Subaru Impreza WRX
Broader torque-spread gives the WRX added wallop
We're high up on the Col de Vence, one of the stages of the Monte Carlo Rally. The first snow of the season fell on the peaks of the Alpes Maritimes two days ago, and on this clear, bright, autumn morning, two Imprezas are engrossed in a game of tag through the stone arches and along the switchbacks, their drivers playing at being Solberg. Strange thing is, the bewinged STi that's leading the way can't shake off the red WRX behind it...
If you'd just stepped out of the hardcore, rally-rep STi you'd swear that nothing short of the real thing would stick with it, especially on roads as perfectly suited to it as these. Yet here is its apparently lesser sibling, practically nailed to its exhaust.
Like the STi, the WRX now has the 2.5-litre flat-four from the '06 Forester, endowing it with 227bhp at 5600rpm and peak torque of 236lb ft at 3600rpm, 400rpm lower than before. They're increases of just 4bhp and 15lb ft, but with the bigger-capacity engine the torque is now distributed across much more of the rev-range. With the addition of AVCS, Subaru's form of variable valve timing, and a lower final drive ratio, the result is more instant response from a broader section of each gear. So although the 0-60mph time of 5.4sec and top speed of 143mph are pretty much identical to the previous car's, there's less need for cog-swapping in the new WRX. Fuel consumption remains unchanged however, which explains why our little jaunt across the Col saw the gauge plummeting as though it had been dropped off the edge at one of the hairpins. The only other real downer is perhaps a slightly duller note from the new engine. Still definitely boxer, but without some of the burble.
Although you'll need to change gear less, the action of the five-speed 'box has also been usefully slickened. The transmission's default 50/50 torque split and viscously coupled centre differential remain unchanged, but the WRX now has a limited slip diff in the rear axle as well. The electronic brain controlling the distribution of all the power is, as usual, more technically and unfathomably advanced than ever, but on the open sweeping roads of the test route the WRX would settle into deliciously easy slides over the patchily damp roads. A tiny lift gets the nose turned in and then it's full on the throttle to let the car drift neutrally from apex to exit. You don't need to understand electronics to know that it's confidence inspiring in the extreme and huge fun.
The Impreza's new grille is described as being winged, with the central nostril representing the cross section of an aeroplane's fuselage, while the lights are known internally as hawk-eyes. Despite this, it actually looks rather good, restoring a bit of purpose and distinction to the face. Also welcome are the high-intensity headlamps at the front, along with smaller, more powerful projector-type fog-lamps, but the 3D-effect light clusters at the rear look a touch aftermarket.
Inside, the Impreza receives the improved interior from the Forester and Legacy, which means it's not exactly remarkable for its design and quality, but is a whole lot better than the bargain-basement Subaru interiors of old. For an additional £1500 you can have an SL pack, which includes a full leather interior, heated front seats and a sunroof.
On the subject of style, it seems to me that there's an increasingly strong case to be made for the five-door WRX. When even the base, normally aspirated, 2-litre Impreza saloon plays up to its rally connections by wearing a not inconsiderable wing, you have to wonder if Subaru has taken the sporting pretensions a little too far. By comparison, the five-door WRX 'wagon' hardly lacks a sense of purpose and seemingly suffers little or nothing in terms of performance or handling, yet it doesn't shout 'I want to be a rally driver'; all the better for playing Peter Parker to the STi's Spiderman.
Back in the mountains, the WRX's improved torque spread means that it gets into its stride from about 3000rpm. With thrust being available so early and grip so prodigious, the WRX is able to spit itself out onto the straights with enough vigour to stay in touch with the 50bhp-more-powerful STi. It helps that through the blind corners the leading STi can't commit fully and make its power advantage count for more, but it's impressive nevertheless.
Ultimately the STi gives the bigger visceral tingle. But you'd pick the £6K cheaper WRX precisely because you don't want every trip to the shops to feel like a special stage. And yet when you did find yourself on the Col de Vence you'd still be able to play at being Petter - and not be left lagging behind.
Words/Pictures: Henry Catchpole
More capable than ever
Some of the boxer burble gone
Subaru Impreza WRX STi
Type-UK gets new look and some extra enhancements
Well, which one would you buy? Type-UK or Type-D? The latter is a new one in the Subaru Impreza WRX STi lexicon, and it stands for Discreet. Relatively discreet, anyway. It has silver wheels instead of gold ones and a smaller rear spoiler instead of the big double-decker affair. The small spoiler looks like something from an accessory shop, the sort of thing people stick on ten-year-old Mondeos. Discreet? Dubious, more like. Or Daft.
An STi needs to look either like an STi or a coherent alternative. The latter doesn't exist, Discretion or not. So we'll go with the proper article, now with an extra vane spoiler above the rear window which directs airflow more productively towards the main edifice.
As we know, the latest Impreza has Subaru's new facial identity.To my eyes it sits oddly on the familiarly bumpy and vent-rich STi form, but improved airflow around the nose has allowed the bonnet scoop to become less protuberant while still satisfying the intercooler's appetite.
As with the regular WRX, the flat-four engine is now of 2.5 litres, as it has been for a while in US-spec WRXs, and in STi form it makes 277bhp and 289lb ft of torque. This it sends through a mildly recalibrated transmission whose default front-rear torque-split is now 41/59 instead of the former 35/65. But this
doesn't mean more understeer, merely better manners. That's because the front LSD is now a quicker-acting Torsen item and there's an extra yaw sensor.
Taken together, these changes let the STi hold a rearward torque bias for longer, reduce its torque-steer and sharpen its steering. The six-speed gearbox is revised, too, with a wider ratio spread made possible by the engine's extra torque.
Subaru says the suspension is as it was, itself revised a year ago with, among other things, a wider rear track, but that's not how it feels. Squirting the Scooby out of the launch hotel and up the wonderful Col de Vence reveals a car not quite as battering of the senses as before - it even has a decent ride - but even more devastating in its ability to chew up bends and spit them out.
Those heftier cylinders, plus a new electronic throttle, help mask the turbo lag: this is an STi that responds more crisply than ever before. It's a wallop of energy, most amusingly used as you power out of a bend and tip the tail into a little oversteer flourish. A new, emissions-friendly exhaust manifold with a different sequence of pipe-linkings has muted the Subaru burble, but it's still a uniquely deep sound that belies the engine's revvy nature. The gearshift is tighter and crisper than in other WRXs, too, with short movements and no crunching. More cross-gate spacing would be good, though: it's easy to miss your aim.
It's mighty fast, of course. But it's the way you can carry speed through corners, the way you aim, turn, get the power down and catapult out that's truly addictive. The STi might pogo through bumpy bends like a rally car as the grip limit approaches but it's always pulling in the right direction, feeding all back through the intimate steering, always planted, always forgiving. But then the STi always was like that. The difference is that now you're going faster and it reacts to your inputs more keenly and cleanly.
Maybe the Scooby cult is wearing thin now. Maybe this is a makeover of an ageing car. But what a character the STi still is. That was the best blast up the Col I've ever had.
Words/Pictures: John Simister/Pete Gibson
Invincible on a really challenging road
Basic shape getting old now
Agora todos os WRX e STI têm 2.5 l de cilindrada como o Type 25, o que só pode ser bom em termos de performance, mas mau para a fiscalidade do nosso país.
)]
][}
]
