Lone Ranger
With a storied lineage of WRC wins and boy-racer adaptations, the new Subaru WRX has a lot of expectations riding on its sculpted shoulders. Many critiques have been levelled at the new model bearing this iconic nameplate
Chiefly, its been chastised in the gearbox department with Subaru launching its new Rex with a CVT In the same vein, some have complained that its too grown-up for their liking, citing all the on-board computing power and soft touches. Well, on the flip side, and considering its predecessor was often called too archaic relative to the segment it competes in, it pretty much proves that no one will ever be satisfied.
So, to see if that WRXness is still present, we opted for the new WRX with the manual shifter for the ultimate laboratory condition testing, up and around Slaaihoek.
As one of the more subtly-styled contenders of the group, it brought to the speed fest 202 kW and 350 Nm of torque from its newly-developed 2.4-litre turbocharged engine. And yes, if you were wondering, that all-wheel-drive rally expertise is still present, albeit in a more refined form. It uses Scoobys Symmetrical All-Wheel-Drive system, which delivers consistent traction as the 6-speed manual gearbox works through the usable rev range This divided several testers in their opinions: some praised the Scooby for its daily usability factor with power delivery that isnt overwhelming. Some felt it needed 20 kW more, living on the higher end of the rev spectrum. Others, well, said that the WRX has too much common sense since its not encouraging the same hooliganism for which the nameplate is so revered. Ultimately, though, we reckon that if a WRX appealed to everyone on the board, Subaru has botched it. On that front, it gets a tick in the correct box.
The driving feel is still there especially in this manual version – that rawness, that sense of finessing all facets of driving to extract maximum potential is still there too. Put it all together and the WRX was impressive as a daily runner with the ability to shift when necessary. The whole team was wishing the WRX well as it tackled Slaaihoek, thanks to its rallied pedigree and all-wheel drive system. Alas, it didnt quite perform as we thought and its not only because it was the second least powerful car here, but moreso because of its propensity to understeer more than any of us, Mandla included, expected. Its front end just didnt stick and to all of our surprise, the WRX just didnt trounce the timing sheets as we thought it might.
