Subaru 216a, Toyota FT-86 Should Be Out by End Of 2011

The long-awaited Subaru/Toyota sports coupe brethren known as the 216a and the FT-86 appear to be on schedule for a December 2011 arrival, according to an interview with Mori Ikuo, president of Fuji Heavy Industries.

In an interview with "Tokyo Newspaper", Mori reportedly said the Subaru version of the car will debut at the end of the year, concurrently with Toyota’s version of the car. He went on to say that the car’s design and mechanical works are nearly complete, and engineers are currently in the process of tweaking the car for foreign markets. Reportedley the Toyota Ft-86 is able to do 0-60mph at 5.7 seconds.

Mori also said the car should sell for around 2,500,000 yen, which corresponds to a little over $30,000 at today’s exchange rates. But before you explode into vitriol about the price of this “affordable” sports coupe, keep in mind that car prices in Japan are different than they are in the States. In Japan, a new STI goes for 3,560,000 yen, which converts to $43,404—almost ten grand more than the actual STI here in America. If the difference between the U.S. cost and the Japanese price follows the same trend for the 216a/FT-86, it would sell here for around $23,500