Subaru WRX wagon with Outback treatment in Japan not coming to Australia
The Subaru WRX Sportswagon – still sold in Japan as the Levorg – is set to gain an Outback-style off-road-look edition in Japan, but it won’t come to Australia.
Subaru is preparing to give the latest WRX Sportswagon an off-road-styled makeover – as a smaller sibling to the top-selling Outback – in Japan, but it is not planned for Australian showrooms.
In the same way the Outback is the high-riding version of the defunct Liberty wagon – and the Crosstrek (formerly XV) is a high-riding Impreza hatchback – the ‘Levorg Layback’ will be the off-road-look twin to the WRX wagon, which is still sold in Japan as the Levorg.
Despite the popularity of the Outback and Crosstrek/XV in Australia, the Layback is a Japan exclusive, and Subaru Australia has confirmed there are “no plans” to sell it here.
However the Levorg Layback appears set to debut a new front fascia design – with a larger grille and reshaped air intakes – that may carry across to a future mid-life update for the regular WRX wagon in Australia.
The WRX wagon has only been in Australian showrooms for less than 18 months – since April 2022 – however the Levorg on which it is based was unveiled in Japan in late August 2020, nearly three years ago.
Among the factors that could hold the Levorg Layback back from an Australian launch – if it was taken global – is its engine, which reports claim will be the 1.8-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine seen in cheaper versions of the regular Levorg in Japan.
There is no guarantee the 202kW 2.4-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine in Australia’s WRX wagon – and top-of-the-range Levorg wagons in Japan – will be available, and the 1.8-litre’s 130kW/300Nm outputs are unlikely to be worthy of the WRX badge.
Spotted testing in Japan last month, the Levorg gains the aforementioned front-end design changes – plus black wheel-arch cladding designed to make it look like an SUV, and taller suspension.
There are new alloy wheels that appear to be wrapped in larger tyres – to further improve ground clearance for mild off-road use – while the teaser photos show the Layback will gain unique black and beige leather seats with orange stitching.
The Subaru Levorg Layback is due to be unveiled in Japan on 9 September 2023, when orders are planned to open.
According to Japanese magazine Best Car, the Layback name is derived from the words ‘laid back’.
If the Layback gained the WRX’s 2.4-litre engine, it would be a spiritual successor to the Gravel Express, a Japanese-market version of the original WRX which brought a front nudge bar, suspension lift, a tailgate-mounted spare wheel, and optional aluminium skid plate for off-road use.
Fewer than 1350 examples were produced, all in 1995.
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