Bye-Bye Subaru BRZ STI; Hello BRZ FA-20 by Cosworth

Ever since the launch of the Subaru BRZ, performance enthusiasts all over the world have been clamoring for an STI-tuned version of the acclaimed sports coupe. The regular BRZ drives like a dream, but with ‘only’ 200hp it just doesn’t give the kind of kick that a true speed junky craves.

Unfortunately, as time goes on it has seemed less and less likely that the Japanese automaker will release an STI model, despite the fervent pleas of their fans. In fact, a few weeks ago an anonymous insider was reported saying that Subaru had no plans whatsoever to develop a BRZ STI. Apparently the WRZ STI is the only car in their lineup that warrants the STI treatment.

You can understand why Subaru and their partner Toyota/Scion would want to leave the BRZ/GT86/FR-S as-is – they’ve said from the beginning that the three coupes were intended to offer excellent handling at an affordable price, which they do. Still, we want more! And it seems that the good folks over at Cosworth have finally heard our cry.

Check out this sweet teaser video Cosworth released of the upcoming Subaru BRZ FA-20 Power Package:

For those of you who don’t know, Cosworth has been involved in F1 racing for decades, supplying their own engines and mechanics to championship race cars as far back as the late ‘60s. Their engines have claimed 176 wins in 50 years, second only to Ferrari. In addition, they offer engineering consultancy, specialized performance electronics and bespoke precision manufacturing to major automakers. Now, they’re turning their attention to the BRZ/GT86 to pick up the slack.

Unfortunately, the teaser video isn’t very specific about what exactly the FA-20 Power Package will include. Still, there are a few obvious additions… For starters, the car in the video clearly has an enormous rear spoiler and a sleek front spoiler to go with it. We can also see indications that Cosworth will incorporate a new performance exhaust system, tune the suspension and upgrade the tires. Best of all, the video clearly spends some time panning around the engine, implying that we’ll see some sort of upgrade on that front; perhaps a turbocharger or something similar. Plus, the FA-20 name actually comes from the 2.0L Boxer engine that Subaru uses in the BRZ – it’s designated as the FA20 engine, derived from the old FB engine line.

Believe it or not, Cosworth actually previewed this FA20 Power Package in November of last year at the LA Motor Show. They called it the Stage 1 Power Package, and in addition to the new performance exhaust system, it also included a completely new ECU. At the time, they had this to say about the FA20 Power Package: “The Cosworth Stage 1 has been designed from the outset to operate as a complete tuning solution with all components working in complete harmony.”

As you can see, there’s a lot that we still don’t know about the Subaru BRZ FA20 by Cosworth, but there’s one thing we do now – it’s definitely going to come. And that’s a lot more than we could ever say about Subaru’s own BRZ STI.