A Levorg, of any flavor would definitely get my attention

Impreza and Corolla are the same class of vehicle, so you shouldn't feel too bad.

if Subaru put STI suspension, STI brakes, the 2.4, and the STI 6spd into a Crosstrek, and called it a STI, I'd consider it. Levorg looks way too long for my tastes (A4 wagon is also too big IMO).

since the wife is giving me 6-18 months to trade in the 2 door on a 4 door, they have a small window to beat the GRC, or GolfR.

Big announcement coming Friday... Toyota to acquire Subaru.

WRX demographic has been changing since the 2015 WRX with CVT. There's a bit of a joke amongst the community that you can't wave at 2015+ WRX you see on the road because the owners most likely won't wave back, especially if they're older or assumed to be a woman. But I've seen plenty of assumed to be men not wave either. Usually STI owners wave back since they're more of the typical demographic.

Anyway, the demographic shift might explain the need for Subaru to shift gears on their priorities.

Scion 2.0

Well they did shift gears making the WRX look more like a Crosstrek sedan and it's clearly failed so best to go back to what's proven to sell no? Sounds like that's exactly what's being rumoured.

Waving has never been a priority. Focused on piloting the vehicle. This exists in the bike world and it’s equally amusing.

Subaru doesn't shift gears, they are more of the continuously variable type. <I'll see myself out>

Public won’t hear much on Friday. Internally for SOA it’s a big day in regards to the current issues with this model. Hopeful to hear more about it without much of a wait

It would definitely suck for people who bought a 2022 WRX if they release a much improved refreshed version this year (assuming it would be exterior styling, but if they went back and added more power too).... Maybe Recaro seats and adjustable dampers on the non-CVT car.

IMHO the biggest slap in the face was giving that crappy CVT the best options and giving the middle finger to manual buyers who make up like 80% of WRX buyers.

Recaro seats and Dampers on the CVT was a market test to see how the customer base would react to not having a manual WRX. Needless to say it didn’t go as well as planned.

Someone else mentioned ambassador $$. What I can tell you is that a lot of money was spent to make sure the WRX launch was positively covered by the press. The initial reaction to the reveal video was NOT expected by some people who make decisions in Camden. Keyword is some.

The GR Corolla has had the positive press coverage, and the dealerships won’t be able to keep up with demand.

Based on how the new WRX was received by those the press initially covered it, especially on social media, the same thing should have happened. It didn’t.

Chanomatik posted this the other day: YTD as of June, the WRX/STI was -56.5% Year over Year. https://media.subaru.com/pressreleas...-q2-2022-sales

WRX/STI 1,465 vs 2,354 (June '22 vs '21 MoM = -37.8%)
WRX/STI 6,212 vs 14,272 (YTD as of June '22 vs '21 YoY = -56.6%)

They can only do so much. A hatch would take years. A wagon would take crash testing. More performance could mean worse MPG. Painted stuff makes more sense.

Major announcement Friday at 4pm…The “Iconic Rally Monster” WRX, will be discontinued after the 2023 MY even though plastic cladding was offered. The WRX will be revived with the STI once “we’re able to provide EV alternatives in 2035”, Subaru spokesman said.

When asked about reasons behind the decision: “well even if we tried to improve on design and performance we felt that we still couldn’t get the desired MPG that would attract buyers anyway, so we figured it was best to kill it like the STI”.

For now, Subaru plans to implement plastic cladding to the Legacy as they feel this will be the best natural move for those seeking performance sedans.

I think there is more to the Forester than just the chips. Unless it's totally different kind of chips. Not my area at all, but, 1400 WRXs are not the reason the Forester is down nearly 15000 units a month from normal.



Has anyone, yet, come out and show what the HTCVT gets when not thrashing it in S# mode? The rated numbers for the MT are just the standard as always whereas the HTCVT are in the worst, most aggressive mode which is horrible when even tame driving. And I have still yet to see a "real world" video of a MT beating a HTCVT. The "worst" performance is abusing the MT by magazines that won't be owning them and paying for the repairs after doing that day after day.



