RE: Driven: Subaru WRX STI Type UK

RE: Driven: Subaru WRX STI Type UK

Friday 8th October 2010

Driven: Subaru WRX STI Type UK

Scooby returns to its saloon roots with the 2011 WRX



Sharp, muscular, agile, eager. This is what a Subaru should feel like - and it's just what made a Scooby, for several years, my favourite car. As a motoring journalist you have the opportunity to drive quite a lot of cars, and picking your favourite is always a bit of a dark art.

Until I drove a Lamborghini Gallardo Balboni late last year, the car that got under my skin the most was a Subaru Impreza long-termer run by a magazine I worked on in pre-PH days. It was only a humble 55-plate WRX with the optional Prodrive performance pack to give it a reasonably healthy 260-ish bhp, but I loved it.

It made a suitably Subaru boxer burble, it was grippy and entertaining, and - crucially - it felt quick even if you weren't going all that fast.


It's a rare talent, that - the ability to mix searing cross-country pace with driver entertainment. It's also a mix that, with the new 2011 model-year WRX STI Type UK (note that the Impreza moniker is no more), Subaru appears to have rediscovered.

I've only had this car for a night and a little more than half a tank of fuel, but already this car has me. Whoever wins their very own WRX STI in this competition will earn my eternal envy.

The new WRX STI's suspension is the key to all the fun. It is essentially an adapted version of the Japanese spec.C suspension, tuned to a slightly softer edge for European roads.


That means a lower ride height, stiffer springs and bushes, and thicker anti-roll bars at both ends. All-new lightweight alloys and upgraded Brembo brakes complete the picture. And what a picture. The WRX STI feels sharp and eager to change direction in a way its predecessors never quite managed without ever feeling flighty.

Switch the still-present intelligent Subaru SI drive unit to its sharpest setting, and the WRX STI reveals that it can provide sharp throttle and chassis response without sacrificing the assured grip of a proper all-wheel drivetrain.

Wind the C. Diff button all the way back you can even convince yourself you're driving a rear-wheel drive sports saloon (though you know that with permanent AWD, those front wheels will always help you out should the occasion arise).


The 296bhp no-nonsense, turbocharged 2.5-litre engine, meanwhile, provides a punchy, broad-shouldered powerband that, along with the solid, positive gearchange, beautifully positioned pedals and confidence-inspiring brakes.

It's not all good news, however. The reintroduction of a four-door model alongside the five-door hatch (a move that will no doubt please Subaru traditionalists), and re-profiled bumpers do bring a spot extra visual interest, but the WRX remains hardly the last word in exciting haute couture.

Inside, the uprated interior gets new soft-touch plastics and an upgraded stereo with Bluetooth connectivity, but qualitatively and in terms of design it still lags some way behind its European super-hatch rivals (Although it can now probably best the Misubishi Evo X). In short, the WRX STI might have a £33k price tag - and dynamically that seems entirely justified - but it looks and feels like a car with a £20k sticker price. And that's a shame.


By far the most significant change to the WRX STI's spec, however, is the fitment as standard of some rather natty Recaro sports seats, which cosset and support in equal measure - and which utterly transform the driving position. Before, the current-generation STi's seats always felt flat, wooden and oddly positioned; not so now.

With cars like the Renault Megane R26 R and the Ford Focus RS firmly embedded in the public's consciousness, the WRX does feel a smidgen old-fashioned, particularly in the showroom. Get it out on the road, however, and you'll forget all about that; you'll be smiling too much.

Want to win your own WRX STI? Click here...

Author
Discussion

Blayney

Original Poster:

2,948 posts

185 months

Friday 8th October 2010
quotequote all
Interior looks a bit less bland than the hatchback I sat in at the Motorshow in '08, is this the case?

I still like the front, back gonna take a bit of getting used to. Think it looks a bit better with the spoiler?

Would love a go in one though smile

Complex

514 posts

174 months

Friday 8th October 2010
quotequote all
I think the rear looks very bland and 'boring Jap rep-mobile', just with added E90 M3 tailpipes. I do, however, like the front styling a lot.

Just seen the side profile picture, could that rear quarter get any more 3 series?

