The previous decade has seen the accelerating demise of reasonably priced enjoyable automobiles, so when a mainstream producer says it’s going to increase its secure of efficiency fashions — even when it’s one thing so simple as a brand new trim just like the 2024 Subaru WRX TR — we arise and take discover.
From the place we sit, it seems like Subaru continues to be attempting to determine precisely the place the WRX stands on this shrinking subject of sport compacts. And not using a halo mannequin above its rally-inspired sedan, that leaves loads of proverbial white area for the corporate’s efficiency arm to discover. From that area, Subaru plucked the “Tuner Prepared” WRX. What’s it, and the way does it examine to the usual WRX?
STI
To the nice reduction of reproductive well being advocates in every single place, Subaru is not within the enterprise of pumping out STIs. That’s unhealthy information for these of us who have already got the efficiency itch and want to scratch it. Prodrive teased us with some aftermarket components final yr, prompting us to ask Subaru whether or not one thing related may be within the works from the manufacturing facility. With tight smiles and half-hearted shrugs, we have been informed that they had nothing to say … till at some point they did.
However the TR is as a lot outlined by what it doesn’t embrace as by what it does. Whereas it provided different enticements, the STI had two core issues going for it: an upgraded AWD system and a bunch extra energy. The TR has neither. Even the Prodrive prototype obtained a modest bump over the WRX’s manufacturing facility output, however the TR carries over the bottom automobile’s 271-horsepower tune unchanged; even the exhaust was untouched. Each weigh virtually precisely 3,400 kilos. There’s additionally one main tools delete: the sunroof. In case you’re taller and want room for a helmet, that’s all upside.
What you do get is a sequence of chassis upgrades designed to help you within the early days of your track-day aspirations. Subaru fitted some Brembo brakes (six-piston entrance; two-piston rear) with bigger discs and calipers, and a bigger grasp cylinder for improved warmth administration and observe longevity. The steering rack, spring stiffness and damping charges have been additionally tweaked to cut back physique motions and enhance steering response with out sacrificing trip high quality, even on the brand new 19-inch wheels wrapped in Bridgestone Potenza S007 summer season efficiency tires. Inside, you get a set of beefed up Recaro seats with branding to match. That is the one approach to get them in a WRX with a guide transmission in 2024; your various is the CVT-only GT.
For a restricted time solely
Barely per week after we’d despatched the TR again to Subaru, we discovered that the trim shall be discontinued completely for 2025. It is going to be outmoded by the tS, which will get just about the identical therapy because the TR, solely with the additional benefit of the GT’s swanky adaptive suspension and built-in drive modes. It would price greater than the TR, however we don’t but understand how a lot.
In order that makes the TR a single-model-year proposition. With the tS on the horizon, is that this lame duck sport sedan value plunking down your hard-earned money, or is it nothing greater than a placeholder for one thing really particular? That’s exactly what we got down to decide.
Your drivers at this time are Senior Editor John Beltz Snyder and your creator, Affiliate Editor Byron Hurd. You might acknowledge us from our earlier comparability, which admittedly concerned far much less sporty {hardware}. Beneath his electrified exterior, Snyder is a earlier WRX proprietor and enduring fan; I, in the meantime, was a long-time skeptic who grew to become a convert after driving the 2022. We’re each followers of this automobile as-is, so something that leans into its sporty, go-fast-anywhere character seems like a strong improve to us. And that’s primarily what the 2024 Subaru WRX TR is.
The take a look at
Our take a look at loop features a back-road dealing with circuit, a number of stretches of interstate and state freeway, together with an in depth surface-street drive in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Each drivers obtained to expertise each automobiles in the identical environments back-to-back, giving us every a snapshot of day by day life behind the wheel of those machines.
There’s yet one more factor we have to level out earlier than we get to the nitty-gritty. Whereas the WRX TR Subaru loaned us was a 2024, the Restricted in our long-term fleet will not be; it’s a 2023 — mechanically similar, however missing some characteristic updates that touched the whole WRX lineup this yr. For the needs of this comparability, we’re evaluating it primarily based on what it will price to buy the identical mannequin in 2024. We additionally ignored the EyeSight driver help know-how pack completely in our comparability, as it’s normal on all 2024 WRXs no matter transmission.
The next scores are primarily based on a 500-point complete that gave double weight to vital classes (Acceleration, Braking, Dealing with, Steering, Experience, Gearbox, Entrance Seat Consolation and Driving Place, Worth, and Enjoyable to Drive). 500 factors could look like quite a bit in a vacuum, however as you’ll see from the outcomes, any much less granularity and this may have been too near name.
