X

Subaru STI EJ20 Final Edition is a blue-and-gold bye-bye

The limited edition STI commemorates the end of EJ20 engine production.

Steven Ewing Former managing editor
Steven Ewing spent his childhood reading car magazines, making his career as an automotive journalist an absolute dream job. After getting his foot in the door at Automobile while he was still a teenager, Ewing found homes on the mastheads at Winding Road magazine, Autoblog and Motor1.com before joining the CNET team in 2018. He has also served on the World Car Awards jury. Ewing grew up ingrained in the car culture of Detroit -- the Motor City -- before eventually moving to Los Angeles. In his free time, Ewing loves to cook, binge trash TV and play the drums.
Steven Ewing
Subaru STI EJ20 Final Edition

Is there a more iconic Subaru color scheme than blue and gold?

Subaru

Here in the States, the sedan is powered by a 2.5-liter, turbocharged engine, known as EJ25 in Subaru-speak. In Japan, however, the STI can be had with a smaller, 2.0-liter engine, called EJ20. It's a fantastic little motor, as I found out while driving the STI S208 earlier this year. But unfortunately, it's not long for this world.

To commemorate the end of production for the 2.0-liter engine, is offering this STI EJ20 Final Edition, which debuted at the 2019 Tokyo Motor Show on Wednesday. Only 555 will be made, all of which will be sold via lottery in Japan.

The EJ20 engine in the Final Edition is tuned to make 304 horsepower and 311 pound-feet of torque, slightly less than the 324 hp and 319 lb-ft offered by the limited-edition S208. That power runs through a six-speed manual transmission. Final Edition models all get special, gold-painted, 19-inch BBS wheels, too -- a classic fitment for Subaru's rally car for the road.

The EJ20 Final Edition will be available for order between Oct. 24 and Nov. 11, where interested parties must place a lottery application. The Final Edition will cost ¥4,521,000, or about $42,000 at current exchange rates.

For those of us in the rest of the world, don't worry, the 2.5-liter STI will continue to be produced until its replacement arrives in a year or two.

2019 Subaru WRX STI S209 is a bona fide track star

See all photos