After a year of living with our latest Subaru project car, it was time to say goodbye as the car returns to its corporate parents. Despite some initial concerns over the revised styling over the GD-series Subarus, we grew to love the smooth lines of the latest version of the WRX. After installing the Vorshlag / AST coilovers for the handling story in the May 2009 issue of the magazine we grew to love the handling, too.
The 2008 model WRX was criticized by some for being underpowered, but we didn’t think it was that bad. In fact, the only driveline modification we made to our car was the addition of a K&N Typhoon intake system. Given more time, we’d probably have gone to an aftermarket exhaust and some sort of ECU tuning for a bit more power.
Fortunately for patient consumers, 2009 model cars received a revised engine configuration that boosted the WRX to around 265 horsepowe. If we were to do it all over again it would make good sense to start with the later car. Unfortunately, neither are classed favorably for SCCA Autocrossing when compared with earlier models of the WRX equipped with the 2.0 liter engine.
Next time, we’re eager to try the full-strength STI model.
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