2024 Subaru WRX S4 STI Sport Sharp Prototype

The WRX S4 STI Sport Sharp prototype previewed an STI complete-car interpretation of the Japanese sports sedan at Tokyo Auto Salon 2024. Subaru explicitly identified the prototype and its STI Sport R EX base, providing a specific physical subject for an Archive profile.

Sharp is the reading of the factory symbol

Subaru writes the programme name with the sharp symbol, ♯, and explains the name in its January 2024 release. The profile uses Sharp in the searchable title while preserving the factory wording in its sources and alias record. This avoids confusing a typographic variant with a different vehicle. The relevant exhibition is Tokyo Auto Salon 2024; the earlier preview’s stray 2022 dateline in its body does not override the page date and confirmed January reveal.

Subaru: WRX S4 STI Sport Sharp prototype preview

The prototype has an identified Japanese base

The factory specifies WRX S4 STI Sport R EX as the basis and describes the exhibit as an STI complete car pursuing stable handling and a premium driving feel. This establishes a development context more precisely than the presence of STI accessories alone. It does not make the prototype identical to a regular S4, an older manual EJ-powered STI or the separately named WRX S4 STI Performance Concept displayed in 2022.

A planned limited sale does not define prototype production

The exhibition preview says the complete-car programme was scheduled for sale in limited numbers. That statement belongs to the intended customer programme, not a census of prototype chassis. The physical prototype can be documented independently of any later production allocation. This profile therefore avoids transferring a retail cap into its exact-production field or treating every future customer car as another example of the original Auto Salon exhibit.

Subaru: WRX S4 STI Sport Sharp prototype preview

The image is explicitly named as a prototype asset

Subaru’s editorial image collection contains an image labelled WRX S4 STI Sport Sharp PROTOTYPE, within its 2024 Tokyo Auto Salon material. That exact naming is important because the regular model and later complete-car images are visually close. The supplied factory illustration records the prototype presentation with copyright and editorial-use terms retained. It does not establish a privately owned chassis, a customer delivery or the physical testing status of every proposed component.

Subaru: January 2024 prototype reveal

Keep the exhibition record and retail history connected but distinct

The archive should preserve the December preview, January reveal and correctly labelled image as a coherent presentation history. Later complete-car sales material can add context, but needs its own dates and specifications before being treated as evidence about the original exhibit. The same discipline avoids creating duplicate records under the symbol, the word Sharp and the prototype suffix. Here they identify one documented prototype presentation, not several independently counted vehicles.

Specifications and identity reference

Rarity and production scope

This Archive record covers the physical WRX S4 STI Sport Sharp prototype presented in 2024. The factory preview and reveal establish its name, base and complete-car purpose, while the image collection explicitly labels the prototype asset. A planned limited retail programme is not a prototype chassis count. No exact completed-production total is entered, and later customer cars, regular S4 grades and the 2022 STI Performance Concept remain outside this physical prototype record.

This is an Archive identity. The experimental or individually named car is not added as extra production on top of its underlying family. Repeated exhibition appearances do not establish additional chassis; the specific scope above governs the count.

What the photograph represents

Factory-supplied WRX S4 STI Sport Sharp prototype image, explicitly named PROTOTYPE in Subaru’s Tokyo Auto Salon 2024 release collection. It illustrates the prototype presentation, not an independently authenticated customer chassis. The supplied studio image is retained unchanged.

Related Subaru profiles

• 2022 Subaru WRX S4 STI Performance Concept
• 2017 Subaru WRX STI S208
• 2024 Subaru BRZ STI Performance Show Car

Frequently asked questions

Does Sharp mean a separate car from the ♯ spelling?

No. Sharp is the written-out reading used here for the factory symbol in the same programme name.

Is the prototype’s chassis count the later retail allocation?

No. A customer programme limit does not establish how many development or exhibition prototypes were built.

What is the production-count boundary for this profile?

This Archive record covers the physical WRX S4 STI Sport Sharp prototype presented in 2024. The factory preview and reveal establish its name, base and complete-car purpose, while the image collection explicitly labels the prototype asset. A planned limited retail programme is not a prototype chassis count. No exact completed-production total is entered, and later customer cars, regular S4 grades and the 2022 STI Performance Concept remain outside this physical prototype record.

Sources and further reading

1. Subaru: WRX S4 STI Sport Sharp prototype preview
2. Subaru: January 2024 prototype reveal

Research checked 19 October 2026. Linked manufacturer heritage pages, factory announcements, official distributor publications and labelled contemporary coverage support the specifically identified claims. Photographic descriptions identify the illustrated subject. Design analysis and suggested authentication steps are editorial interpretation.