My Take on the New 2022 WRX

[PF52]

It's like they chose to style the WRX like the rest of the lineup instead of a japanese sports sedan. I recently saw one of these in the "wild" (costco) and i really could not decide if i thought it was the ugliest thing ever or the coolest thing ever. It looked both good and bad at the same time. I had to slowly walk all around it. Tons of cladding, lots of lift, very black and white looking. The example i found was brand new and perfectly detailed. I imagine after all the plastics fade it will look worse.

The Outback Wilderness in white:

Aye, there's the rub. I think the current Crosstrek and Outback look fine with the cladding. Especially the Crosstrek, where the cladding makes for a more aggressive and rugged looking vehicle which is really nothing more than a lifted Impreza (I've yet to see the new Wilderness versions of either). But yeah, what works on an SUV doesn't necessarily translate well on a sports sedan.

Automakers are notorious for taking design cues from whatever is selling well and suddenly putting it all over the rest of the lineup. Remember when Chevy decided all it's cars needed the same prominent brushed aluminum horizontal bar across the grille, just like on its trucks? They didn't used to have that bar on their cars, but since the trucks had it, then everything else must follow suit. Ford too.... They've pushed the "Ka" concept car through various parts of their lineup, only to abandon it and replace it with Fusion lookalikes, etc, etc. Imagine a Mustang styled like the "Ka" concept car!

 

[Andrew1972]

Lower trim model radio and heater controls in WRX. You got to be kidding me Subaru. The old WRX was never great but never this bad.

 

[john_pifer]

Lower trim model radio and heater controls in WRX. You got to be kidding me Subaru. The old WRX was never great but never this bad.

What’s your big issue with it?

I mean, my personal preference is for simple knobs for fan speed and temp, and no “automatic temperature control”, but no vehicle is perfect, right?

I find it to be an attractive setup, and in no way a downgrade from the 15-21 model.

 

[Ws6]

What’s your big issue with it?

I mean, my personal preference is for simple knobs for fan speed and temp, and no “automatic temperature control”, but no vehicle is perfect, right?

I find it to be an attractive setup, and in no way a downgrade from the 15-21 model.

Agreed. Noone ever bought a Subaru for its interior electronic features. Japanese vehicles just lag hard in the infotainment area.

You buy Japan for build quality, Audi for interior/features, MB for brute force, BMW for handling, Italian because you can afford it and passion>everything, and American because you like working on cars and owning random metric sockets that literally fit only one bolt you ever would touch.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Lower trim model radio and heater controls in WRX. You got to be kidding me Subaru. The old WRX was never great but never this bad.

What's the problem?

I like that they keep the radio screen for only the radio, and use a separate screen for everything else. That means you can upgrade the radio in a few years without having to worry about other systems and integrated nonsense

 

[dishdude]

The resolution on those screens is probably 640x480.

 

[Mainia]

For ~$35k?

Golf R start at 44,640 US.

 

[john_pifer]

Golf R start at 44,640 US.

Yep, everyone’s all, “Golf R, Golf R”.

The Golf R is over sixteen thousand dollars more expensive than the WRX.

Over 50% more money.

Apples to oranges.

 

[Mainia]

A Golf R won't blow up when you push 500hp on a stock block, a Subaru will.

 

[Ws6]

A Golf R won't blow up when you push 500hp on a stock block, a Subaru will.

America never even got the good golf. So lame.

 

[Mainia]

America never even got the good golf. So lame.

Car manufactures ALWAYS smit on the USA for cars. The new 287 hp 2.0 liter Kona N has nice looking forged rims in Europe. The USA gets CRAP cast garbage rims. I would have to IMMEDIATELY change them for spring, summer, fall use, and ONLY use the CRAP USA based rims for winter tires and road salt beaters.

 

[PF52]

Lower trim model radio and heater controls in WRX. You got to be kidding me Subaru. The old WRX was never great but never this bad.

You're heard of DIN radios, right? DIN 1.5? Double DIN?

This one must be about quadruple-DIN.

 

[wdn]

Aye, there's the rub. I think the current Crosstrek and Outback look fine with the cladding. Especially the Crosstrek, where the cladding makes for a more aggressive and rugged looking vehicle which is really nothing more than a lifted Impreza (I've yet to see the new Wilderness versions of either). But yeah, what works on an SUV doesn't necessarily translate well on a sports sedan.

The Impreza hatchback is better all around than the Crosstrek for thousands cheaper. There is nothing rugged or aggresssive about goofy body cladding it’s all in people’s head. What does aggressive even mean. There are no aggressive cars only aggresive drivers.

 

[PF52]

The Impreza hatchback is better all around than the Crosstrek for thousands cheaper. There is nothing rugged or aggresssive about goofy body cladding it’s all in people’s head. What does aggressive even mean. There are no aggressive cars only aggresive drivers.

I agree 100%; it's all driven by fashion and trendiness.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

The Impreza hatchback is better all around than the Crosstrek for thousands cheaper. There is nothing rugged or aggresssive about goofy body cladding it’s all in people’s head. What does aggressive even mean. There are no aggressive cars only aggresive drivers.

