All good things must come an end, in this case it’s Subaru’s legendary EJ20 engine. The company announced recently that the engine’s 30-year run would cease at an end of March 2020. The last hurrah for the boxer unit was showcased at the 2019 Tokyo Motor Show.
The engine was presented as the beating heart of a WRX STI model dubbed the EJ20 Final Edition (based on the JDM-spec Type S) which shared the spotlight with the all-new Levorg Prototype. The horizontally-opposed engine first debuted back in 1989 on the JDM-spec Legacy and has gone on to power a myriad of models in various states of tune.
At its debut, the maximum output of the EJ20 was around 164kW. After years of motorsport refinement, the powerhouse under the bonnet of the Final Edition churns out 227kW and 422Nm from 2-litres of force-inducted displacement routed, naturally, to both axles via a six-speed manual gearbox.
Balance, too, was big part of the EJ20 in the Final Edition. The company says that components such as the pistons, connecting rods, flywheel and clutch cover have a 50% reduction in weight tolerance while the crankshaft has its rotational balance tolerance reduced by as much as 85%. They say it’s finished to a level of precision found in racing engines.
Elsewhere, the Final Edition is adorned in all the finishings a ‘Subie’ enthusiast could want. A WR Blue Pearl lick of paint, gold-finished BBS alloy wheels, Cherry Red highlights and a large rear spoiler complete the exterior. The interior gets silver seatbelts, faux suede on the steering wheel and Recaro front seats, finished with silver stitching.
Now the bad news. The WRX STI EJ20 Final Edition is a runout special edition that’s exclusive to the Japanese domestic market with just 555 (a reminder of its main sponsor in the WRC wonder years) units produced. It sells for 4,851,000 yen ($65,299) and will be on sale until the end of March 2020.
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