The halfway house front seats (somewhere between regular and Recaro-style sculpted pews) are comfortable but not so large they compromise legroom for passengers in the rear seat.
There’s a big, 460-litre sedan boot with a 60/40 split-fold seat backrest to maximise load capacity. The only real glitch is the boot can’t be opened from the outside without the remote key.
In terms of vision, the WRX nudges ahead of the Golf as best of the bunch, with clear sight lines in all directions from the driver’s seat.
The WRX rides firmly, like the tied-down sports sedan it is. There’s less excuse for the bothersome noise levels transmitted to the interior on the open road. These are loud enough to drown out the (average quality) six-speaker audio system.
All that said, the Subaru remains a clearly performance-focussed small car, in manner and appearance, and does nothing in its latest from to detract from the WRX legend.
The issue is not so much with the assembly itself — in fact, the panel gaps and paint quality are of a consistently high standard. Where the WRX does fall down is in the use of materials which inside and out appear to be of a lower standard than other players on test.
Under the bonnet it was disappointing to find exposed ends on wiring looms, messy plumbing and unfinished or over-sprayed areas of paint.
Inside the cabin, the WRX fares little better. With nearly all surfaces constructed of hard plastics, the WRX felt less special than its rivals.
The finer points of the upholstery hems and hard-finish surfaces edges were not as cleanly finished as most and, overall, the decor gave an impression of ‘cheap’, without the ‘cheerful’.
Road noise on the off-track drive component was a common complaint, but the new WRX was able to beat its claimed fuel consumption convincingly, returning an average of 7.2L/100km (ADR Combined is 9.2).
The more supple ride and small-wheeled stance didn’t look like the stuff of track-day speed, but with multiple traction zones, the Subaru was able to maximise its all-wheel drive traction advantage.
“It’s definitely softer, but its traction and strong engine just let you get down to business, especially in slippery conditions,” commented Youlden.
“Steering and gearshift both work well, but the brake pedal was long after only a couple of laps.”
Indeed, brake fade and a strong odour of brake pads after a few quick laps were arguably the WRX’s biggest weaknesses.
Despite a flat spot in its power delivery (at around 4000rpm), the WRX recorded the fastest time to 100km/h (6.5sec) and hauled itself back from 60km/h in 14.2m, trailing only the Megane RS 265.
And its lap time? The Subaru’s 0:59.16 was the fastest of all on the day.
On the whole, the WRX's technology systems are not well integrated. They present a ‘no-frills’ approach to their appearance but this doesn’t help a cabin that already feels old.
The Bluetooth system was cumbersome and annoying to set up and took a time-consuming combination of spoken instruction, stereo tuner dials and several attempts to connect.
The trip computer was likewise average and, except for a cool turbo boost readout, offered no innovations of which to speak.
The Subaru was also the only vehicle in this test whose USB cable didn't charge our Apple iPhone 4S test device, a cardinal sin in this day and age.
The HVAC controls were simple and worked well, but the look and feel was cheap. The low-rent approach permeated almost all aspects of the cabin including the audio system, which was noted as the ‘most average’ of all cars on test.
The WRX was the only car on test to miss out on one-touch functionality for all power windows, a push-button engine starter and satnav.
But hey, it does get all-wheel drive.
As a result (and as noted above), the Subaru tends to take a step backwards in luxury fittings: It is the only car here not to offer standard satnav, and the interior is presented in a much more basic manner.
The seats are cloth-trimmed and manually adjusted, while the somewhat messy dash looks dated compared to the competition here.
The driver is the only one to get a one-touch power window and starts the WRX via a conventional turn-key operation. For more, it’s necessary to step up the Premium version of the WRX.
But there are seven airbags, LED headlights, climate-control, rain-sensing wipers, a turbo boost gauge and a centre screen displaying the view through a standard reversing camera.
The WRX is covered by Subaru’s three-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty with one year of roadside assistance, but the company has only just embraced capped-price servicing.
www.redbook.com.au was unable to provide a resale value for the WRX after 12 months.
Price: $38,990 (as tested, plus on-road costs) | Performance figures (as tested): |
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol |
0-60km/h: 3.1 seconds |
Output: 197kW/350Nm | 0-100km/h: 6.5 seconds |
Transmission: Six-speed manual | 80-100km/h: 2.1 seconds |
Fuel: 9.2L/100km (ADR Combined) | 60-0km/h: 14.2m |
CO2: 213g/km (ADR Combined) | Lap time: 0:59.16 |
Safety Rating: Five-star ANCAP |
What we liked: | Not so much: |
>> Impressive lap times | >> Evident brake-fade |
>> All-wheel drive traction | >> Weak, smelly clutch |
>> Practicality and outward vision | >> Build and materials quality |