Is there something out about the new SPT being crappy? Or is that just the "MT forever!!!" mantra talking?

IMO, the SPT is fine if you absolutely want a WRX/AWD and if you prefer or need an auto tranny.
But, we now live in a world in which Hyundai has developed a very good 8-speed "wet" DCT.
And it's available in vehicles that are significantly less expensive that the current WRX GT.
Now, the jury is still out on how well that in-house Hyundai DCT will hold up over time, but, for now, it's way more satisfying to drive/operate than any SPT/HTCVT out there.

I'm quite curious on the WRX/STI sales breakdown for 2021, as in, what was STI and what was WRX? I could believe that just less than half of WRX sales were STI.

the YTD comparison doesn't mean a lot, I don't think they started hitting lots until March or April of this year?

Correct, and inventories for left-over 2021 were dwindling. They only sold 31 WRX/STI in February 2022, followed by 204 in March 2022 (probably after the STI death announcement).

My guess is that they will steal some of the aborted STI's hopefully better/sporting looks and graft them onto the butch-ass WRX. Maybe bring the transmission along too and unlock some torque from the engine.

Funny enough I almost prefer the car with black wheel arches if the side sills and bumpers are body color. This render (which I felt was very plausible, big wheels and super low drop aside) made me realize I hate the WRX's front bumper more than the rear. It also sold me on the idea that the black arches were about breaking up the slab-sidedness of the car. Here they do that and it still looks good. It helps that they're shiny.



Ah, no for sure the whole "but it's a Corolla" thing isn't a problem for me. It's complicated but the only place where the economy background of the Corolla factors in as a con is that I don't like the interior. Just the whole layout and feel (looked at a top trim sedan of course, not the actual GRC - they appear mostly identical inside.) Which is funny coming from an early VA WRX, which was bad when it was brand new.

You mean aside from it having worse performance and MPG than a manual transmission car in 2022? It's clear Subaru used the CVT to keep costs down when a performance car deserves a proper automatic like a ZF or a DCT. You should easily be able to beat a manual in both performance and MPG using a modern day automatic in 2022.

But that's deflecting from the fact that Subaru packaged the sportiest package (Recaro and adjustable dampers) on the least sporty model (CVT) that has far fewer buyers based on historical sales. It's pretty clear Subaru was trying to push buyers to the CVT model by offering it more popular features that really should be sold in both models. I bet quite a few buyers were pissed about that, and perhaps has delayed some sales as some buyers expect a 2023 WRX manual with those options.

Killing off the STI and then handicapping the manual WRX just seems very shortsighted by Subaru.

Wait, did I miss a performance comparison of the 6MT vs SPT WRX?

Everything I read and watched said the SPT version was expected to be a half second slower. I’m not sure there’s been any independent tests because all the press car reviews I saw were manual. I have to think I’d the SPT was faster Subaru would be screaming it from the mountain too and would have been pushing them as press cars for the head to head tests.

why would it suddenly be quicker? it's the same crappy cvt with a new name.

SPT is quicker than the previous CVT. They've stated as much since the unveiling. Let's not disregarding the info because of preference.

Even if it's half a second slower than the manual, most owners would never clutch dump their manual even once just to ensure that their manual is indeed quicker. For everyday driving, which is what the WRX is intended for, the SPT will FEEL quicker, consistently. And it'll take more abuse compared to the manual. Just look at the Levorg GT-S for example.

The 2022 WRX is meant to feel more "refined", so I think the manual being quicker on a technicality doesn't really factor into the big picture. Similar with the engine tuning where the car feels better to drive compared to the VA, even if the numbers on paper don't necessarily give that away.

Best thread on this site in a long time.
Handful (literally) of posters that were forced to lease ****box automatics hating on a car they dream they could be driving. They always come back.

rally 4, you should be ashamed of yourself.