Road Test: 2009 Subaru WRX265 Sedan

Story and photos by John LeBlanc Don't you just hate it when your favourite cult music band – the one you discovered, nurtured and cared for like a little puppy – goes mainstream? It's a feeling Subaru had to come to grips with when it tried to broaden the appeal of its WRX sports compact beyond its hardcore fans. Last year's substantial makeover smoothed over some of the previous car's rougher edges. For hardcore 'Rex fans – the driving enthusiasts who discovered, nurtured and cared for the sports compact since the first model landed on our shores after a decade of being sold only in foreign markets – Subaru's decision to go mainstream meant the supposedly street legal rally car WRX had somehow lost its mojo. Sure, interior quality in the all-wheel-drive Impreza-based car was much improved over the 2002-2007 WRX's low-grade standards. So was interior room, especially in the back seat, which was fairly cramped, even by compact car standards. And the 2008 WRX was definitely more refined, with a smoother and quieter ride. All qualities appreciated if you're looking for a nice, but less-than-stimulating-to-drive mode of transport – such as the base model $20,995 Impreza 2.5i. Believing Subaru had clearly sold out with the milquetoast '08 iteration in order to gain sales, former 'Rex fans suddenly turned critic. Steering was now considered too sloppy, where before it was laser accurate. The '08 WRX's front end no longer turned into corners like a pit bull. The ride was luxury car soft. And there was no improvement in horsepower. For 2009, the 224-horsepower regular-strength WRX )lives on in $30,995 four-door sedan and $31,895 five-door hatchback formats. But the big news are the new WRX265 sedan and hatch versions for $3,000 more. With these models, Subaru seems to be saying to the old school: "'Rex faithful, we're sorry!" Horsepower can be the cure for many performance car ills. And the latest WRX's 265 badge is a clue that the new model features a 41 hp boost in horsepower over a WRX. And the WRX265 is only 40 shy of the top-line $39,995 WRX STi. The power gains comes straight from the pages of sports compact tuner magazines. A larger turbocharger with more boost (from 11.9 psi to 13.3) helps feed air to the familiar 2.5-litre flat-four cylinder engine, and a revised catalytic converter and bigger exhaust delivers 30 per cent better flow out the back. Torque as well is increased, but less substantially: from 226 to 244 lb.-ft. In the end, the improvement in straight-line performance results aren't insubstantial. In the WRX265, 0-to-100 km/h from a standstill now takes 5.4 seconds. Not only is that about a half-second quicker than a cooking WRX, it's also only 0.2 seconds slower than the vaunted $39,995 WRX STi. And what about AWD rivals, such as Audi's refreshed $36,900 A3 2.0T Quattro or Mitsubishi's new Evo Lite, the $32,995 Lancer Ralliart? Both saunter about 1.5 seconds slower to 100 km/h than the swifter Subie. And compared to the glacial turbo lag in the pricier WRX STi, the power comes on in a more linear fashion in the WRX265. Along with the accurate-to-use five-speed manual transmission (there's no autobox available), this all makes the WRX265 a much more livable daily driver in cut-and-thrust urban manoeuvres than the more trying WRX STi. It helps that the WRX265 only weighs 1,440 kg. That's about 100 kg less than the A3, Ralliart or big brother STi. And having less weight makes even more of a difference when the road starts to twist and turn. Compared to last year's WRX, the 265's steering is more communicative. It corners with much more alacrity and purpose. Subaru says the valves on the steering have been updated to complement the new tires that have become wider, from 205/50R-17 to 225/50R-17. The 265's ride is still resilient on bad pavement, but the extra motion from the '08 WRX seems to have been removed – replaced with a firmness that German car fans will recognize. Much of its back-to-roots handling benefits are a direct result of Subaru using the WRX STi's front upper strut mounts. Also new are revised front and rear spring rates (increased 43 and 42 per cent, respectively) and anti-roll bars (a millimetre larger in diameter to 21 mm front and 16 mm rear.) The result? You get the refinement of the '08 model, but with more of the edgier performance aspects that made the first-generation 2002-2007 'Rex a cult classic. There's still some understeer when you're doing your best impersonation of Subaru World Rally champ Petter Solberg. But a little trail braking into corners can quickly bring the rear end more in line with where you want the nose to be pointing. It's cold comfort for those who ran out and bought an '08 WRX, but with better performance than the Audi at a price similar to the Ralliart, Subaru seems to have its mojo back with its new 2009 WRX265. 2009 SUBARU WRX265 PRICE: $33,995 ENGINE: 2.5 L, flat 4 POWER/TORQUE: 265 hp/244 lb.-ft. FUEL CONSUMPTION: City 11.1, hwy. 8.0 L/100 km COMPETITION: Audi A3 2.0T Quattro, Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart WHAT'S BEST: Straight line performance, refined on-the-road characteristics; why spend more on an STi? WHAT'S WORST: Dated styling; no autobox available WHAT'S INTERESTING: The 2007 Japanese-market, Subaru Impreza WRX STI Spec C Type RA-R (short for "Record Attempt") has one of the longest car names on record

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