Is The 2022 Subaru WRX the Last WRX As We Know it? Car and Driver Road Test

The WRX has been a performance staple for the Subaru since the early 1990s. This is not working. As fast as I want? OK. The WRX has been a performance staple for the Subaru since the 1990s, and the times have changed. The formula for this car hasn't. Is that how she meant? The WRX has been a performance staple for Subaru since the early 90s. And while the times have changed, the formula for this car, that's a punchy turbocharged engine all-wheel drive, and a heavy dose of rally inspiration, that hasn't changed. Things are different these days. Consider that recently, Subaru has announced that the next generation of the STI will likely be an EV. And while that means it'll certainly be faster, it's also the most significant change that you can have in a Subaru performance vehicle. And if you continue that logic, it's easy to think that this might be the last generation of the WRX as we know it. Good thing we can experience it at M1 Concourse here in Pontiac, Michigan. The 2022 WRX sits on a new platform that shares common parts with not only the Subaru Impreza, but the Forester and Outback as well. For WRX duties, it is longer and wider than before. The roofline is lower, as is the center of gravity, and the body is significantly stiffer than the previous generation. But let's not kid ourselves. The WRX has never really been a pretty car in the traditional sense of the word, at least not since the early 90s. Like, the 22B looked great. Previous generations of the WRX have had this sort of purposeful aggression to them that just looks kind of cool because it's rad, you know, much in the same way an A10 Warthog is. This, though, with the contrasting plastic body cladding and the stuff sticking out of the rear end, it's just not doing it for me. It's not the fact that the fender's here. I don't mind the fender. It's the fact that it's contrast, black, and textured, and it just looks cheap. Vents are cool. Real vents are cool. But it needs, like, a box fender or something for it to really work. It's worse in the back. You have, like, a realish-looking vent here. Yeah, it is real. Quad tailpipes, great as well. But this chunkiness, like, sticks out. It's not a bit much. Why? I think there's actually, like, skin in there now. That's gross. If you're going to look ugly, you might as well look tough, right? No, the saying is if you're going to be dumb, you might as well be tough. In the WRX's case, if you're going to look ugly, you might as well look tough. But at least it still has a hood scoop. And under that hood sits a new, larger engine. The turbo 2.4-liter flat-four makes 271 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. And that's three more horsepower than last year. Torque is unchanged, as are the engine speeds at which both of those figures are delivered. Let's segue now to the test results to see how that affects acceleration. We recorded 60-mile-an-hour acceleration in 5 and 1⁄2 seconds, which is a few tenths slower than the last WRX we tested. But that's why you don't go off just 0 to 60 times when you're gauging a car's acceleration. In the case of the WRX, getting a quick 0 to 60 result requires a very abusive clutch dump that most owners shouldn't do. Also, in the case of this generation, the max engine speed is actually lower. And that means in order to get 60, you have to shift to third gear, which makes that result slower. At 13.9 seconds, the quarter mile essentially tied the last WRX we tested, though we have seen quicker results from previous WRXs of the same generation. So with the acceleration figures out of the way, let's talk about how this generation of the WRX feels to drive. And I've got to be honest, it's like the previous generations of the WRX. And considering that this car could change quite drastically in its next generation, I think that's a good thing. For starters, when I hopped in this car, I was glad to see, or glad to find out, or to discover that this still smells like a WRX. When you hop in the driver's seat, the seating position is still like a WRX. And that's to say that you feel like there's a lot of glass around you. You feel like you're sitting almost on top of the car rather than in it. That's a characteristic that I remember even back from the Subaru 22B I was fortunate enough to drive a couple of years ago. And that's even with this roof being lower than the previous generation. That sensation still exists in this car. And when you're driving a WRX quickly, I kind of label it as a car that feels a little clumsy with its handling balance. Part of that has to do with the shifter. Part of that has to do with the power delivery. And just the overall character of the car is not a suave, sophisticated handling machine. But when you start pushing it, when you start seeing what it can do and developing confidence in the chassis, you find that it's very capable. Around a tight course like this Champion Motor Speedway, I think this car with the right driver could bruise some egos. And I say that because first up, you have quite a bit of grip. This is a car that on our skid pad had generated 0.95 G average. That's commendable for a car with economy car roots. The front end feels responsive and grippy. Of course, the communication, there isn't much of it through the steering wheel coming back to you. But you don't correct the steering frequently. At least you don't feel the need to. The clutch pedal is