BIG BANG HYPOTHESIS
WRX means hard-edged — but is the STi a match for newer, cheaper rivals?
Subaru’s fourth-generation WRX performance hero has been with us since 2014, and although the old Impreza on which it’s based was replaced by an all-new model in 2016, the 2018 WRX is a mild update of the 2014 car.
The next completely new Rex is still at least couple of years away and it’s certain to up the performance ante.
It’s equally certain that generation five will be a more refined, polite machine than the edgy, punk-a-licious Rex we’ve come to know and love since it roared in from the wrong side of town way back in 1994.
That will be a good and a bad thing.
VALUE
The 2018 WRX, with a 197kW 2.0-litre boxer four-cylinder turbo, starts at $39,240 for the six-speed manual. A constantly variable transmission adds $3000.
WRX tragics will notice the more aggressive nose and gaping lower grille, conspicuous brake calipers, new 18-inch alloy wheels and automatic, swivelling LED headlights.
Inside, there’s a larger information screen atop the dash, while the CVT option includes an electric parking brake and hill holder.
Mechanical updates include more faderesistant brake pads and suspension retuned slightly towards flatter cornering and tighter control.
The STi (pictured), with 221kW 2.5-litre boxer and six-speed manual, kicks off at $50,890. There’s no CVT option. That massive, rally-inspired rear wing adds $1300. Premium specification, with leather, navigation, sunroof and upgraded audio, starts at $55,640.
There are useful hardware gains for the STi for 2018 too, adding 19-inch wheels, larger cross-drilled brake rotors, yellow six-piston Brembo calipers up front and similar revisions to its already sportier suspension.
Today we’re in the top of the range STi Spec R, priced at $57,690. It adds a pair of Recaro power adjustable, heated front sport seats to STi Premium.
Every WRX test ever written includes a “bang for your bucks” reference and it’s still a big bang in the case of the base model.
However, with Nissan recently axing 370Z prices by almost $7000 (to $49,990), BMW also lopping $5000 from the M140i (now $59,990), VW landing the new Golf R at $52,990 and Ford’s Focus RS a bargain at $50,990, it’s time to reconsider that cliche’s relevance to the STi.
COMFORT
You’re perched high in Spec R’s Recaro seat and when your cheeks first hit leather it feels like a park bench. It’s suitably grippy in corners, though, and after a full day in the car I realised I was actually very comfortable.
The ride’s harsh in town, of course; at speed on patchy country roads, it’s more absorbent, if still far from luxurious.
Apart from the Recaro seats and a leather wrapped, contoured steering wheel, the STi’s cabin feels nothing like high-$50K money. It’s an old Impreza, after all. SAFETY Subaru’s EyeSight twin-camera safety tech, with adaptive cruise, automatic emergency braking and steering assistance and lane departure warning, is included on CVTequipped WRXs. EyeSight is not available on manual transmission cars, including the STi.
Premium and Spec R include blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert, front and passenger side cameras and auto high-beam. DRIVING If we apply brutal objectivity to the STi, it comes up quite a way short of rivals such as the M140i and Golf R. Its engine is 10 years old, the rest isn’t exactly state of the art either, it’s crude, rude and uncomfortable.
But — and it’s a big but — this is arguably now also its greatest asset. The STi feels like a real metal and muscle performance machine, a reflection of its World Rally Championship heritage, rather than a remote control set of digital algorithms on wheels.
It’s hard work compared with the push-thebuttons-and-point-it performance cars we’re now used to, and it requires more skill to drive quickly, too.
Tractable enough, the 2.5 turbo is fairly sedate until 3500rpm, at which point the turbo kicks in, things get loud and you’re off to see the wizard, with a huge grin on your face.
The 0-100km/h sprint takes a claimed 5.2 seconds; our best timed run was 5.6.
The six-speed manual requires your constant attention to keep the revs up; it’s precise, notchy and the lever needs to be caressed into each gate.
Hydraulic steering is sharp but heavy, with some rack shake on bumps. Press the brake pedal and the Brembos are powerful, though they need heat and pressure to really bite.
The centre differential automatically varies the front-rear torque split under power in corners and also allows you set a rear-drive bias. Mechanical limited-slip diffs at each end, plus torque vectoring, help keep the Rex on a tight, tidy line at sane speeds, assisted by loads of grip. HEART SAYS I’m releasing my inner hoon. Got a problem with that? HEAD SAYS I want a performance car with real motorsport engineering credibility. ALTERNATIVES BMW M140I FROM $59,990 The beaut performance bargain of 2017. 250kW 3.0-litre turbo straight six, 0-100km/h in 4.6 seconds, rear-drive and lots of M bits. NISSAN 370Z FROM $49,990 If the STi is calling, this might appeal too. Hard case and old-school, with a 245kW 3.7-litre V6, rear-drive and 0-100km/h in 5.3 seconds.