Anyone cross shopping the new WRX?
 

There are so many cool cars coming out this year and next year. I feel like the new Z has been talked about a lot already. Just curious if anyone else is waiting to see what the new WRX looks and performs like.

I tried looking at WRX forums but they are kind of a cesspit, I'd be interested to hear what you folks have to say.

lol nope

Nope. Slim pickings on a RWD, NA engine, 2 door that you don't have to mortgage the house to purchase.

Still slim picking even if you mortgage the house, especially if you add lightweight to the list...

I don't think anyone is looking at a WRX this time around. Honestly, unless you have copious amounts of snow for more than 5 months out of the year, it's a bad car.

And if you were to ask me, the WRX is only getting closer and closer to becoming a cross over. WR-Cross.

That’s why I am keeping my 04 wagon forever.

I am cross-shopping the 2022 BRZ with an 02 z06 and the EJ-STIs.

It is really hard to ignore a lot of cars that offer a lot more for a lot less than 30K+ new cars.

In your case, I would be cross-shopping the FA-WRX and the EJ-STis.

For example, you can get a low milage, Subaru approved EJ-STi for the same price.

So, yes, I am cross-shopping... which I do every day on everything. ;)

I would state the FA24 BRZ has appeal to me personally once it has some PP brakes on it, once it is past the first year, and once we know what the second year changes are.

What exactly makes it such a bad car that nobody is looking at it? Seems like they've been selling just as well as usual lately. And how is it getting closer to a crossover? It's not sitting any higher, there's no hatch version... Didn't realize some wheel arch cladding is what defines a crossover.

It will probably be a decent performance car for a relative bargain price of around $30K.

The new golf R is $45K, btw. The new STI will probably cost that much too.

I personally don't need that much car, but if I wanted something more practical, comfortable, quiet, and an ECU tune away from 300 whp, I would put it on my list.

There seems to be a lot of MSRP price inflation with the `next gens` of cars coming out.

BRZ is now baselining at 30K

Z will be 40K

As a result, in the transition time, I think it is the case you have to look at lightly used cars (while they last) as there some better performance/$$ options out there.

Then again, I have been tracking the prices of BRZs since 2013, and since the pandemic they (and most other things) have trended WAYYYY up.

I used to be able to find PP BRZs, single owner for 23k. Now, no way. Everything like that is 30k. New ones are 33K for the current gen.

At this current time, when I can get a 10k mile STi for 34k and the same mileage BRZ for the same price... the market is chaotic and thus many different strategies right now make a lot of sense.

I chose a 2021 manual Corolla Hatchback over a 2021 WRX lol.

And I sell Subarus lol. The WRX would have been cheaper to lease than the Corolla in fact (before gas and insurance). The WRX has its fans. I chose a GTI over it 3 years ago too. They feel big and boxy. My biggest gripes with them is a) synthetic the engine feel and b) the rev hang and c) the sound which is a result of a+b.

They have an interior from 2012 yet people still buy them.

I’m wondering if the new WRX will address those things. What won’t change is the fact that the BRZ exists for the purpose of being a better driver’s car and the WRX existing for being a more versatile daily driver choice for people who want something a little more than a typical civilian car.

If I might slightly digress for just one post, @Veloist, but do you feel the same about the STi?

I honestly see running the EJ257 and a long-running engine / transmission platform as a benefit. The sound on the EJ257 is still awesome (in my opinion).

For the reasons you mentioned above (and the FA only having DI and not both) and the terrible EL sound + "5 speed", I could never take the WRX seriously. However, I don't think that is due to `age` of the interior, as they are all just very simple and functional. For the record, I have always felt like this about the WRX since EJ205, EJ255, and definitely once they went away from strut-based rears..

Thanks for the digression!

I definitely prefer the feel and overall driving experience of the STI. Biggest reasons is because of the Hydraulic Steering, mechanical shifter linkage, and a more raw engine feel. The better driving feel and engagement help downplay how big the car is too.

It’s a big reason why I’m a little bummed about the move away to a new engine. A lot of my co-workers are STI owners and are expecting the next-generation STI to be “softer.” So we’ll have to see. Subaru can be unpredictable sometimes.

I was cross shopping 1st gen autos with no paddles. Thank God I watched some videos.

I went to "Subaru Winter Experience" in 2020 to Wisconsin.
Basically, drifting on an ice lake.

They had BRZs, STIs and an automatic WRX (or was it a CVT? I think I was driving it in manual mode all the time).

BRZ were fun.
That day I learned that low center of mass can sometimes be a bad thing :iono:
I couldn't do enough weight transfer by trail braking, so the car would just understeer at first...
... until you finally kick the tail out, and then it will go sideways for days.

To my surprise, I liked the softer WRX more than the STI.
The STI was too stiff, and tbh its shifter was as bad as my friend's WRX :P

I can't imagine anyone in their right mind buying a new WRX to use for any kind of performance driving, or even buying it thinking it's a performance vehicle period. It's dated. The powertrain is bad, feels like it has tons of power, but it doesn't, it falls on it's face so hard. It's pretty heavy, heavier than it should be. It's the king of understeer. Bad on gas.

The WRX is the car where people ask why didn't you just get the STi if you actually wanted to drive it.

And yes, wheel arch cladding (or whatever you want to call that god awful looking black plastic) has no place on a car that's supposed to be "performance" oriented. Just make it a crossover already.

Either go buy an STi or BRZ, or something from another brand.

People are being a little hard on the WRX here…it IS at the absolute tail end of its lifespan after all.

I loved the old ‘02-‘07 ones (an ‘02 was my first new car) and hope the new one fixes some of the current car’s issues. I can’t wait the potential 6+ months for it to finally be available though, even if it does address all the shortcomings I’m looking for it to. I’m looking more 2-door since I don’t need the practicality yet either.

