This is ... much uglier than I expected.

Luckily I've moved beyond the WRX income bracket since I last bought one.

I'll keep my '21 STi (at least till '23)

slow, ugly and probably breaks. yippie.

Obviously I’m in the minority ‘cause I think it looks ok. Not great but not terrible.

That said, I have a 2021 WRX (base) and like the looks of it. Is it kinda anemic? Yeah until around 3500-4000 RPMs.  I was actually gonna get a Crosstrek but couldn’t find a manual one. I didn’t pay that much more for my WRX than a Crosstrek Sport.

And a chick car? LOL what girl these days can drive a manual transmission car? Hell, many “guys” these days can’t.

Lol toyota camry had 300 hp with no turbo

That's about as much power as my Mitsubishi Evo 8 from 2003.

My girlfriend drives a manual Crosstrek.

I've test driven WRX's multiple times. I WANT to buy one, put a deposit on a 2021. Every time I drive one I'm disappointed. My Civic SI with much less power is more enjoyable to drive, plus it has active cruise control, emergency braking, and lane keep assist that Subaru refuses to offer on their manual cars. So, i guess I'll drive my truck on the 10 or 12 days a year I need 4 wheel drive a year & keep my Honda.

The guy also has the same Florida plate for his car down there.

And you know how unusual both of those are (girl driving manual & a manual Crosstrek)

Lol. That’s awesome.

I need an STI wagon with like 400 hp to be interested in today’s market.

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Damn gets uglier every time.

How many times before 200k miles will you need to replace the head gasket?

There was girl with a 2020 6MT WRX at cars & coffee this morning.

Girl I dated a few years ago only ever owned manuals, and she was younger than me, too. IIRC, all of the road-going MT vehicles that one of my coworkers owns are technically his wife's. They are certainly out there.

And it's 3600 lbs and front-wheel drive. WRX would beat the pants off it.

While the "turbo AWD" is cool there's a ton of options for sports cars, sports sedans, and hatches, even competent FWD ones that are in the same price range. There is absolutely no reason why Subaru couldn't have a 200-250hp crosstrek or a full power WRX hatch again to provide some versatility to those of us that want to have our cake and eat it too. Most manufacturers are getting away from sedans and going to SUV's so it seems pretty logical to have some better hatch/cuv options on that platform.

In the vacuum Subaru created with the lack of hatches Ford was killing it with the Focus hatch with the RS and ST options and the Fiesta ST is *really* underrated for a fun around town versatile hot hatch. Same for VW with the GTI and Golf R. The Alltrack was a nice option that had a manual as well for those that wanted a wagon and not a hatch for a few years with extra ground clearance too.

The current base WRX is $27,495 MSRP with a Limited starting at $32k; and an STi is $37,245 with the limited at $42k. A BRZ is $29k, 86 $27k, an Ecoboost mustang starts at $27k, Camaro 2.0l $26k, 3.6l $28k,. K5 GT $31k, Veloster $32k, Miata $26k, Mazda 3 sedan/hatch turbo/awd is about $30-31k, Mazda 6 turbo $30k, Jetta GLI $26k, Golf GTI $28k. The Genesis G70 has a RWD manual option that starts around $37k too but '21 is the last year for the manual. If you want something bigger and muscley then you can get a Charger/Challenger GT in AWD with a 300hp V6 for about $34-$36k. A Tesla Model 3 RWD is $36k.

An Outback XT is $35k and the Wilderness XT is $37k. That's a serious damn value to get a good balance of power, cargo, interior amenities, and ground clearance. Which is why Subaru has been constantly shooting themselves in the dick for the last 7ish years with no performance smaller hatch. The crosstrek sport that finally got the 2.5l but the horrible CVT is only $26k but even then that only puts the crosstrek at the same 0-60 as my '17 Forester 2.5i premium. For power/versatility that also opens up the new Santa Cruz with 281hp/awd that starts at $36k and the Ford Maverick loaded out with FX4 and options is about $38k. For smaller versatile a CHR and HRV are loaded out at around $26k but have snoozeville drivetrains.

Subaru is fading into obscurity fast. They've had less of a trajectory and more of a flatline for years now.

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Really wish they’d bring back the 2 door.

Miss my 2.5RS

Considering the new Z pumps out 400hp 400 tq,  271 is weak.

I always wanted one of those. I fell in love with the 22b STi way back in the early 2000's with this article where they did old vs new school comparo with the 22b STi vs Pontiac Trans Am of the same year.

The new base wrx infotainment setup is gross too.

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Versus the current gen base setup:

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That's completely "go be poor somewhere else" and looks like some shit aftermarket you'd get from Bestbuy after they ran out of Crutchfield components. In 2010.

Kharn

That's no wagon. Pass.

aaaand I ordered a new WRX yesterday. It should be here in November. Base model, WR blue.

The 2021 model, not this new 2022 generation.

(palate cleanser!)
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Congrats!

