Launching the manual Subaru WRX in the
fastest fashion requires some finesse. Spinning the turbopetrol flat-four to
its power peak is easy, but releasing the dutch with just the right amount of
slip - that's tricky.
Get it right and the Subaru lights up all
fours with a violent punt as the tachometer races to the rev limit faster than
one would expect. Snatching second gear is the next line in the equation and,
again, some slip is needed. On to third with a proper snap-shift and the
benchmark 0-100 km/h sprint is covered in ... 6.12 seconds.
There you have it - a time four-tenths
slower than the model it replaces. What gives?
The WRX has grown up, that's what. And if
straight-line performance is all you're after, you may as well stop reading and
wait for the steroidal WRX STI that'll arrive later this year. Doing that would
be a pity, though, because you'd miss out on what defines Subaru's current
range-topping performance car.
Out
on the road the Subaru impresses thanks to its stiff bodyshell and impressive
damping and steering
In terms of looks, the Japanese
manufacturer has got the WRX's kerbside appeal spot on. The sedan greets you
head-on with a square jaw in the form of a wide and right-angled front bumper,
and even though it's not as large as before, the obligatory bonnet scoop adds
menace to the frontal aspect.
The squared-off theme is continued along
the Subaru's profile, where bulky fenders and protruding side skirts lend it
welcome aggression. A lap of the exterior concludes with a quartet of tailpipes
housed in a diffuser below the rear bumper and, in a massive departure from the
familiar extroverted wings, the smallest boot spoiler ever sported on a model bearing
these hallowed three letters.
Subaru has updated the WRX's cabin
accordingly and gone is the swoopy facia that debuted a generation ago. In
fact, the WRX's cabin reminds us a lot of the current Forester's.
The
WRX’s interior is a lot more upmarket than before, with plenty of soft-touch
surfaces, hints of carbon and brushed metal trim and good fit and finish
In an attempt to improve perceived quality,
Subaru has used plenty of soft-touch surfaces - the most prominent of which can
be found atop the facia and on the upper sections of the door panels. It hasn't
entirely succeeded, and the cabin of an S3 sedan's in a different league, but
quality is definitely up.
The front seats, finished in leather
upholstery with red stitching, are sizeable and accommodate larger frames
comfortably. The seatback bolstering is beefy too, which seems at odds with the
rather flat cushion.
Centre-facia, a multimedia system carried
over from the previous model takes pride of place, but is crowned by a
switchable 4.3-inch colour display that relays information about the WRX's fuel
consumption and torque transfer, and doubles as a reverse camera as well as a
boost gauge.
Quad
exhaust tips are a WRX staple
With the clutch engaged and the starter
button prodded, the new 2.0-litre motor with direct injection burbles to life.
The engine note from our particular test unit was amplified through an optional
sports exhaust system that is significantly louder than the standard unit.