Unless you get a base stick which is a SIA built car with lower quality from MY experience, the Premium Impreza seem to cost same or more than the crosstrek. Also a base crosstrek has a 5 speed mt instead or the 6 mt that makes the engine to rev too high on the highway in top. Impreza used to be discounted more on a good day. The days of the 16-17K base impreza 4 door are gone.
I know I was shopping them hard last winter. Ended up with the Ecosport AWD 6 speed automatic for under 17K out the door.
A pleasant vehicle for around town - and- it has nice short gears to get you off the line hard.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

I agree 100%; it's all driven by fashion and trendiness.

My wife use to drive hers hard on unpaved wilderness and mountain trails. The cladding helps. Also helps in the rough winter in the Northeast with heavily sanded and salted roads

This is not a "Poseur" car. Certainly not hard core, but not fake, either.
Now about those water trapping lower control arms Subaru ...

Me, I preferred my old 1.6L 2 door Suzuki Samauri for this purpose - that was More Jeep than Jeep.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

The resolution on those screens is probably 640x480.

Are you watching HD movies on the display while driving? I haven't counted the pixels per inch, but it is not atrocious.
My wife does HATE the touch screen for HVAC, it IS fiddly to adjust whilst driving. Unsafe Subaru!

I wish people would worry MORE about cars doing basic car things correctly.
Steering, handling, braking, seat comfort, visibility, good shock/spring tuning - all on a good, solid high-hertz platform.

Manufacturers have been REALLY drooping the ball in handling and steering feel, feedback and responsiveness

 

[PF52]

My wife use to drive hers hard on unpaved wilderness and mountain trails. The cladding helps. Also helps in the rough winter in the Northeast with heavily sanded and salted roads

It's not a "mall-mobile" for her!

 

[MacManus99]

I keep reading that the preview gen WRX will "mop up" the Civic SI and the GTI, which makes me wonder what you are basing this on. I've driven all three in an autocross setting, and, personally, the WRX would be my last choice.

I understand that the advertised power figures for the WRX are significantly higher, the problem is that the engines tuning is significantly worse than the other two. In real world driving situations, the other two cars accelerate just as briskly 90% of the time, and to their benefit, the acceleration is far and away more consistent. Power delivery in the WRX is just not smooth or repeatable. It is constantly pulling timing and/or boost.

I also find at the limit handling to be better in the SI and GTI, the SI in particular. The SI is a scalpel, whereas the WRX is a steak knife. I personally just found it to be much more precise at 10/10ths than the other two in question here.

It may sound like I'm pooing all over the WRX, but that isn't the case. I think the WRX had the fastest responding turbocharger, and the while the GTI and SI both have LSD's that work miracles, they are still no match for all wheel drive yanking you out of a corner. I also think that the WRX may be the best DD of the three. It's almost lag free throttle response is appreciated in traffic, and its fuel mileage in my experience was phenomenal for what it is. (It routinely posted better mileage than my '13 FRS, which didn't make sense to me).

In conclusion, I think the WRX is a great car. My whole reason for posting is to simply interject my opinion and experiences on its performance in comparison to it's closest competitors.

 

[john_pifer]

I keep reading that the preview gen WRX will "mop up" the Civic SI and the GTI, which makes me wonder what you are basing this on. I've driven all three in an autocross setting, and, personally, the WRX would be my last choice.

I understand that the advertised power figures for the WRX are significantly higher, the problem is that the engines tuning is significantly worse than the other two. In real world driving situations, the other two cars accelerate just as briskly 90% of the time, and to their benefit, the acceleration is far and away more consistent. Power delivery in the WRX is just not smooth or repeatable. It is constantly pulling timing and/or boost.

I also find at the limit handling to be better in the SI and GTI, the SI in particular. The SI is a scalpel, whereas the WRX is a steak knife. I personally just found it to be much more precise at 10/10ths than the other two in question here.

It may sound like I'm pooing all over the WRX, but that isn't the case. I think the WRX had the fastest responding turbocharger, and the while the GTI and SI both have LSD's that work miracles, they are still no match for all wheel drive yanking you out of a corner. I also think that the WRX may be the best DD of the three. It's almost lag free throttle response is appreciated in traffic, and its fuel mileage in my experience was phenomenal for what it is. (It routinely posted better mileage than my '13 FRS, which didn't make sense to me).

In conclusion, I think the WRX is a great car. My whole reason for posting is to simply interject my opinion and experiences on its performance in comparison to it's closest competitors.

Good post.

You make some good points. Thanks for your contribution.

Having owned a 2016 WRX for 3 years, when I drove it in town, I often wondered why the heck I bought it.

Throttle pedal calibration was terrible - if you requested 25%, the engine room gave you 75%. Then there was the rev hang. And then feeling like it lost at least 20-30 HP in summer when the A/C was running.

And then the wholly inadequate brakes.

But, then, when I got it out on a tight, crooked, mountain road, all those inadequacies virtually disappeared (except for the brake rotors warping), and I remembered why I bought the car.

It also did quite well as a road trip car, out on the open road.

However, the poor tuning did make the car feel quite clumsy and awkward to drive around town.

That said, I’ve heard that the Cobb Accessport DRAMATICALLY improves the tuning and driveability problems I mentioned.

But I hope Subaru took the opportunity to improve the tuning for this new 2022 model.