Subaru Impreza WRX sedan 2010 Review

Price Guide (recommended price before statutory and delivery charges): $39,990
Options fitted to test car (not included in above price): Nil
Crash rating: Five-stars (ANCAP)
Fuel: 95 RON PULP
Claimed fuel economy (L/100km): 10.4
CO2 emissions (g/km): 247
Also consider: Ford Focus XR5 Turbo, Honda Civic Type R, Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart

About our ratings

The heavily flared wheelarches have done the trick. They've transformed the WRX back to what it once was: a dynamically capable small car with aggressive styling that speaks to young blokes. For Subaru, it's a return to form, now that the company has incorporated STi styling cues in its more affordable turbo variants. It's less likely that the WRX will be forced to live with descriptions like 'bland', or 'derivative' now.

For the purpose of this review, the WRX on test was the basic sedan (sans sunroof and high-end audio). In some ways, it makes a virtue of 'basic'. It lacks the twin-clutch transmission of its rival, the Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart, and nor does it have the Ralliart's six forward speeds, but the WRX makes up for those shortcomings in other ways.

First and foremost is the engine, which is seriously punchy and lets the driver know it. It's docile at lower speeds and there's no discernible turbo lag, but it provides linear acceleration across a broad swath of engine revs.

Effortless torque is available from around 1500rpm, for around-town dawdling and there's brisk acceleration using half throttle from 2000rpm up. Use plenty of throttle and the horizontally-opposed turbo four lets loose from about 3500rpm with a rolling burst of acceleration -- and does so accompanied by the percussive soundtrack of a high-performance Subaru.

Quite simply, there's just nothing that sounds like a WRX/STi engine. It may be heretical to say so, but the turbocharged boxers are at least the equal of most V8s for a bass beat. Plus Subies are unique -- you can pick them from miles away. With an engine like this, a sixth gear is practically redundant... or is it?

At freeway speeds, the Subaru's engine is hovering just under 3000rpm. With an extra ratio it would be much closer to 2000rpm and the WRX has the potential to be fairly frugal, as we discovered. At a steady speed it can sneak in around 7.0L/100km, if that's important to you. A sixth gear might also make for a quieter ambience inside the car too.

Unlike the Ralliart, there's virtually zero wind noise in the Subaru (presumably a factor in the company choosing to ditch its iconic frameless windows in this model) and when the WRX is noisy it's in a good way. There's negligible harshness when cruising and noise from the drivetrain and the road combine in near equal proportions, with a little turbo whine thrown in for good measure. But this seems to be NVH that's been carefully calculated for the enjoyment of driving enthusiasts.

The gearshift is not the slickest you'll ever encounter, but it's light and fast enough. There are times, such as driving the WRX with a bit more brio for example, when the driver might prefer to have a dual-clucth gearbox, but objectively the racetrack is the only place where they'll be missed.

In most respects, the WRX has what it takes to pose a real threat to other starters on a track day. While standing starts in all-wheel drive cars fall into the category of a black art rather than the sort of technique steeped in the ways of science, the WRX proved fairly easy to launch -- rapidly and with a brief chirp from one of the tyres.

There's plenty of feedback through the steering wheel and very direct response from the front wheels. Couple the WRX's steering virtues with its rock-solid front-end grip and unflappable IRS and you have a car that encourages the driver to push fairly hard and deep into a corner without much fear of coming unstuck.

As a dead-set bonus, the WRX has a ride that is surprisingly comfortable for a car with this sort of performance potential. Even when the car is being hammered around bumpy, lumpy corners the suspension will absorb some reasonably heavy hits without the car being knocked off line and without the impacts being transmitted to the nether regions of the occupants. Credit for that can also be shared with the front seats, which manage to embrace the conflicting parameters of supporting and holding the occupants in place, but without discomfort. They're impressively easy to vacate too.

The driving position in the Subaru is a fairly conventional Japanese-style ergonomic set-up, but perhaps a little more polished than some. Although the steering wheel is not the sort of small-diameter unit favoured by some manufacturers, it doesn't feel inordinately large when the car is being flung around. It also provides an untrammelled view of the instruments.

In terms of ergonomics, the WRX does stumble in a couple of cases. The minor instruments feature a slightly unfriendly graphic array in orange on black and rear-seat kneeroom is adequate for adults, just... There's not much room to stretch one's legs. At least there's plenty of headroom in the rear.

Opening the bootlid reveals quite restricted luggage-carrying capacity, not helped any by the ramp over the rear axle. Given sedans typically offer better luggage volume than hatches, the test Subaru's stingy boot was mildly disappointing. The Subaru did make up for those minor vices by its build quality, which is well up to par, whether it's in the way the indicator/wiper stalks are damped or the ease and solidity with which the doors close.

Leaving aside the practical and functional aspects of the car, what is it about the WRX that endears itself to enthusiasts? Simply this: It's highly agile, it's fun and it's fast -- but mostly you don't need to be a rocket scientist to extract the best from it.

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