RETAIL TORQUE

Back to reality
I confront a rather diminutive, almost shy and
retiring red shape sitting at the docks. Traditionally,
you’d be forgiven for thinking Subaru styled
cars in the hope of awarding them no social
status whatsoever and at a distant glance the
WRX looks much the same, but approach closer
and some wholesome nuggets will whet your
appetite. Sure, the WRX was always the one to
be talked-over by the big-winged and goldwheeled
STI and the same will happen with a
brand new STI but for now the WRX looks compact,
undercover and yet menacing if you know
what to look for… Dare I say it, with a bit of Kia
Koup to be found in profile and a hint of BMW 3
of room for rapid-fire shifting. Overall the shift
quality feels substantial and rewards a precise
and firm input. Controlling the turbo surge in
mid-corner scenarios when holding a neutral
throttle, and a smooth driving line, takes
concentrated input and often a slight lift off the
throttle to keep the spooled-turbo at bay. Any
errant footwork will see you applying kiloWatts
and Newton metres that you and the car are not
improving as speeds pick up. Nevertheless, a
little bit of bounce is still to be expected when
cracking-on and this bobbing sensation feels as
if it assists changing direction, while also pointing
to how grippy the four contact patches are
on the road.
Masterful not masterless
Our road trip has swung us on the new Subaru
WRX. You always got the sense in the past that
the urgent priority for Subaru was to make Im-
prezas faster cars, not improved cars. The new
WRX is refined like never before but can still
head bang with driver involvement you’ll struggle
to find anywhere else nowadays. Better still,
the hiatus period from Impreza to WRX means
pent-up demand should easily satisfy the measured
supply. Our road trip was a confirmation
of its talents rather than an exercise in cynicism
over a genre of car we thought had had its day.
The WRX is no masterless Ronin. In fact, it’s one
masterful samurai.
prepared for and inevitable push-understeer
from the symmetrical drive will result. In that respect
the WRX is not a car that drives for you but
it also makes for a refreshingly physical drive.
and 4 Series at the rear three quarter panel.
The WRX’s new face borrows much from the
very cool 2006 Prodrive P2 – Prodrive is the
Banbury-based company that built Subaru’s
WRC cars. The signature Scooby bonnet scoop is
still in attendance to intimidate all who see it but
it’s recessed into the bonnet courtesy of shapely
lines cresting up from the front grille and pincershaped
headlights. The 17-inch gunmetal wheels
wrapped in low profile rubber don’t look as small
as they sound; while at the back you get a faux
rear diffuser, boot lid spoiler and four trumpeting
exhaust pipes. On looks alone it duly addresses
the unsavoury reputation fast Subarus of
old had acquired.
Anger management
With 197kW at 5 600rpm and 350Nm of torque
between 2 400 and 5 200rpm, the figures only
tell half the story. Subaru claims 0-100kph in 6.0
seconds dead and while we posted 6.85 seconds
(a figure we could’ve improved upon), we chose
not to detonate a still factory-fresh clutch with
a slip launch just to gain a few tenths. Truth be
told, the acceleration is pretty brutal anywhere
in the rev range but getting the WRX off the line
is a real rigmarole – something flappy-paddled
competitors with launch control wouldn’t know
anything about these days.
The gear lever is offset to the left, leaving plenty
Corner like Solberg
With the old WRX it was always important to
trace a conventional out-in-out line to eliminate
understeer but the new WRX feels more manoeuvrable;
more willing to rely on its rear axle
for mid-corner composure and carry high corner
speed. Highly agile upon corner entry, you don’t
need to send the car’s weight forward with a
cursory lean on the brakes like you might’ve
done with the old one’s woolly front end. The
WRX can be placed within centimetres of where
you want it thanks to more precise steering, and
with sharp corner entry guaranteed; you can
rely on that traditional all-wheel drive insurance
policy before booting the throttle and powering
out at one helluva lick. This WRX may have
a new torque-vectoring system but our manual
WRX still has the traditional viscous-coupling
locking centre differential and a simple 50:50
front-to-rear torque split.
Competitor systems are more hi-tech but the
handling is easy and predictable – you’re in
control. Weighing 1 464kg, the lightness plays a
role in this urgency, as do the obedient Dunlop
Sport Maxx tyres. We were worried about the
relatively small looking brakes but the pedal feel
is good and ABS kicks in reluctantly but firmly
when needed. Previous WRXs were woefully
mild on the limit and prone to rolling and dipping,
but not this one. The ride is firm over slow
speed compressions with suspension stroke
Subtle enough to blend, serious enough to
turn heads in the sleepy town of Stanford
Limited roll and predictable handling are where
the new WRX has come on in leaps and bounds
5 RT Aug14