Second place: 2023 Subaru WRX Restricted – 348 factors
Pushed back-to-back with the TR, the usual WRX’s flaws appear extra obtrusive. It makes much more noise — tire, street — however not the sort you’d really need, as a result of the usual WRX and the TR share an exhaust system, and it’s not a really thrilling one. Due to the WRX’s comparatively quick gearing and lack of significant sound deadening, the din of the boxer could be heard over the croaking of the Dunlops on most freeway surfaces.
The upside to the WRX’s talkative character is that you simply all the time know precisely what the automobile’s numerous bits are doing. There’s by no means the sense that something is going on outdoors of your consciousness. If the throttle hesitates, you’ll hear it; if the entrance finish washes, you’ll really feel it. It telegraphs its limits much more readily than the TR, even when these limits are in the end decrease. The trade-off right here is fatigue. Drive the WRX for lengthy sufficient on poor surfaces and your fingers will really feel such as you put them by means of a rock tumbler. That stated, it’s nonetheless a marked enchancment over previous-generation WRXs.
I simply wrapped a six-week stint on this long-term 2023 WRX and totally loved it. It’s not with out its flaws, however that is the sort of do-anything enjoyable automobile that makes being an fanatic much less of a ache in blended climates with out giving up an excessive amount of efficiency. And let’s face it, reasonably priced efficiency automobiles are a dying breed. The Volkswagen GTI/GLI, Hyundai Elantra N and Honda Civic Si are all nice sport compacts, however it’s tough to beat the WRX’s all-around attraction at its base value ($33,855).
And that’s the place the WRX shines: worth. On each of our rating sheets, the TR merely ran away with the comparability till it got here to this class. Truth of the matter is, whereas our long-term WRX is a reasonably well-equipped Restricted mannequin, the bottom automobile is mechanically similar, proper right down to the tires. This implies the TR is competing with a automobile that essentially prices practically $10,000 much less. If our long-term automobile had been a Premium or Base relatively than a Restricted ($40,135), this take a look at could have gone the opposite method.
First place: 2024 Subaru WRX TR – 351 factors
Subaru pushed the TR as an fanatic platform with the fundamentals — suspension, brakes, seats and tires — already in place. Bear in mind, “TR” comes from “Tuner Prepared.” In case you’re like us and also you anticipated the TR to be louder, rougher and rawer, properly, nope. The alternative is true. In truth, if trip high quality is your highest precedence and you continue to need a guide transmission, skip the usual WRX completely and go straight for the TR. The extra we drove it, the extra we broadened that thesis. It’s not simply the trip high quality that improves with TR, however just about all the pieces.
“The TR did not really feel all that a lot better within the dealing with division at first blush,” Snyder stated. “The features right here really feel like they reveal themselves slowly. After some time, I discovered that maneuvering the identical set of turns required rather less effort on my half. It was simply simpler to wrangle the TR down the curvy street for a very long time. It is refined, however plenty of it comes right down to grip.”
Grip, certainly. The extra time we spent with it, the extra satisfied we grew to become that the TR’s secret sauce is definitely not a sauce in any respect, however a compound — a tire compound. Because it seems, Bridgestone initially engineered the Potenza S007 for the Ferrari F12berlinetta method again in 2012. A tire supposed for an uber-luxury GT gives a stunning diploma of refinement? Shocker.
The usual summer season tire on the WRX is the Dunlop SP Sport Maxx GT 600A, and whereas it will get the job accomplished simply high quality, it lacks each the S007’s composure and, we’d wager, its final grip. The Bridgestone is taller than the Dunlop, however no wider. This leads to a thinner sidewall for a similar contact patch, which mustn’t work in any respect within the Bridgestones’ favor, at the least in concept.
Effectively, some theories aren’t well worth the time it takes to kind them. Not one of the ordinary pitfalls of a shorter, stiffer sidewall reared their heads throughout our drive. The TR was merely higher throughout the board. The one trade-off was in communication. Largely, that was for the higher. Whereas the usual WRX teaches you to edit out the fixed noise, the TR solely speaks up when it issues. Meaning much less chatter, which is nice, but additionally much less warning as you method your limits.
“Spooky how straightforward it’s to get pace creep vs. the bottom automobile,” I famous. “Quiet even over tough pavement. Can readily hear induction/spool noises with the radio off and home windows up.”
Of the TR’s upgrades, solely the Recaros really obtained blended opinions. I famous issue with discovering a seat-bottom spot that suited me and bemoaned the dearth of adjustable lumbar assist. Snyder famous that the trade-off of getting Recaros however shedding the elective sunroof might not be all people’s cup of tea, even when we’d each possibility it that method.
However in the end, we got here away from the TR totally impressed. It’s neither a game-changer nor a must have, however it’s merely higher than the usual WRX in each method however one: value. And that’s what practically price it this comparability. In case you’re attempting to resolve between the Restricted and TR, we recommend you open your pockets a bit wider.
