Sporty sedans? In our market, there simply aren’t too many offerings that match the description. The Subaru WRX has fit it to a tee for quite a while, though, and we’re happy to report that this will continue to be the case with the local release of the sedan’s latest generation.
Yes, that’s correct. The 2022 Subaru WRX in all its Boxer goodness can now be driven home in the Philippines. Not only that, but local Subie distributor Motor Image Pilipinas has seen it fit to expand the local WRX lineup to include a wagon. Oh, and a manual transmission is also available.
A few sighs of relief and some jubilation is in order, people. Below is everything you need to know about Subaru’s latest Philippine launch.
Variants and prices
Locally, the 2022 Subaru WRX will be available in five variants. That’s three for the sedan version, and another two for the wagon. The starting price of the vehicle is set at P2,508,000, and the range tops out at a cool P2,808,000. Look:
2022 Subaru WRX sedan
- Subaru WRX tS CVT – P2,808,000
- Subaru WRX 2.4 CVT – P2,658,000
- Subar WRX 2.4 MT – P2,508,000
2022 Subaru WRX wagon
- Subaru WRX Wagon tS CVT – P2,708,000
- Subaru WRX Wagon CVT – P2,558,000
Exterior
If you thought the last-generation WRX was edgy, you haven’t seen anything yet. For this release, Subaru’s designers have hardened the vehicle’s edges and kicked up the aggression quite a bit. Subtly is not something this model does well.
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The face features a familiar demeanor thanks to the angry headlights that flank the car’s hexagonal grille. Honeycomb patterns on the said grille and the WRX’s lower fascia help add to the seriousness of the look, while a hood scoop tries to signify this is not a vehicle you want to challenge to a contest of speed in your vanilla runabout.
We’re immense fans of the wagon’s appearance here. Why? Because, well, wagon. That, and we were pretty sad to see the Levorg make an exit a while back. This replacement more than makes up for it, though.
Dimensions? The sedan is 75mm longer, 30mm sider, and sits 10mm lower than its predecessor. As for the wagon? It measures 65mm longer, 15mm wider, and 10mm taller than the Levorg it replaces. The wheelbase of the model has grown by 20mm, too.
Other bits to note? 18-inch aluminum alloy wheels come as standard across the lineup. You’ll also find a spoiler out back, as well as cool “magma-inspired” taillights. Below are the available colors:
- Solar Orange
- Ceramic White
- Crystal White Pearl (wagon only)
Interior
Remember when Subarus had meh cabins? Yeah, neither do we. There’s a fine mix of nice plastic and soft-touch material now, and there’s more space to move around inside as well. Nicely contoured seats should help provide some stability around corners, and these come complete with popping red contrast stitching.
Speaking of contrast stitching, the leather-wrapped center console and dashboard come equipped with it. The company steering wheel gets a flat-bottomed design, while the shift knob also comes wrapped in nice leather. Capping the interior package off is a set of rubber-studded aluminum pedals.
This doesn’t exactly fall under ‘interior,’ but we have some cargo space details to share with you guts as well. The sedan gets a trunk that can carry up to 414 liters of belongings, while the wagon can accommodate up to 492 liters. The latter also boasts 40:20:40 split seats at the rear, which is good for cabin flexibility.
Engine and specs
Only one engine option is available here: a turbocharged 2.4-liter boxer engine that can send 271hp at 5,600rpm and 350Nm of torque between 2,000-5,200rpm to all four wheels. Only the base sedan offering can be had with a six-speed manual transmission, while the rest of the lineup will have shifting duties handled by a continuously variable transmission.
The figures above are good enough to propel the manual and automatic WRX from 0-100kph in just 6sec and 6.1sec, respectively. All WRX units also ride on a sports suspension, and drivers can spice things up behind the wheel via an included Sport mode. This, the company claims, speeds shifting by up to 30% faster. Frankly, sedans with this kind of sportiness do not hit our market too often.
Extra features
The most notable extra with the 2022 WRX is the inclusion of the company’s latest EyeSight safety features in higher-end variants. This package includes life-saving tech bits like adaptive cruise control with lane catering, pre-collision braking with autonomous emergency steering, pre-collision throttle management, and lead vehicle start alert. A driver monitoring system also uses an infrared camera to determine if you’re distracted behind the wheel.
Entertainment is handled using a massive 11.6-inch touchscreen display with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay compatibility. This is also responsible for managing the interior’s climate control system and a handful of other vehicle settings. The instrument cluster facing the driver also comes equipped with a convenient 4.2-inch high-resolution LCD information screen for viewing relevant performance settings.
WRX tS units also flaunt higher-end components like a Harmon Kardon sound setup with 10 speakers, a hand-free power liftgate out back for the wagon, STI branding on some interior bits, and tS badging outside.
Simpler features include bag hooks and quick-release switches for the folding rear seats. Speaking of the seats, fold them down in the wagon to increase luggage capacity to 1,430 liters. Not bad.
More photos of the 2022 Subaru WRX sedan and wagon:
