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By
EWAN KENNEDY
8 December 2008
Though
the Japanese car industry has been ultra successful due to its
well-deserved reputation for high build quality there's one factor
that’s often overlooked. That is the companies willingness to
listen to criticism. And to act on faults if it agrees with the
critics.
So
when people told Subaru that they wanted more power and torque
from the legendary WRX sports machine the result was – more
power and torque, and plenty of it.
The
2.5-litre turbocharged boxer engine now puts out 195 kilowatts (up
26 kW) and 343 Newton metres (plus 23 Nm).
This
results in the WRX being able to complete the sprint from rest to
100 km/h in only 5.3 seconds. A huge improvement on the already
good 5.8 seconds of the old model. A time of 5.3 required a
supercar only a decade or so back. A supercar that would cost
somewhere on the wrong side of $200,000.
Yet
so good has been the engineering of the latest engine that it
actually has lower fuel consumption than the superseded unit, and
puts out less carbon dioxide. Fuel economy on the Australian
combined cycle is now 10.4 litres per hundred kilometres, down
from 10.7 litres. Most impressive figures from an engine with the
performance of this one.
As
well as launching the new engine, Subaru has finally introduced
the sedan variant of the WRX. This body somehow suits the image
and on-road stance of the vehicle and has long been a favourite
with buyers.
The
hatchback has received a new radiator grille design for the 09
Subaru WRX. This grille uses the mesh look that originated many
years ago in several full-on sports cars, and works nicely to this
day in machines like the hot Subaru.
Tyre
width has been increased from 205 millimetres to 225 mm, with
wheel diameter of 17 inches. Suspension bushings, springs and
dampers are said to complement these new Dunlop SP Sport 01 tyres.
A new damper valve has been fitted to the steering gearbox to
reduce the kickback that could cause hassles at times in the
superseded model. Unfortunately, at this stage we haven’t had a
chance to drive the latest WRX, but will come back to you as soon
as we have conducted our full road test.
Should
you go for the model with the optional leather trim you will get
seats with sports stitching. These feature a ‘WRX’ logo on the
back of the front seats.
One
thing hasn’t changed on the Subaru WRX – the price remains at
$39,990, a figure that has existed, apart from a few short periods
since the introduction of the car way back in 1994. And which is
amazingly low by today’s standards considering the engine and
dynamic on-road performance of the car. That price applies both to
the hatchback and the new sedan.
The
full price list is:
WRX sedan and hatch: $39,990
WRX sedan and hatch with leather trim and sunroof: $42,490
WRX sedan and hatch with satellite navigation: $42,980
WRX sedan and hatch with satellite navigation, leather trim and
sunroof: $45,480
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Marque Publishing Company
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