Subaru's Geneva technology tease
A rear-wheel drive sports car concept will take centre stage on Subaru's stand at the Geneva motor show, but there's a hitch...Subaru is attending the Geneva motor show in March with a rear-wheel drive sports car concept. But if you think the 'concept' will actually be a preview of the long-awaited production FT-86 sports car jointly developed by Subaru and Toyota, you might just be jumping the gun.
Toyota's version was shown in Sydney at the Australian International Motor Show in October, but the Subaru equivalent has been largely missing in action. According to sources, the concept planned for the Geneva show is not Subaru's production version of the FT-86.
One insider has told the Carsales Network that the concept is "a technology demonstrator" and that those close to the project are not saying how much (if any) the concept will share with the production version of the car.
The press release effectively confirms that the Geneva concept will be boxer-powered and rear-wheel drive -- just like the production sports car under development.
Staff at the highest levels of Subaru are declaring that the concept is unrelated to the production sports car -- and arguably contradicting their own press info in the process.
Based on the press release, the Geneva concept appears to be built on the platform and mechanicals of the forthcoming production sports car. We understand that the concept car will feature "some new body technologies", which will presumably address weight and aerodynamics. One can draw conclusions from Subaru's decision not to issue a teaser pic as the company did for the Impreza design study that debuted at the LA motor show.
The general dimensions and proportions of the sports car are known from the test mules caught in the field -- as in the Carparazzi spy pics we published late last year -- so the Geneva concept may be markedly different in style and packaging if the body is the principal point of difference that lies between the concept car and the production car.
Until the first week of March however, all there is to offer is speculation.
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