Subaru WRX: New and Inferior for 2008
Christopher Chance
Issue date: 9/17/08 Section: Diversions
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The WRX is an oasis of driving fun amid a desert of dry, dull, and boring sedans. Or at least it was until this year.
Just because it goes fast on paper doesn't mean it feels that way. If you can't get any tactile information from the car, you might as well be stopped. Think about an airliner: sure you're going 500+ mph in an aluminum beer can full of highly flammable jet fuel 30 thousand feet off the ground, but it sure doesn't seem that exciting when you are there doing it. The same thing is the case for the 2008 WRX. Sure it has a better 0-60 time than some B rate Porsche whose name I can't be bothered to remember, and it has more power than most of the appliances in your kitchen-but why? What is the point of all this stuff that is supposed to make it fun if the car can't communicate to the driver what is going on?
So what all is wrong with it exactly? For starters, the steering feels sloppy. In order to compensate for the torque steer, the engineers at Subaru decided to turn up the power steering so far that one or more wheels could fall off and you would have no idea unless you managed to see them bouncing down the road in the rear view mirror. The clutch engagement point in this car is long; pickups have shorter shift throws. The brakes are about the size of dimes, and I have driven dump trucks with faster steering ratios. Suffice it to say the list of things that are wrong with the way this car drives is exactly as long as the list of parts the car has.
Perhaps the practical side of the car can offset the monotony of actually going somewhere in it. Unlikely. The steering wheel buttons are on the side of the wheel that you don't drive with, that ash tray is inaccessible, and don't put anything in the cup holders you don't want to spill on yourself, because that is what is going to happen. The back seats have no more room than in the old WRX despite the new car being longer. I'm pretty sure the front seat backs being thicker absorbed the room they added to the car. Why did they make the seat backs thicker? Who goes to a car dealership in search of the car with the highest seat back thickness? The extra room definitely didn't go to the trunk deck, because, and this is no exaggeration, it is now a whopping six inches long.
As far as the looks are concerned, my personal recommendation is to avoid looking if at all possible. Subaru has never been known for their spectacular looking cars, but this is bad even by Subaru standards.
And how much does it cost to purchase the realization of the Subaru design team's bad ideas? $24,350. That's almost $10,000 more than a Toyota Corolla, which is a better car-if for no other reason than because it is more exciting than the new WRX.
If you have to pick between the WRX and walking, I'd pick walking. You'll feel like you're going faster, and you'll look better doing it.
Test vehicle provided by Tim's Subaru.
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