nice and has positive engagement. The shifter's easy to throw. And then once you get the car slowed down enough for a corner, you can steer in using that precise steering, get on the power quickly. And when you have the car lined up, sometimes you'll actually get a little bit of wheel spin from the front tires because they'll run out of traction first. But because you have three other driven wheels, they'll power you out of the corner. It's really fun. It requires a slightly different kind of driving style. But once you adapt to it and figure out how to make it work, there we go. It comes together pretty nicely. We talked about the acceleration figures and how they're very similar to the previous generation of the WRX. I find that commendable because this car does weigh a little bit more and doesn't make meaningful power differences over the previous generation car. Power delivery is very similar as well. You have a pretty solid wall of power that lasts until about 5,800 RPM or so. While I'm bummed that the red line is a bit lower than it was in the last generation car, this engine isn't making much power past 6,000 RPM. So it's mostly there to help you hold onto a gear from corner to corner. This does make the engine feel like it's punchy, but for a smaller window in its power band, even if functionally there's not that much of a difference in power delivery. I will say this engine is very, very quiet. And that's kind of unfortunate. So if you're going to buy this car, just expect to shell out some money for an aftermarket exhaust to revel in that Subaru growl that we've come to know and expect from them. There has been, it appears, an effort to make this car a little bit more civilized to drive every day. It does seem to ride a bit better. The interior is a bit quieter, even if that's a downside for the engine. And overall, what that means is when you are driving this to work or running errands, it is a smoother, less annoying car to drive because it doesn't feel as rough and it isn't as noisy. That's nice because it means your passengers, especially your significant other, will complain less about the daily driver you've chosen. The shifter feels nice. I want to say it's better than what I remember from previous Subaru manuals. The weird thing about the WRX in this generation is that the optional automatic is a continuously variable transmission. And those, in my experience, aren't great for performance applications. I'm sure it'll be quick. It'll probably be the fastest version of this car as far as acceleration is concerned. But it lacks that crucial engagement that you get with a manual transmission. The weirder thing about that car, though, is the only way you can get the WRX with performance upgrades like adaptive dampers or a variable torque split center differential is with the CVT. And while I haven't driven that car, I don't want to comment on how it might drive. It's very strange that you can't get those features with the manual. I'll say for the time being, I'm enjoying driving this car quick a lot. I think this car has the power and the grip and the confidence, again, to Bruce Amigos on a racetrack or on a tight mountain road. I think this could do some work. There you go. Probably would benefit from a limited slip up front, though, to help you with that front wheel spin. It is satisfying. But let's talk about the rest of the car. You can sense the economy car roots. There's just no getting around it. You can sense that this is built on a less expensive commuter OK, because, hey, that's what the WRX always was. There are some oddities. For one, the trip reset button is exactly where I would think the ignition for the car is. So more than a couple of times, I've reset the trip instead of starting the car. This large vertical screen looks nice, looks impressive. Little glitchy. I wouldn't say it's entirely easiest one to use. But again, not bad. I think overall, this is an easy car to live with every day. And that's an important feat for an all-wheel drive sport compact like this. It comes to mind, or it makes me think of the Civic SI that we reviewed recently. And even though that car is significantly slower than this one, the difference between those two, I can't help but think of. Because the Civic SI felt like someone cared a lot about how things felt in that car, both in the cabin and with the shifter, and how the handling was balanced and everything. Subaru doesn't seem to care about those things with the WRX, or not nearly to the same degree. But you do get more performance with this car. Significantly more. Whether you like one or the other is up to you. And they're both at varying different price levels, too. So that's not a direct comparison. But it's just different character. The Honda definitely has more attention to the details. And this is just more of a route. I am enjoying this car. I'm enjoying driving this car a lot. You could absolutely do some work with this car. I think this generation of the WRX gets awards for two big reasons. The first is that this is a larger, heavier car than the generation it replaces. And it doesn't make that much more power than the previous generation. Three horsepower, let's be honest. And yet, it posts similar acceleration, better braking, and better handling figures. That's commendable. On top of that, it's just as fun to drive and nicer during the commute. The WRX may change significantly in its next generation. But this is a pretty good one to go out with.