Subaru WRX

There is a hint of sportiness in the all-black cabin of the Subaru WRX, particularly with the contrast red stitching for the seats, steering wheel, door pads, and transmission lever and gloss black highlights at places. However, the layout itself looks a bit outdated, only highlighted by the absence of a few crucial modern features seen in a car of its price. 

The three-spoke multi-functional steering wheel of the Subaru WRX looks plain, and so does the traditional instrument console which has analogue gauges and a TFT MID in between them. The centre console is covered by a large 11.6-inch portrait-style touchscreen infotainment system, which serves as a window for audio, vehicular controls, and dual-zone automatic climate control while getting sleek and vertical AC vents to its sides. Other noteworthy features in the cabin of the WRX are rear AC vents, a powered driver’s seat, a sunroof, and a wireless charger.

Thanks to many sportscar-like design elements, the Subaru WRX ranks as one of the most dynamic-looking four-door sedans in its category. At the front, the Subaru WRX features a slim, hexagonal and gloss black-themed grille with C-shaped stretched headlamps to its sides, with the headlamps coming C-shaped LED DRLs on their outer edges.

The LED fog lamps on the front bumper have a hexagonal mesh design around them, with the front bumper having a sporty appeal with black cladding stretched across its width. The bonnet also has a slim scoop in the middle, while the WRX has a dynamic-looking side profile with angular bulges over the front and rear fenders black claddings over wheel arches with recessed air curtains within them, and 18-inch alloy wheels below them.

The rear profile of the WRX has a black diffuser and dual exhaust ports at the bottom of the rear bumper while having C-shaped LED tail lamps, a gloss black strip over the license plate, and a boot-mounted spoiler.

Making the Subaru WRX a pure driver’s delight is its suspension setup, which comprises of Macpherson struts at the front and a double wishbone at the rear. With a stiffer setup, the WRX feels sharp and dynamic around corners and at fast stretches, though it does come at the cost of ride quality, which feels a bit harsh.

The entire variant lineup of the Subaru WRX comes standard with a 2.4-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine. One of the most powerful four-cylinder engines in its segment, this turbo-petrol engine is paired with 8-speed automatic transmission (6-speed manual in the Standard variant) and churns out a maximum power output of 275 PS and a peak torque output of 350 Nm. This engine gives the WRX a top speed of 215 kmph and a fuel efficiency figure of 11.76 kmpl, besides enabling it to reach the 100 kmph mark from a standstill in 6.1 seconds. 

While features like six airbags, ABS with EBD, front and rear parking sensors, reverse camera and hill hold assist come as standard across all the variants of the Subaru WRX, the higher-spec variants also come with the EyeSight suite of ADAS features. It includes adaptive cruise control, lane departure prevention, pre-collision braking system, autonomous emergency steering, lead vehicle safe alert, auto vehicle hold, lane centring control and preceding vehicle adaptive steering control, pre-collision throttle management, hazard avoidance, vehicle dynamics control, active torque vectoring, high beam assist, rear vehicle detection, steering-responsive headlamps, reverse automatic braking and driver monitoring system. 

The Subaru WRX is that family-oriented sedan, which besides offering the practicality of a four-door sedan, also offers the thrills of a sportscar with its performance-tuned engine and chassis setup.