Subarus are the most annoying sound known to man, please don't put an exhaust on your car.

Only plans so far involve a winter wheel & tire setup. The car won't be here until the winter and it comes with summer performance tires

Haven't decided if I want to buy a set of steels for the winter, or sell the factory tires and use the factory wheels for the winter then buy a new set of wheels and tires for the summer.

:) same problem here. BTW I was mostly teasing, I hate the subi noise but they're good looking and nice cars.

So annoying you pay for suboptimal rims/tires, I think you should just run them a few years and you'll be fine.
Get your money out of those tires then change to what you want.

At least half of the road captains are driving POS worn out tires anyways, they aren't changing to winter tires.

My 2009 WRX that spun a rod bearing at 7500 miles made 265 hp.  In 13 years they are producing just about the same hp and look more like a Honda. I will add that I’ve always wanted to implant an STi drivetrain into an old Brat.

THis was the best gen WRX/STi. They've gone down hill massively since. This new one sucks balls...

I had this same issue when I bought my Evo. I just ended up buying another set of OEM Evo MR BBS wheels used from someone (a lot of people that buy these cars swap out wheels real quick so OEM ones are - at least were - readily available for cheap). Obviously if you want bigger diameter/width that won't work, but I didn't want to get rid of the OEM Yokos as they were kick ass tires. The Enkis that came on the car got the winters.

Exactly! Focus RS 2.4L ecoboost 350 hp. Even the 2.0L ecobbost ST has more torque and those cars are retired in the US.

Well... I don't hate it.

All the black plastic makes sense for a "rally car" I guess.

My 93 octane tuned 2019 Ford Ranger supposedly makes 330 HP and 400 TQ on paper with its 2.3 twin-scroll turbo EB motor. (Factory Rating: 270 / 310)

Those numbers seem kind of low for a car meant for spirited drives. Then again, its not an STi.

As long as it has additional reinforcement to protect the ass of Timo.

Kharn

I was kind of blown away at what a step back that system is. The infotainment in my '17 Forester 2.5i premium is pretty well integrated similar to the current WRX's. Would have expected something similar at least for the base model with a larger screen for the higher trims.

It really looks like some shitty fucking walmart/crutchfield install hackjob.

Wow… a whole 271 hp?????  In a PERFORMANCE car?  And super bland, super “safe” styling to go with it???
Looks like a sedan version of the Pontiac Aztek.

Subdue (autocorrect changed “Subie” but I think it fits)  STILL hasn’t figured out how to recapture the original WRX formula.

Let me guess… for even more spice, the “sti” package will add a wing, special interior fabrics/ wild colors, and 25hp — for an additional $10k right?

So sad that the once-great WRX has been gelded in such a way.

Don't forget shittier ride too. Maybe this time though they can make the STi faster 0-60 then the WRX and be more than slightly faster in the 1/4 then the last version.
https://www.motortrend.com/reviews/2020-subaru-wrx-and-wrx-sti-series-white-first-test/

The current STI should be able to go faster than that, but that driveline has always straddled the fine line between snapping something and absolutely dying off the line. I think the move to the electronic center diff certainly didn’t help either as that was when all the reviewers starting falling on their face trying to launch it.

Subaru: “Hey VW can we borrow your homework on the new Golf interior?”
VW: “Ok but you only have a minute to do so”

Dealer canceled my order they're pushed back so much that their order date got cut and those of us who ordered a 21 recently got axed.

There's a 2019 STI they just got in but they're asking only $400 less for it than a new one

That's a damn shame, but not all that surprising given the time of year and current supply situation.

Every new article on the WRX continues to disappoint. The fact that you are stuck with the CVT in the better trims is a seemingly odd choice but it just reinforces that they are moving the WRX away from the cheap rally car stigma to a "sensible" commuter.

And here's how I know you don't know what you're talking about.  STI is not a package, it's a different car.
STI usually has:
Different Transmission
Different differentials
Different brakes
Different Engine and/or turbo
Different Intercooler
Different Wheels
Different hood scoop
Different seats
Different suspension

It's why when a subaru guy says "I added 25 hp so now it's essentially an STI" they are wrong. It would cost a lot of money to "convert" a WRX into an STI.

Underpowered. Garbage engine. Looks like a Honda Civic like 2 gems ago.

Subaru has also been known to add cosmetic STI packages, like on the BRZ.

It’s completely unknown what they will do with the next gen WRX STI at this point, but it would be foolish to get your hopes up too much with what we’ve seen so far.

Australia just did their launch event. They get a wagon version

https://www.subaru.com.au/around-the-corner/register-your-interest/wrx

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That looks WAY better.

Nice. Not as good as the last wagons we got but still cool.

It's possible, but for the last 17 years they haven't done it that way. It would be a massive departure from the past.

Only Australia!

WTF Subaru, people have been vocal about wanting a wagon WRX since it was discontinued.