Born in the world of rally, thriving in pop culture from anime to video games and cinema. Everyone respects the WRX badge. And now there’s a new one.
The Subaru WRX is intrinsically close to our hearts. It’s an important car with a meaningful badge. For well over a decade, WRX was synonymous with World Rally – think Colin McCrae and Petter Solberg, flying through the air with their STI-badged WRX saloons, decked out with massive wings and aero, triple 5 stickers and glaring rows of foglamps. With its flat-four turbo engine and asymmetrical all-wheel drive system, it had rally in its DNA. And most of this technology made its way to the road cars. It gained a cult following with its die-hard fans, was further immortalized in Initial D and American cinema and then there’s the fact that it also dominated in the realm of video games. From Sega Rally to Gran Turismo, the Subaru WRX would forever be an icon, with multiple body styles including hatch and wagon, over several decades of iteration upon iteration. Names like Hawkeye and Blobeye will strike a chord with followers of the badge. But, this is 2022 and Subaru is no longer a fire-spitting motorsport contender, in fact, you might say they’ve needed to grow up.
So it shouldn’t surprise us then that the new WRX badge can be found on a more sober sedan. Look, this sort of thing has happened before. It’s a well-known fact that Mitsubishi’s EVO Lancer was the WRX’s closest matched rival. But even they had to forcibly evolve its Eclipse coupe into an SUV recently. So maybe the fact that the new WRX still shares a profile with its original namesake is a small mercy. Either way, here we are and I must admit that I like it. And I reckon if the passionate Subaru fans of the past have also grown up, then the new car should still appeal to them too.
Sober yes, but not boring – our test car is even in the perfect colour! Where the old car had wings upon wings, the new WRX incorporates its rear spoiler into the boot lid. The styling throughout feels restrained, but rather than shrug off its gravelly past, the new car gains dark plastic wheel arch surrounds, alluding to its go-anywhere nature. One can imagine, that the folks at Subaru must have felt immense pressure to turn this into an SUV, what with its permanent all-wheel drive and gracious ground clearance for a sedan, so we’re grateful the marque stuck to its guns and gave us its beloved silhouette.
Power comes from a 2.4 litre turbocharged flat boxer engine, perfectly in line with its heritage. But, here it’s been paired with a CVT transmission which as a result, makes its 197kW and 350 Nm feel less than urgent. Which is fine when you consider the fact that the WRX has a new mandate – I.e comfort over performance. You can however still opt for the six-speed manual which should see the return of snappy gear changes and sharper throttle response. What is however missing is the gurgling, burbling soundtrack that defined the previous generations of the Subaru. And I could try to defend Subaru’s strategy here, that its core customer has since matured, but heck. Even I miss the noise that came with the WRX badge. The Sport Lineartronic CVT transmission smoothes out the noise even, resulting in a further refined exhaust note. I don’t hate it.
I know, purists will be disappointed that the latest WRX isn’t the wildest one yet. That my test car doesn’t have a manual gearbox makes it even more of a departure from the Japanese weapons of the past that made me fall in love with the badge. So I completely sympathize. But, as a company that hopes to thrive again, they’ve played a good hand here, in a comfortable sedan with tidy styling, and a welcoming cabin.
Sitting inside the WRX still feels special, with Alcantara surfaces, driving modes, and red stitching, the magic has been very much retained. But it’s 2022 so it’s been joined by a 12-inch infotainment system with Apple Carplay and Android Auto, and all the modern conveniences you could want. Comfy then, but still unashamedly driver-focused, so when all was said and done, I turned off the N1 and took the long and windy road home. Here, where the tarmac turns to spaghetti, the WRX still shines with buckets of torque waiting to be spilled, and a helm full of feedback. It may not feel like a giant slayer anymore, but what it does feel like is a quick, premium saloon from Japan. And that’s rare.