2013 Subaru WRX Special Edition

Two months ago, I was carving pumpkins in a canyon – last week I was carving canyons in a pumpkin. I genuinely prefer the latter.

It's hard to miss the 2013 Subaru WRX Special Edition. The twins (the automaker is offering the package on both the WRX and its higher-performing STI sibling – just 300 copies in total) arrive in Tangerine Orange paint with Jet Black wheels, black exterior mirrors and black front fender badges. The purely cosmetic upgrades are carried inside the cabin with black cloth upholstery contrasted with orange stitching on the seats, doors, shift boot and piping on the floor mats.

After a day, I completely forgot about the controversial orange paint (you either love or hate its burnt pumpkin color) and focused on the simple joy of driving the rally-inspired Subaru WRX.

Driving Notes

• The turbocharged 2.5-liter flat-four is a gem of an engine. It pulls soundly from the low end of the tachometer yet willingly runs to fuel cutoff at redline. Unfortunately, the note coming from the quad exhaust pipes resonates and booms from within the cabin. I liked it, but many of my passengers complained.
• While the industry has moved to six-speed manual transmissions (as has the STI), few realize just how wonderful a competent five-speed gearbox really is. Despite giving up a bit in acceleration and fuel economy (the 6MT has a lower first gear, and a taller six gear), the 5MT will easily run to 60 miles per hour without a shift to third gear. This also translates to less clutch work around town.
• During a spirited run up Decker Canyon and Mulholland Highway, Subaru's Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive kicked serious tail in the corners. It absolutely refused to let go of the pavement, regardless of how much power was going to the wheels.
• The suspension of the WRX is a bit softer than I expected. While it translated to a much more comfortable highway ride, it came across a too squishy for really hardcore flogging. For upgraded suspension, brakes and a more capable all-wheel drive system, consumers need to look at the STI.
• The cloth bucket seats are comfortable, supportive during aggressive driving maneuvers and heated. What more can one ask for?
• The WRX won't let anyone forget its Impreza roots. The cabin appointments are budget-oriented, with no-frills hard plastic on the dashboard and doors, minimal digital instrumentation (no trip computer or fuel distance-to-empty display) and a lackluster audio system (one of the worst I have experienced in years).
• Keep in mind that Subaru has already replaced its Impreza with an all-new fourth-generation model - the WRX (and STI) are still on the third-generation platform - expect their high-performance replacements to emerge within a year.

http://www.autoblog.com/2012/12/14/2...ecial-edition/

 

wow, could it be any uglier?

 

The present 2013 WRX/STI, though, is still done on the old 3rd-generation (2008-2012) Impreza body/chassis. For whatever reason, Subaru has not released the new updated WRX/STI models on the new 4th-generation platform yet, despite the fact that the 2013 regular non-turbo Imprezas and SV Crosstrek already use the new platform.

(BTW, I know you also think the new platform is also ugly.)

 

Count me in as one who likes it. Those of you who read my auto-reviews know I'm not one for funeral-home shades. The down-side, though, is that only 300 production-cars will have it. Here is a quote from the official Subaru WRX website:

http://www.subaru.com/vehicles/impreza-wrx/index.html

Arriving in March, 300 Special Edition 4-doors (and only 4-doors) will wear the color Tangerine Orange with black trim both outside and inside. There will be 200 WRX Premium and 100 WRX STI base models. You can’t just like orange with these cars, orange has to be part of your soul.

 

Yeah the Subies just aren't that appealing to me. Very competent cars for sure though

 

new model is going to be much nicer

 

I just hope they don't stick that same dinky CVT in it that other new Imprezas (and The XV Crosstrek) have. That new CVT is, IMO, annoying to drive....certainly not as well done as the excellent Nissan units (or even the better CVT in the big-brother Legacy/Outback). My guess, though, is that they won't......typical CVTs can't take the kind of HP/torque an STI has.

For street-use (as opposed to a classic Rally-car), I also hope that, with the new version, they put some more insulation in the wheel-wells. The last WRX/STI, with the tires it had, made enough road noise to wake up the dead....even regular Imprezas were rather noisy in that respect.