Driving should be fun, right? Slingshotting away from the stoplight. A tsunami of power when you pull-out to pass. The feeling of running on invisible rails as you rocket round a tight freeway on-ramp.
Of course, any serious sports machine, from Porsche to Ferrari, from Lamborghini to Lotus, will check all those boxes. But at a price.
Looking for sportscar fun on a budget, with the bonus of four doors? May I present the brand new Subaru WRX tS, a pocket rocket that’s more of a blast than a day at Disney, more of a thrill ride than SkeiKra at Busch Gardens.
And all for $46,875, adrenaline included.
It’s the new flagship of Subaru’s performance-focused WRX line-up that’s been specially tuned by the company’s fabled Subaru Technica International division – that’s STI, for short.
Enthusiasts still go gaga remembering the legendary, big-winged WRX STI rocketships that were the performance car to have back in the 2000s.
Remember the WRX STI that Ansel Elgort drove in the hit movie Baby Driver, or the Impreza WRX STI that Paul Walker drove in Fast and Furious and Furious 7? Just magical action.
Enthusiasts are still furious that Subaru abruptly ended STI production in 2018.
While this new tS is no STI, it’s the closest you can get today. Under the hood there’s Subaru’s 271-hp 2.4-liter turbocharged flat-4 ‘Boxer’ engine, coupled to a slick-shifting, six-speed manual transmission.
Yup, a stick. And don’t go looking for an automatic on the options list. There isn’t one. It’s manual or nothing.
Add to that, there’s a Christmas wish-list of performance-focused componentry that helps transform the Scoobie tS into the funster it is.
Take the brakes. Here are high-performance Brembo stoppers, with six-piston units up front clamping 13.4-inch rotors, and dual-piston versions at the rear paired with 12.8-inch discs. And gold-painted calipers all round.
Maybe the pieces de resistance are the electronically-controlled adaptive dampers, tuned by STI especially for the tS, that give you the choice of Comfort, Normal, Sport and Sport+ setting for truly dynamic handling.
Then there’s the “look”. See this new tS on the street and it oozes broody, street-fighter aggression, a little like Jason Statham in The Beekeeper. There’s nothing flashy here; but one look and somehow you know it means business.
Put that down to the big, air-gulping hood scoop, the black wheel arch extensions, sculpted sills, and 19-inch multi-spoke, satin-gray-finish rims. Love too the cool, roof-mounted, shark-fin antenna, along with the rear trunk spoiler and quartet of shiny exhausts.
Stick numbers to the front doors and oh the fun you could have at your local SCCA autocross events, and club track days. This Subaru was born to run.
Climb aboard and the cabin matches the sporty exterior. Big, side-bolstered Recaro sports seats grip you like a welcome hug from Mike Tyson. They’re trimmed in Alcantara ultra-suede with bright blue leather edging, with bright blue leather accents on the doors and center console.
Love the big red start button too, with an STI logo, plus the standard Harman Kardon 11-speaker, 504-watt stereo, and sporty drilled aluminum pedals in the footwell. The beauty of this new WRX is that it’s also practical, with plenty of rear-seat kneeroom and a decent-sized trunk.
But it’s on the road where it really shines. While 271 horseys doesn’t sound like a stampede, the little four-cylinder turbo feels as eager as Sea Biscuit out of the starting gate. Let the revs soar to the 6,000 rpm red line and you’ll hit 60 mph from zero in around 5.5 seconds.
And that six-speed stick really adds to the fun, having a lovely hot-knife-through-a stick-of-Land-O-Lakes action, complimented by a smooth, progressive clutch.
Find yourself a twisty back road – difficult, I know, here in the Sunshine State – and this feisty Subaru feels like a go-kart on steroids, its Bridgestone Potenza rubberware gripping like chewing gum on velvet.
No, this new WRX tS won’t be for everyone. Not everyone wants a stick shift, for starters. And all of the Subaru’s key rivals, like the Honda Civic Type R, VW Golf R, Toyota GR Corolla and Hyundai Elantra N, boast more horsepower.
But the Subie offers a unique brand of fun, and as a performance package, it’s tough to beat.
