The Subaru Trailseeker Will Dust Your STi

Stock for stock, it's the quickest-accelerating production Subaru of all time.

Photo by: Brian Silvestro / Motor1

By: Christopher Smith

Apr 16, at 4:26pm ET

Comment

Just when you thought 2025 couldn't get crazier, say hello to the fastest-accelerating production Subaru ever. "Praise be, they brought back the WRX STI," you might be thinking. But there are no STI badges—or WRX badges, even. It's the Subaru Trailseeker, an electric crossover SUV with an eye toward off-roading. It's not supposed to be a pavement scorcher.

Subaru pulled the covers off its new SUV at the 2025 New York Auto Show, looking like a bigger Solterra with some new Outback ruggedness tossed in for good measure. You can read all about it in our Trailseeker debut post. But one thing that went largely under the radar was its performance. Subaru claims the Trailseeker can go from zero to 60 miles per hour in 4.3 seconds. That's enough to outrun the last WRX STI off the assembly line, It's also ahead of the limited-production STI S209. This SUV is quick.

Photo by: Patrick George

In defense of internal combustion, it should be a very close race between the Trailseeker and S209. To refresh your memory, it popped up in 2019 with 341 horsepower and 330 pound-feet of torque from its turbocharged 2.5-liter four-pot. By comparison, the Trailseeker has "approximately" 375 combined hp from its dual electric motors, one at each axle.

We assume the Trailseeker is considerably heavier than the old S209. At this time, Subaru isn't specific on details, but being a sizeable SUV with a 74.7-kilowatt-hour battery, it's not a lightweight. But it should be infinitely easier for the Trailseeker to put its power to the ground.

Generally speaking, the S209 reaches 60 mph in the mid-four-second range, but that requires a death-defying clutch drop to engage its six-speed manual transmission. The Trailseeker is basically point-and-shoot, which isn't nearly as much fun as flipping gears. But it is the quick, consistent way to pin people in the seat.

2019 Subaru STI S209

Curiously, Subaru hasn't been talking much about the Trailseeker's performance. With numerous vehicle stats and a final horsepower figure still TBD, it's possible the company could "slow" it down a touch before production begins.

Right now, production is expected to take place in early 2026.