2022 Subaru WRX Spy Shots via Car and Driver

[Dirty Harry]

Driving impressions…

[TylerLieberman]

Originally Posted by Dirty Harry

Driving impressions…

Very nice of him to put on his driving gloves to ride passenger

[R_E_L]

I like the new proportions, particularly the side profile is improved and that was one of my hang ups with the previous car. While proportions are not 1 to 1 with the concept car, these are much closer than the previous gen.

The rear is pretty bad as everyone has said. The King of the Hill pic is actually a real good comparison haha. Something about the taillights really narrows the rear in an odd way, and that's never a good thing. Performance cars should be wide in the back. The cladding isn't that bad until again, you get to the rear. It's too much plastic back there, and I think the concerns about it fading and looking bad after a few years of sun exposure are more than valid.

Finally, the performance numbers are really disappointing, particularly when you consider the implications for the STI. I don't see there being a 400 hp STI when the WRX cant even crack 300 hp. I'm sure the overall curve is improved, but such a small peak increase despite a 20% increase in displacement is not great. How did an NA BRZ increase by 23 hp and this could only manage 3? This also makes me wonder how much is left on the table for the aftermarket, if Subaru didn't feel comfortable adding more power, maybe these engines wont be able to take much more in the long term. All speculation of course, but it certainly affects my confidence.

[WolfpackS2k]

It's just a combination of issues IMO that add up to a whole wtf moment. Each by itself...okay fine.

1) plastic cladding around the wheels
2) hexagonal wheel wells
3) extremely minimal power gain (as commented on by others it probably does have much better power under the curve...but I think we all know this car is going to weight at least 100 lb more than the last one)
4) pathetically low engine redline
5) sport seats only available on the CVT model
6) INCREASED ground clearance (I mean that's cool if you wanna market the car as a fast off roader, after all the WRX did originate as a street version of their rally car - but all we've got here are muddled mixed messages).

I wonder if anyone will offer body colored wheel well cladding that's also circular, not hexagonal. Because fix that and I think the exterior design is an improvement. Still, I don't like the way the car looks like it's 4-5 inches taller than it needs to be.

[Yoshoobaroo]

Did they stick with the same size turbo? Could explain the low redline and meager power increase. The tiny turbo probably chokes the engine. Maybe this opens up the range for 2 power levels on the STI? Europe used to get multiple versions of the STI and Evo with differently sized turbos.

[Sasquachulator]

Look up the Subaru Levorg to get a sense of how it looks without the cladding.
The hexagonal wheels looks to be this gens design so i dont expect that to change.

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by WolfpackS2k

1) plastic cladding around the wheels
...

That seems to be all the rage now. The upcoming Toyota/Subaru EV has those, as does the 2022 Silverado ZR2.

[TylerLieberman]

Supposed new STI pictured here.

If correct, then my prediction on the altered fascia and color matched arches would be accurate.

It definitely looks better than the WRX, but we’ll have to wait and see the final product.

[mn_ca]

Everyone was complaining about the Civic's huge front bumper vents when they came out...now every car is reinventing it lol.

[NoHaveMSG]

Originally Posted by TylerLieberman

Very nice of him to put on his driving gloves to ride passenger

Don't want to burn your hands in a crash.

[Red-86]

Originally Posted by Sasquachulator

Look up the Subaru Levorg to get a sense of how it looks without the cladding.

I think the new Levorg looks good. Better than the new WRX IMO.

The hexagonal wheels looks to be this gens design so i dont expect that to change.

Still not sold on hexagonal shaped wheel arches, but at least the body coloured ones sans cladding don’t stand out as much as the WRX ones. That cheap grey/black plastic cladding is going to look rubbish after a few years fading and cracking in the sun and weather, and it makes the wheels look too small for the car. I don’t know why they did it.

[Red-86]

Originally Posted by Dirty Harry

Why upgrade the engine to a 2.4l as they’ve only gone from 197kw to 202kw. Should’ve been 220kw minimum, disappointing.

Sure is. What is going on? Most other brands are easily pushing 220kW out of their 2.0L turbo engines, and Subaru can only get 202kW out of 2.4L? Seems like they phoned it in.

[Sasquachulator]

Originally Posted by Red-86

I think the new Levorg looks good. Better than the new WRX IMO.



Still not sold on hexagonal shaped wheel arches, but at least the body coloured ones sans cladding don’t stand out as much as the WRX ones. That cheap grey/black plastic cladding is going to look rubbish after a few years fading and cracking in the sun and weather, and it makes the wheels look too small for the car. I don’t know why they did it.

The cladding was on the Viziv concepts....i guess it just doesnt translate that good on the production cars when things get toned down.

[Dirty Harry]

Originally Posted by Sasquachulator

The cladding was on the Viziv concepts....i guess it just doesnt translate that good on the production cars when things get toned down.

Changing from carbon fibre cladding to cheap plastic doesn’t help either.