260PS, replaces EJ20/EJ25.
I think the new GR86/BRZ will actually use the smaller FA18 to reduce weight. The FA24 is a bit of overkill for a sports car below $30k.
I hope it doesn't mean the death of the performance side of Subaru per the wonderful Toyota executive board.😒
The FA18 will also replace the turbocharged FA20 (used on WRX) since Subaru somehow thinks the current generation WRX/Levorg are 'overspecced'. The Japanese media suspect this is related to high accident rate and thus high insurance premium, and Subaru wants to discourage dangerous driving by reducing power.
I wonder if Subaru even considers its 'performance legacy' to be positive to the company. They are marketing themselves as a 'safety brand' with symmetrical AWD, and unfortunately some of their buyers tend to have a reputation for reckless driving. They axed the Forester XT and never bothered with a Crosstrek STI.
I'm actually betting Subaru itself wants to kill performance models more than Toyota. Akio Toyoda would love to spread costs with Subaru to build his GR brand.