Subaru looks to have something special in the works for performance enthusiasts. Over the weekend, the automaker dropped a teaser image showing three new manual-transmission vehicles slated to arrive by 2027. More importantly, all three are being developed by Subaru's recently established Sports Vehicle Planning Office, a skunkworks-style division tasked with bringing more of the brand's motorsports know-how and racing spirit to the street.Before you start chilling the champagne, only one of the vehicles in the teaser appears to be an all-new design (shown on the right), specifically a hatchback. The other two have been confirmed as derivatives of the current-generation Subaru WRX and Subaru BRZ performance duo, both of which already feature manual transmissions. A Return Of The WRX Hatchback? Subaru The teaser surfaced during a media presentation at this past weekend's Fuji 24 Hours Race, the third round of Japan's Super Taikyu Series. That's notable because Subaru currently competes in the endurance championship with the High Performance X Version II, a one-off race car derived from the Performance-B STI hot hatch concept unveiled at the 2025 Japan Mobility Show. Both vehicles effectively transform the current WRX sedan into a hatchback, and furthermore, they both feature a manual transmission.During the briefing, Subaru Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President Tetsuro Fujinuki described the planned production manual hatchback as an "affordable base car" designed to give the company's car-loving engineers a platform to bring their own ideas to life while making use of existing assets, according to Carscoops.Taken together, the comments and clues point toward the possible return of the WRX hatchback, the last one having bowed out after 2014. And if that happens, it isn't hard to imagine a future STI variant borrowing lessons from the High Performance X Version II race car, which uses a version of the WRX's turbocharged 2.4-liter flat-four rated at 359 horsepower and 350 pound-feet of torque. More Manual Goodness For BRZ And WRX Subaru The other two vehicles in the teaser are less surprising, though no less interesting. The car in the center is a new version of the BRZ. Subaru describes it as a "complete car" and is expected to borrow from the playbook of last year's BRZ STI Sport Type RA, a Japan-only special edition limited to 300 units and sold through a lottery. That model introduced upgrades aimed squarely at driving enthusiasts, including rev-matching and no-lift upshifts for the six-speed manual. However, Subaru hasn't revealed many specifics about the upcoming BRZ, saying only that it will be lighter and more rewarding to drive.As for the WRX, shown on the left, the headline change will be the adoption of the heavy-duty TY85 six-speed manual from the previous-generation Subaru WRX STI. Subaru says the gearbox will bring improved durability and reliability, potentially paving the way for higher-performance variants down the road, including potentially a new STI.Subaru is slated to reveal the three new manual-transmission models in the coming months. Whether these will be Japan-market exclusives or available in the US remains an open question. CarBuzz Insight – Why This Matters For years, Subaru has steadily retreated from the enthusiast-focused lineup that helped build its reputation, shelving the WRX STI and shifting its attention toward mainstream crossovers and CVTs. But these three manual-transmission projects suggest the company may finally be listening to its most loyal fans.A new WRX hatchback has long ranked among enthusiasts' most-requested additions, and Subaru now appears closer than ever to making it a reality. If the company follows through, and eventually finds a way to bring back the WRX STI as well, it could mark the beginning of a long-overdue affordable performance renaissance – an area where Toyota has been more than happy to make inroads.
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