That thing is butt ugly. Someone decided to make that new WRX who secretly wanted to tank the sales of it to get rid of it. That rubber is sooo terribly ugly. that car was already ugly, but had some cool points to its look. Now a crosstrek looks BETTER than it. I hope they make it eco friendly free unlimited supply of quinoa woke edition soon with plug ability and +3000lbs of weight and -300 miles range to impress my wool hatted brooklyn friends next year.

Sorry... maybe I have some imbedded images not showing... is there a picture of the 2022 WRX yet I missed?

https://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=142504

This thread has all your WRX needs.

Nothing is official except a bunch of teaser pics. Since the Forester wilderness is i think being revealed on Sept 2, it shouldnt be long until the WRX gets revealed.

Some of the renderings look to be pretty accurate, especially the rendering of the blue car. Its more or less going to look like a sedan version of the released 2022 Subaru Levorg. So you can search that to get an idea what the interior and front fascia will look like.

No embedded pictures. Just screen grabs from the teaser videos floating around the interwebs.

https://cdn.motor1.com/images/mgl/Y1...screenshot.jpg

Ah! Thanks for sharing! Now if that came as `RallySpec` instead of `Wilderness` with all the GroupN goodies and a 1 year membership to the ARA for Lites class, they can put all the plastic on it they want and we could be talkin'!

Much appreciated, @trippinbillies40!

The market seems to disagree with you. What other 4 door AWD 'sports car' can you buy for about 32k?

That's fair, but the market also believes SUVs should become sports cars at some point, which is mind numbingly painful to even imagine a future as such. The market isn't trustworthy.

On paper, the WRX for the most part is a bargain for all it's numbers, put it into practice and it's a sad version of the STi.

What I'm really trying to say is the WRX is a bad car for driving enthusiasts, great for regular folk though, but if you're a regular folk, you got regular options.

Isnt that exactly why there is both a WRX and an STi?

Impreza for the regular folk, WRX for the enthusiasts who dont want the STI and the STI for the most hardcore drivers?

It is. But this doesn't match what HE wants, so clearly it's the wrong strategy for the entire market.

You say both, yet add a third option.

What reason would you really have for getting the WRX over an STi. You can't tell me you want performance then go buy a WRX over an STi, you just can't. You can't even argue practicality either.

I see little reason for the WRX to exist other than to lie about being a performance car, just like the EcoBoost Mustang.

Better fuel economy.
More comfortable to drive.
Can't afford an STI.
Less expensive to insure.
Want a spirited drive but don't care about lap times.


Subaru sells more WRX's than STI's. Perhaps it might be time to accept that your opinion differs from the masses.

yeah i did add impreza, cuz thats actually what the masses want: the boring econobox.

But when it comes to WRX and STI, aside from the fact they've both existed forever, one is softer than the other, and thats the appeal. You get an STI because its the most hardcore. You get the WRX because the STI is too hardcore.

I feel like we've got a pretty good feel on the difference between WRX, STI, and BRZ in our household...

https://i.ibb.co/y6r5fvs/driveway.jpg

I cannot for the life of me understand why they don't offer a BRZ in that orange. Great looking cars!

I don’t agree that the WRX isn’t fun for driving enthusiasts. With a manual of course. I will agree it’s ridiculous they offer it with a CVT. The first WRX’s were manual only. I owned a 2002 WRX for about 7 years. It’s the longest I’ve owned any car. And I live in Texas with no snow in sight, we do get heavy rain once in a while.
The STI used to have a very stiff suspension and wasn’t daily driver friendly. They have softened it up to appeal to more buyers, so that gap closed between the WRX and STI. I think we all need to wait and see what the new WRX brings to the table. I wouldn’t write off a car before it even exists. And it’s also amusing to see the “The GR86/Supra is doomed because of the new Z!!” Really?!! Do these people have a time machine?! [emoji28]


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The Tom's GR86 is that same burnt orange from 3M. I showed my wife (it's her WRX) and she instantly said "NO THAT'S MY COLOR!" lol. I agree though, I feel like it would sell like hotcakes. Maybe they'll do a release series in the orange that's being teased on the new WRX.

I got an email this morning saying:

“ On September 10th, you'll be able to see all the precision-engineered details revealed with us on Subaru.com/2022-wrx”

So I think the full details and pictures will be available then. Really hoping that 6.1k redline is just a stock photo and the FA24T revs a little better than that…

I forgot which Subaru presentation it was, but the WRX and STI market doesn't overlap much in the US. If there was true overlap, Subaru would be shooting themselves in the foot. I think this is why Subaru was initially hesitant to make the BRZ as that would potentially steal some of the WRX market share.

The WRX and STI both serve a specific market. If I recall, the WRX serves the younger and lower income, while the STI serves the older and higher income.

I see no reason to buy a WRX when the STi exists and I will continue to repeat that over and over when in regards to performance.

Isn't there about a $10,000 price difference?

That's like saying there is no reason to buy a GR86 while a 911 turbo exists. OK....Maybe not that bad but you get what I am saying.

Imagine what you'd pay to get it on par with an STi.

Do it right the first time and you'll see how much money you'll actually save.

But that assumes that you would spend any money to match the STi performance.

For most people I think the budget determines the performance, not the performance determines the budget.

People can't just grow more money because they want to go faster or else we WOULD all be in 911 turbos.

Well then you're stuck with a pretty lacking car stock.

If budget is such an issue for a new car, do you really think that person is going to be doing any sort of performance driving? At that point you should be looking at used and something pretty good on consumables.