Driving the latest all-wheel-drive Subaru WRX – available in five Sedans and now in three Sportwagon’s. I drove the top line WRX Sedan tS Sport sedan at $56,990 and the middle spec WRX GT Sport Sportswagon at $55,490. Both with more polish and refinement – the bodies more torsionally rigid with far better tuned suspensions, the tS Sport Sedan benefiting from an electronic adaptive suspension, but even the wagon without the adaptive suspension is well-tuned and here Subaru wisely point out the sedan and wagon are aimed at different markets.

Maybe it’s my age but I found the softer feel of the wagon the more appealing – both get a new 2.4-litre turbo boxer or horizontally opposed engine replacing the 2.0-litre turbo – with a little more power but the same torque linked to a refined CVT or continuously variable automatic it’s just so smooth although on 95 RON petrol it’s a little thirsty especially when driven hard. My biggest disappointment is the large 11.6-inch touchscreen which requires too many touch movements – as I said yesterday a lot of in-car connectivity today is driver distracting.

Apart from that, extremely comfortable seats, excellent driving dynamics and a large amount of active and passive safety make the latest WRX very appealing.

I’m David Berthon

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