2016 Subaru WRX CVT: Long Term Car Review (Part 1)

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Subaru's sporty sedan does a lot to differentiate itself from the vanilla Impreza. But is this underdog deserving of all the love?
John LeBlanc will be driving the 2016 Subaru WRX CVT for 60 days and reporting on his time with the car. Here’s his first entry.

From history’s Joan of Arc, a peasant girl who led French forces to victory over the British, to Sylvester Stallone’s cinematic Rocky, who won fans over despite losing, who doesn’t love an underdog? And if we could describe any of today’s automakers as an “underdog,” it would have to be Subaru.

Unlike some of its more established Japanese rivals, Subaru was about a decade late coming to Canada, starting in 1976 with its Leone compact. What followed were a series of vehicles that would put solid engineering and safety first, and good looks third, also going against the grain with oddities like flat (or Boxer) engines and all-wheel drive while competing in the cultish World Rally Championship.

Over the past decade, though, Subaru has been edging closer to mainstream customers, blending its distinctive engineering with more conventional styling, adding a state-of-the-art safety kit, plus plenty of luxury and convenience features. And Canadian new car buyers have rewarded the Japanese automaker handsomely.
So far this year, Subaru is breaking all of its previous sales records in this country. Practical vehicles like its best-selling Forester compact crossover, Outback wagon and XV Crosstrek small crossover seem to be in the right spot at the right time in today’s market. But Subaru also has a wild side, which is why we chose the 2016 Subaru WRX sports sedan as our next 60-day test drive subject – a once-niche vehicle targeted at hardcore enthusiasts that is trying to broaden its appeal.

Despite losing the Impreza badge from its name, the current WRX (and its more hyper WRX STi mate) are based on Subaru’s more pedestrian all-wheel-drive, five-passenger, four-door compact sedan. Subaru, though, has done more with this generation of WRX than any previous iterations to distance the sports compact from its economy car roots.

Like the first WRX (an abbreviation of World Rally eXperimental) in 1992, today’s version is inspired by Subaru’s past participation in the World Rally Championship, where between 1980 and 2008 the likes of Colin McRae, Richard Burns and Petter Solberg won multiple driver championships.
The $10,000 premium over a base $21,645 Impreza (including freight and predelivery inspection fees) may sound hefty, but the sportier WRX gets a thorough makeover that makes it look more aggressive, go faster, handle sharper, stop shorter and post winning lap times on a racetrack.

Along with its widened fenders, the WRX’s gaping engine hood air scoop hints that it’s packing more of a punch than the donor Impreza. A twin-scroll turbocharger added to Subaru’s 2.0-litre flat-four cylinder helps to deliver 268 horsepower and 258 lb.-ft. of torque – gains of 120 and 108, respectively. To help put all the extra power down to the pavement, the WRX also gets thicker anti-roll bars, firmer suspension bushings, front aluminum lower control arms and Dunlop Sport Maxx RT performance tires.