Greatness sometimes comes in odd little packages.
Even the cruelest parking valets are unlikely to rev a car’s
engine to redline and dump its clutch. But that’s just what a Subaru engineer
suggested we do when we asked him how to get the best acceleration times out of
the 2015 WRX. In human terms, this sort of launch is equivalent to jumping out
of a moving car and hoping to suddenly start running like Usain Bolt.
Subaru has made
its latest version into a handler, and that’s this generation’s big leap
forward
“Rev the engine high enough to get wheelspin when the clutch
engages, and shift out of first around 5200 rpm,” advised the engineer. With
the four-wheel-drive traction of the WRX in mind, we wondered aloud, “You sure
the clutch and gearbox will survive that launch?”
“Oh, yes,” he grinned.
And so, here’s how we hit 60 mph in 4.8 seconds: We held the
engine at the 6700rpm redline, jumped off the clutch, shifted out of first at
about 5300rpm, and held on to second until the car hit the redline in second at
61mph. to get down to a repeatable 4.8-second time, we subjected the WRX to
this mechanical mayhem 14 times. To its credit, it didn’t utter a peep of
discontent, the clutch didn’t slip, no driveshafts turned into fusilli, and the
six-speed ‘box shifted and responded exactly as it did when we started. Will
you try this with your new WRX? We doubt it. And if instead you just ease off
the line, your times will likely be somewhere closer to our 6.3-second
rolling-start 5-to-60-mph figure.
The WRX’s cabin
would benefit from better materials, but the 4.3-inch multifunction display
(middle) is a nice, helpful touch
A machine that takes a licking but keeps on ticking is
deeply endearing. Just ask anyone who wears a Timex. But that’s not the only
reason we’re charmed by the new WRX. Subaru has made its latest version into a
handler, and that’s this generation’s big leap forward. Previously, the WRX
left dynamic finesse to the pricier STI version. But compared with the old WRX,
the new car’s structure is 41 percent stiffer for better handling fidelity, and
the spring rates have been cranked up by 39 percent at the front and 62 percent
in the rear to further sharpen up things. There are also larger anti-roll bars
and firmer bushings, and the aluminum lower control arms of the strut front
suspension are unique to the WRX. Sticky Dunlop Sport Maxx RT summer tires are
standard.
To help keep the WRX stable in limit-cornering situations,
the Active Torque Vectoring (ATV) system uses the front brakes to momentarily
clamp one wheel, which helps steer the car through a corner. On the skidpad,
out WRX test car clung fast at 0.95g.
Rev the engine
high enough to get wheelspin when the clutch engages, and shift out of first
around 5200 rpm
It takes less than a quarter-mile of driving to feel the
newly stiffened WRX jiggling the untoned parts of your body. On patched
pavement or over freeway expansion joints, the car will jostle you, but the
rigid body quickly attenuates impacts. Compared with the Impreza upon which it
is based – but with which it no longer shares a name – the WRX gets more
high-strength steel in its A-pillars, a thicker floorpan, and additional
gussets that connect the fire wall with the passenger cabin. The payoff for the
firm ride is excellent body control and sports-car-like resistance to both
diving under braking and squatting under acceleration.
To combat brake fade, Subaru fits 12.4-inch vented rotors
(0.8 inch larger than the last WRX’s) and two-piston calipers up front, and
11.3-inch solid rotors with single-piston calipers in back. A larger master
cylinder and a more responsive booster are intended to improve brake feel.
Although they do feel better than before, the WRX’s brakes lack the bite and
arresting grab of a Ford Focus ST’s or a 2015 Volkswagen GTI’s. That said, the
WRX didn’t exhibit any fade when it executed back-to-back stops from 70mph in
only 160 feet.
It takes less than
a quarter-mile of driving to feel the newly stiffened WRX jiggling the untoned
parts of your body
Snaking in and out of the switchbacks on the Angeles Crest
Highway above Los Angeles, the WRX is confident and stable but never boring.
There’s sense of playfulness here, with ample feedback from the chassis. The
six-speed has pedals set up perfectly for heel-toe downshifts and boasts throws
shortened by 12 percent over the old WRX’s five-speed ‘box. Shifting requires a
shove, but the gats are closely spaced and the action is precise. Turn-in grip
is excellent, and next to its front-drive competition, the WRX isn’t quite as
nose-heavy. And with four-wheel drive, the WRX has no problem turning its 268
horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque into corner-exit speed. A new
electric-power-steering system boasts Porsche-like tuning; spin the flat-bottomed
14.5-inch wheel, and the nose dives into corners precisely and predictably.
Unlike many EPS systems, the WRX’s feels natural as the steering effort
increases with cornering loads.
