The Beast within Subaru Impreza WRX
Mea culpa, but I am not normally Mr. Hell on Wheels. In this age of rising fuel prices, I’m as parsimonious with my unleaded as the next guy. But with this car… everything falls to pieces. That is, every other car behind me save for the rare Porsche or even-faster STI and Evo. If you are looking for a car that will project you as a successful, distinguished gentleman, go get a Camry. But if you are looking for a car that will seemingly project you into lower Earth orbit for not too much money, look no further.
Despite the all-new skin, the WRX is not what you’d call a beautiful car. What it looks like is lethal. You see one on the road and give it the same respect you would a guy brandishing an AK-74. The muscular, hatchback body with the flared hood scoop gives it the look of a viper, poised and ready to strike anytime. Provoke one at your own risk, because with 230 horsepower on tap from a turbocharged and intercooled 2.5-liter flat-four that sings to the redline like a high-precision sewing machine, the WRX will give ground to very few other cars on the road. And even then it might outpace more endowed rivals on the road by dint of its all-wheel drive hardware, a syrupy smooth system that lets you attack curves and questionable surfaces with more well-founded confidence than the average two-wheel driver.
Not that you have to go fast all the time in this car. Unlike the previous generation WRX, which was undoubtedly fast but also rough around the edges when it came to ride quality and noise insulation, the newer model is a friendlier accomplice. The all-independent suspension (front struts, double wishbone rear) has been tuned for a more compliant ride. There’s also a more palpable sense of insulating materials throughout the cabin.
Combine the ride with the lower noise levels and it’s less strenuous to drive on a daily basis. It’s not as extreme an experience as the old model, but the higher level of comfort ensures you can go faster for a longer period of time. Not that the car has become too soft for the hard-core Impreza fans, because it is not anywhere as comfortable as your average Altis. The atmosphere is just taut but low-key; you’re not being nagged every minute to put the pedal to the metal, but you know that full power is just a tip of the throttle away.
Adding to this mayhem-on-demand is a functional cockpit. The plastics and resins used are still a little too stark to not look cheap a few years from now, but the driver ergonomics are perfect. The seat-to-steering-wheel relationship is spot-on, the cowl and instrument panel are placed low so as to not impede vision, and the greenhouse area is generous. If the Subaru engineers were looking to emulate the F-16 cockpit, with a low beltline and nearly perfect 360-degree view all around, they nearly got it right. The only blind spots are near the thick D-pillars, which coincidentally make the car look like a Mazda3 or a BMW 1-Series from behind.
If only a stick shift were available already. We realize that a manual tranny is sort of de rigeur in such a manly car, but let’s face it: today’s advanced automatics with their “manumatic” functionality are just so much better for real world driving. Or at least
Some other concessions to comfort and convenience include an AUX input jack for the 10-speaker stereo (which still sounds less-than-brilliant), electroluminescent gauges, slightly more headroom and legroom at the back compared to the old model, and automatic climate control. Supplementary go-fast hardware includes High Intensity Discharge headlamps, foglamps, and rear spoiler. All this for just P1.750M, a stiff price for the average Juan, but not so steep as to limit it to the budgets of the Greedy Group. Oh, and did we mention that tame driving yields a not-unreasonable 7-8.5 kpl of high octane? So work hard, live the dream. Your id will thank you for it.
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