Subaru Resurrects STI's Heavy-Duty Manual Gearbox — But Not The Car

If you lived in Japan and wanted the current VB-generation Subaru WRX, you had two options. If you wanted a three-pedal experience, you could enter a lottery and pray for a shot at the ultra-exclusive WRX STI Sport♯ — capped at just 600 units — or you could settle for one with a CVT and get shamed.

For 2027, Subaru is bringing back the mainstream manual option in the standard WRX. Instead of bolting up the basic TY75 six-speed manual found in the North American WRX, Subaru has resurrected the heavy-duty TY85 six-speed transmission from the previous VA-gen WRX STI.

In a 15-minute development documentary released by the automaker, Subaru engineers admitted the TY85 was on the brink of total extinction as manual transmission assembly lines were being dismantled one after another to pave the way for electrification.

Subaru's engineering team assumed the TY85 was already gone for good—until they accidentally discovered a small active assembly line quietly operating inside a supplier's facility. That sparked a skunkworks project early last year, with the task of adapting the gearbox to the modern WRX chassis on a one-year fast-track timeline.

Engineers say they flashed the turbocharged 2.4-liter boxer engine with race-derived ECU software to mimic the razor-sharp throttle response of a naturally aspirated engine. When paired with the stiffer modern VB chassis, Subaru's development drivers claim the revived TY85 setup completely changes the character of the WRX.

The manual WRX will officially debut in Japan next month. Better yet, it's believed Subaru will kill the CVT-equipped WRX S4 STI Sport trim in the JDM market. It's understood that the TY85-equipped WRX is one of the three new manual transmission models Subaru confirmed for production earlier this summer. The other two cars are expected to be a five-door hatchback and a lightweight BRZ.

Whether the STI-spec TY85 gearbox will cross the Pacific to North America remains to be seen, though expanding distribution scale would definitely help Subaru amortize the development costs. If it does jet across the pond, it could land in time for the 2027 model year, but that's pure speculation at this point.

In the meantime, U.S. buyers will get the 2027 WRX GD25 special edition. Limited to just 350 units, that model sticks with the standard TY75 six-speed manual, the stock 271-horsepower boxer engine, upgraded brakes, and a set of gold 19-inch wheels.

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