Subaru WRX 2023 review - tS Sportswagon long-term | Part 2

Update two: The biggest question so far is whether the WRX wagon deserves the badge or not...

A massive consideration for this new-generation WRX is that, unlike examples of generations gone by, it’s not always in hardcore mode.

That’s especially the case with the WRX tS Sportswagon, which is frankly sedate unless you want to have a bit of fun behind the wheel. So does it really deserve to be called a WRX?

It has heaps of different drive modes - Comfort, Normal, Sport, Sport+ and Individual, and the latter offers configurability of all the important things: Power Unit (engine and transmission), Steering, Suspension, AWD system, EyeSight safety tech, and Climate Control. 

Interestingly, the car offers the option of Eco Eyesight functionality, but you can’t actually select it…? There is no Eco mode, per se, so I guess that makes sense.

Even so, if you want the most out of your top-spec tS WRX experience, you’re going to want to play around with these modes a bit. 

The WRX tS has different drive modes - Comfort, Normal, Sport, Sport+ and Individual. (Image: Matt Campbell)

I’ve found Sport is still quite amenable to daily driving duties - it just bumps the powertrain response up to sporty levels, while the steering and suspension stay in Normal.

Sport+ really sharpens things up, making the suspension firmer, the steering more aggressive, and making the engine and trans feel much more like a WRX ‘should’ feel. 

I set up Individual with Normal steering, Normal suspension, S# (sport sharp) engine and transmission, Sport AWD, Dynamic Eyesight and Normal climate control, and I think it’s the right combo for how I like to drive a WRX when I’m feeling like a spirited Sunday morning sprint.

Fuel consumption has remained consistent at 8.0 to 8.5 litres per 100km. (Image: Matt Campbell)

However, if this were my actual car, I’d be swapping out those Yokohama Blue Earth eco tyres fast. They’re not good enough to live up to the WRX name when you’re driving hard. In normal, day-to-day driving, they’re adequate, but ask anything of them in the corners and you find yourself understeering, and at times the rear feels like it’s drifting out, too. That might be your recipe for a fun time, but I prefer the drive experience of the sedan, which gets wider rubber and lower profile tyres (245/40/18 vs 22/45/18 on the wagon).

That means you get a narrow track in the wagon, too - the front track for wagon models is 1550mm vs 1560mm in the sedan, and the rear track is even more unalike, at 1545mm vs 1570mm for the sedan.

A set of sedan wheels swapped straight on to the wagon would make a lot of sense to me, and yeah, like I said when I drove the wagon and sedan at the 2022 WRX launch, I still think the plastic-cladding body kit of the sedan would look terrific on the wagon.

The rear track of the Sportswagon is 1545mm. (Image: Matt Campbell)

Even so, I’ve not found myself yearning to get out and drive the WRX wagon like I would the sedan. I think there’s some great practicality benefits to the wagon, and it makes a terrific “faster than average” family car. 

But I honestly think at this point, two months into my time with the WRX wagon, I’d be angling for the sedan, and a manual one at that.

That’s partly because the CVT, as good as it is for a CVT, is still not nearly as involving as a manual, or even a dual-clutch auto. I drove VW Golf GTI and a Cupra Leon VZ back-to-back during this month of ‘ownership’ of the WRX, and both felt notably more exciting in regular driving. Not as comfortable or family-friendly, sure, but they both have smaller-capacity 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engines with 180kW (less than the 202kW of the WRX) and 370Nm (more than the 350Nm in this car).

There is some great practicality benefits to the wagon. (Image: Matt Campbell)

Both of those hatchbacks are notably smaller, and are front-wheel drive, but felt a damn sight grippier and more agile compared to this car, even during sedate urban motoring. 

I guess the moral of the story here is that, unless you seek out the fun factor in the WRX wagon, it mightn’t present itself to you. And you’d be foolish to write it off as a result, but you also need to know it’s not going to be the thrill machine that some rivals (or older WRX models) are.

My partner Gemma is pretty well sold on the WRX wagon. She thinks it’s the easiest-to-drive long-term car we’ve had in the past 18 months (that includes a Hyundai Venue, Skoda Octavia RS, Kia Sportage GT-Line, Lexus NX hybrid, and a shorter-term Lexus UX electric), though even she (at 167cm/5’6”) finds that bending into the WRX to load the bub in is harder work than in a SUV.

The sunroof only offers the front two seats a view out. (Image: Matt Campbell)

However, she appreciates the fact that it’s easier to park thanks to better visibility around the car, and big glass. Our daughter loves being able to see a bit more out the window, too - but she was visibly annoyed that the sunroof only offers the front two seats a view out. Most other cars have much bigger sunroofs at this price point. 

That said, our fuel use has remained consistent - around the 8.0 to 8.5 litres per 100km rate - and the car has been a great family companion for short trips during our time with it.

I’ll cover off a bit more of the practicality stuff in the next (and final) update. Stay tuned.

Acquired: 24 August 2022

Distance travelled this month: 1664km

Odometer: 6603km

Average fuel consumption this month: 8.3L/100km (measured at the pump)