Edited by Complex on Friday 8th October 00:40

mikesufc

28 posts

163 months

Friday 8th October 2010
quotequote all
Side profile is awful. What has happened to impreza's frown

BDR529

3,560 posts

173 months

Friday 8th October 2010
quotequote all
Needs the huge spoiler! boxedin

Better than the hatch by far though. smile

FraserLFA

5,083 posts

173 months

Friday 8th October 2010
quotequote all
BDR529 said:
Needs the huge spoiler! boxedin

Better than the hatch by far though. smile
It does need to spoiler, However, i still prefer the hatch...

GravelBen

15,654 posts

229 months

Friday 8th October 2010
quotequote all
Unlike the first few posters, I like the rear but still have trouble getting on with the nose, which I think suited the hatch better. Can't for the life of me figure out how someone managed to see a 3-series in the rear quarter view though! confused

Sounds like they've done it properly with Spec-C bits this time instead of the slightly watered-down versions the UK seems to have had previously.

ultegra

525 posts

205 months

Friday 8th October 2010
quotequote all
Big well done to Subaru.

You got there (here) in the end.

TommyBuoy

1,269 posts

166 months

Friday 8th October 2010
quotequote all
GravelBen said:
Unlike the first few posters, I like the rear but still have trouble getting on with the nose, which I think suited the hatch better. Can't for the life of me figure out how someone managed to see a 3-series in the rear quarter view though! confused

Sounds like they've done it properly with Spec-C bits this time instead of the slightly watered-down versions the UK seems to have had previously.
I can definately see the BMW influence tbh, side profile from the b pilar back screams 1 series copue to me.

As said before, needs the big wing to lift it above bland reps, but I like it. Still not upto the blob eye for me though - hit 25 and I'll have one.

300bhp/ton

41,030 posts

189 months

Friday 8th October 2010
quotequote all
Now this I like biggrin :



But it seriously needs a HUGE F*Off rear wing as per the US model. Why not have it as a no cost option delete for those that don't want it?

Edited by 300bhp/ton on Friday 8th October 08:21

skip_1

3,459 posts

189 months

Friday 8th October 2010
quotequote all
What competition is the article referring to?

ajoellew

1,432 posts

220 months

Friday 8th October 2010
quotequote all
How much are these likely to cost then?

smoftah

5 posts

190 months

Friday 8th October 2010
quotequote all


hhhmmmmmmm . . . looks like a Kia Rio saloon to me!

HowardB

145 posts

174 months

Friday 8th October 2010
quotequote all
am I missing something,.. I have looked at the web site and don't see a standard WRX, will there be a £20k ish WRX, or will I have to sell another child and pay an extra £10k?


Howard
Still running WRX Wagon no 5, now at 80,000miles

300bhp/ton

41,030 posts

189 months

Friday 8th October 2010
quotequote all
ajoellew said:
How much are these likely to cost then?
I started a thread recently on the new Impreza saloon: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

I think someone mentioned prices somewhere down the page smile

Prev

384 posts

182 months

Friday 8th October 2010
quotequote all
Give me the Hatchback version anyday.

300bhp/ton

41,030 posts

189 months

Friday 8th October 2010
quotequote all
Prev said:
Give me the Hatchback version anyday.
Well some of us are hoping wink

chippy17

3,740 posts

242 months

Friday 8th October 2010
quotequote all
like it don't love it, but Impreza's have never been pretty, looks better in the flesh

Edited by chippy17 on Friday 8th October 10:46

Truckosaurus

11,183 posts

283 months

Friday 8th October 2010
quotequote all
I actually like the styling sans wing, looks almost stylish.

fireball-xl5

19 posts

196 months

Friday 8th October 2010
quotequote all
Too much of a wedge at the back, if they reduced the boot volume by lowering the boot lid and decrease the amount of metal between the rear wheel and C pillar. Or just copy the shape of a mk 1 escort ..... heaven!

Garlick

40,601 posts

239 months

Friday 8th October 2010
quotequote all
skip_1 said:
What competition is the article referring to?
This one smile

http://www.pistonheads.com/subsite/wrxsti/