Anyone cross shopping the new WRX?

[timurrrr]

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
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

[Jordanwolf]

Originally Posted by trippinbillies40

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.

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.

[stilesg57]

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.

[~el~jefe~]

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.

[dowroa]

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

[Sasquachulator]

Originally Posted by dowroa

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.

[trippinbillies40]

Originally Posted by dowroa

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

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

[dowroa]

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!

[ayau]

Originally Posted by Jordanwolf

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.

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

[Jordanwolf]

Originally Posted by ayau

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.

[Sasquachulator]

Originally Posted by Jordanwolf

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?

[trippinbillies40]

Originally Posted by Sasquachulator

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.

[Jordanwolf]

Originally Posted by Sasquachulator

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?

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.

[trippinbillies40]

Originally Posted by Jordanwolf

What reason would you really have for getting the WRX over an STi.

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.