Tested: 2022 Subaru WRX GT Is a Mature WRX
After decades of spitting fire and spraying gravel on the world’s rally stages, or at least looking the part on the street, the Subaru WRX has earned a few gray hairs. Now in its fifth generation after a redesign for the 2022 model year, Subaru’s proto-rally car has reached middle age, donned a suit of body-cladded office wear, and attained a new level of sophistication. Nowhere is this clearer than in the WRX’s range-topping, automatic-only GT version.
Now, the WRX has been available with an automatic transmission for years, and the latest model’s CVT unit with eight simulated ratios is an $1850 to $2250 option on all trim levels, including the $30,600 base car. Subaru still lashes a six-speed manual to the 271-hp turbocharged 2.4-liter flat-four as standard. The new fully equipped GT model, however, is exclusively a two-pedal affair that will set you back $43,390. For a WRX. That’s $5220 more than the starting point of the old 310-hp STI model, the likes of which won’t be returning for this generation (that nameplate may be revived for a future performance EV based on a different platform). To be fair, Volkswagen GTIs can be optioned past $40K, so the affordable sport compact is somewhat of a nebulous concept nowadays.
The Subaru Global Platform feels stiff and nicely balanced, and the WRX’s crisp steering delivers the direct turn-in response you’ll want when barreling down goat paths at highly questionable speeds. This is a car designed to be chucked around corners with minimal effort, its standard all-wheel-drive system helping it find purchase on just about any surface. The reasonable 72 decibels of wind and tire noise we recorded inside the GT’s cabin at 70 mph is average for a sport compact. While its 28-mpg result on our 75-mph highway route is less competitive, it is 3 mpg better than the automatic’s EPA estimate and the same as the manual Limited model we previously tested achieved.
Perhaps the greatest draw of an automatic WRX is the additional equipment it unlocks over the manual. Opt for the CVT and you gain the ability to tweak the drivetrain’s responses through Intelligent, Sport, and Sport # settings. The GT goes a step further by adding overarching drive modes (Comfort, Normal, Sport, Sport+, and Individual), which via the 11.6-inch center touchscreen let you configure your preferred mix of drivetrain feistiness, steering weight, front-to-rear torque balance of the all-wheel-drive system, and ride stiffness from the GT-exclusive adaptive dampers. Also included: a 504-watt, 11-speaker stereo, body-hugging Recaro sport seats with microsuede upholstery and red contrast stitching, and Subaru’s raft of EyeSight driver assist tech, which isn’t available with the manual.
