Subaru’s WRX tS – SOME LIKE IT HOT!

Subaru’s WRX tS

SOME LIKE IT HOT!

Sport sedan. If you can call what I did as a 20-something a professional progression, I grew up on the sport sedan. Beginning in 1979 I served as a sales assistant at Classic BMW, showing cars and answering questions when the sales staff was otherwise occupied. And from 1980 thru 1984 I was on the showroom of John Roberts BMW, selling a lineup that – with the exception of the 6 Series – was nothing but sport sedans. Clothing a responsive platform with practical bodywork is how sport sedans are designed and built, and the ability to combine what are often competing attributes is how they’re sold. With its WRX, Subaru builds a damn good sport sedan. 

In a lineup that’s – at this point – almost completely composed of crossovers, Subaru’s all-wheel drive 4-door WRX sedan hangs on and – with 271 turbocharged horses and standard manual transmission – bangs on. The WRX has its motorsport origins in World Rally competitions, and a full generation later holds onto its tossability – which shouldn’t be confused with disposability. The WRX 4-door is robust, and whether on a scale (curb weight of 3,400 pounds) or behind the wheel, you can sense its durability.

But then, this ain’t a tank. In this segment (Golf R, Toyota’s GR Corolla) you can find more horsepower, but the Subaru’s combo of 271 horses and 258 lb-ft of torque, driving all four wheels thru its 6-speed manual trans, is amazingly engaging, and while that 271 figure is comparatively low, the torque is there all the time. Rolling down a parkway at 50 and you want to go 80? No need to do anything but press on the accelerator after – of course – making a quick check of the rearview mirror. It’s not quite explosive, but completely reassuring, and fully comparable with the accessible over-the-road machinery coming from Germany.

In the walkup I continue to be baffled my Subaru’s design direction, or – to be more succinct – lack of design direction. The overall proportions of the WRX are satisfactory (if not absolutely satisfying), but I’ll never understand the addition of cladding to a pavement-specific piece of machinery. And while knowing the platform is essentially front-wheel drive in its layout, with the engine sitting ahead of the front axle, I’d hope designers could do more to reduce the amount of front overhang…but they don’t. This is as nose-heavy as an arrow, and while that adds stability I wish they could just tuck it in/pull it back a bit.

Inside, the tuned tS (the descriptive references ‘tuned by STI’) sports aggressive Recaros covered in black Ultrasuede and accented by blue leather bolsters. The look will satisfy any 20-something hooligan, while getting in and out is that much more difficult when finding yourself in a tight parking space. If your intent in purchasing a tS is track days, you’ve found your seat. But if just heading to work or Starbucks you might be wishing for the standard WRX interior.

Gauges are digital, the infotainment screen is moderately intuitive, and in combination with those Recaros you begin to feel like a Fleet Admiral. While 271 horses provide the ‘go’, the tS benefits from a Brembo braking upgrade; front brake calipers are paired with 13.4-inch discs, while in back those gold Brembos grip 12.8 inches of rotor. Between brakes and pavement are Bridgestone Potenzas mounted on satin gray 19-inch alloys. 

Interior room for four is reasonable, and if carrying stuff the trunk offers a wide opening and 13 cubic feet of storage. If you have more (I had a road bike) the rear seat folds almost flat, and with the front wheel removed my bike fit easily, and is a helluva lot more secure than an outside rack. 

With all that’s added to the tS to make it more credible – if not incredible – on a track, including five performance profiles(!), the most obvious differentiation to the bottom line is the tS bottom line. Subaru’s marketing team has taken the tS from its under-$35K roots to a MSRP just over $45K. Now, if you do intend to track your Subaru the upgrades are worth it; just having the better brakes could keep you out of the weeds and off the trailer. But that $10K is about $200/month over 60 monthlies – and that may or not be important when loading the trunk with groceries. 

For me, I’d like to see Subaru build a tS using the old Plymouth Road Runner formula: Equip it with everything you need to go fast, and add nothing you don’t need to go fast. Keep the MSRP under $40K, and watch Subaru enthusiasts form a long line at their dealerships. (That, of course, would have been easier to suggest and implement before the recently imposed Trump Tariffs.)

Regardless of the price point, if you like driving while needing to pick up the kids (or grandkids) from school, there are few affordable choices better than Subaru’s WRX. And if you already have the college fund rolling, you can probably spare that $200/month for the track day splendor. Take one – as it were – for your team.