2023 Subaru WRX Long-Term Wrap-Up: Bright and beaming to the end

Our year with the 2023 Subaru WRX is officially at its end. Well, it wasn’t a full year, but we got pretty close with just a few months remaining (to be clear: the early end was not the car’s fault). It was still long enough to come to some real conclusions.

The final mileage tally rings in at 11,551 miles, with many of those being fun miles on various backroads throughout the Midwest. It’s been a blast from the beginning, and we even got to try out some intriguing STI accessories in the latter half of our loan. 

Read all Long-Term Subaru WRX Posts Here

Love for the new WRX is practically universal amongst the Autoblog staff. The concept isn’t new for this latest generation, but Subaru’s execution makes it our favorite WRX generation in quite some time. Everything starts with that new 2.4-liter turbocharged flat-four engine. Start it up first thing in the morning near a house, and the whole structure begins to buzz. Arcing up the revs is a smooth, buttery sensation, which is not something you expect from a Subaru flat-four but is one of the reasons we love it. Redline comes early at just 6,100 rpm (sad), but you’re going to want to live in the upper ranges to get everything you can from the boxer. It pulls steadily and smoothly all the way to the top without any disappointing torque dip or massive fall-off at the end.

And then there’s the sound. The noise we hear in the cabin’s been a tale of two exhausts. Subaru’s stock exhaust is noisy at certain low rpms, but almost nonexistent in the high end. Meanwhile, the STI exhaust we had installed was just loud all the time. Plainly, you don’t want this exhaust if you foresee lots of highway miles due to incessant droning. But man, is it satisfying when you’re in it. Stab the throttle on a quick heel-toe downshift, and you’re rewarded with a single or multiple crackles and pops. It’s never the same, which makes it all the more fun to listen for. The personality missing from the exhaust previously is finally present, but boy, do you have to work for it.

Working for it is the WRX’s whole mantra, too. Its brakes require a strong pedal press before they do anything. The shifter is notchy and heavy through the gates. And the weightiness trend carries through to the steering, too. That last bit’s especially odd, though, as while there’s a lot of heft to the wheel itself, road feel is severely lacking. It’s a good thing, then, that the super-sticky Dunlop summer tires provide as much grip and stability as they do, as it’s damn tough to run out of grip on the road.

One consistent quibble from the staff throughout the year was simply how stiff the suspension setup is. Poor roads had us bouncing all over the place as it pogoed up and down, which is an especially big problem in Michigan. Subaru doesn’t offer adaptive dampers on our Limited trim (you need the CVT or tS for those), so you’re stuck with a single ride and handling setting. It’s more than stiff enough to support some serious canyon driving, but we don’t have many canyons around Detroit, and it unfortunately punishes almost everywhere else.

Fuel economy’s never been a strong suit for the WRX, and it continues to be mildly acceptable in this new generation. The EPA ratings of 19 mpg city, 26 mpg highway and 22 mpg combined are where we found the Subie landing depending on the sort of driving involved. That said, you can achieve surprisingly good highway fuel economy on long trips. Our best stints saw the WRX return as good as 28-30 mpg. And while high-20s isn’t exactly something to cheer for, we’re plenty happy to see it considering the 272 horsepower and 259 pound-feet of torque it produces.

Thankfully, our long-term Subaru only needed to make one unscheduled dealer stop for a recall. That said, it was a serious one for a front driveshaft assembly that could “crack and break.” We were given the all-clear and sent on our way. Beyond that, we went for the 6,000-mile oil change service, to swap summer and winter tires, and for a screw that happened to find a home in one of the OEM Dunlop tires. Every trip to the local Subie dealer was pleasant and went off without a hitch.

On a less happy note, complaints about the Subaru’s tablet-oriented infotainment system never seemed to dry up. We were hopeful that Subaru finally put together a nice-to-use tech package, but alas, the screen is plagued by lag, input delays and glare from the sun. Even using Apple CarPlay or Android Auto is frustrating, as you’re subject to the same slow responses as the native system interface exhibits. The lack of wireless smartphone mirroring is another downside, forcing you to always plug your phone in. Its one saving grace is that not all the controls are stuffed inside the screen. You can adjust the climate temperature with buttons, change the volume or tune the radio with knobs, and there are the customary redundant radio controls on the steering wheel, too. But man, needing to use the touchscreen (and wait for its bootup process) to switch on the heated seats in the dead of winter never stops being frustrating.

At least the seats themselves are stellar, as our Limited trim model’s was upholstered with a nice mix of grippy materials to hold you in alongside well-sculpted bolsters. It sure feels a bit cheap to only make the driver’s seat power (no such luck for the passenger), but the easy adjustment is appreciated. The one negative note we kept coming back to on the seats is just how high you sit in the car. Moving from a Civic Si or GTI will have you feeling like you’re driving an SUV when you hop into the WRX. That vibes with the crossover-like plastic cladding outside the car, but it’s just not the seating position us enthusiasts desire out of a sport compact.

And if you were curious about how we felt about the new WRX’s design, you’ll need to come to us individually. There are staunch supporters of the new rally look, and there are others who continue to be disgusted by the acres of black plastic all over the car. Our distaste is strongest around back where its rear chin stretches high up the bumper before we get to the gleaming Solar Orange paint. We sure were glad to have picked this exterior option, though, as it got constant looks and compliments over the course of the year. The gray-painted wheels are a lovely contrast to the orange, and the black-painted spoiler we opted for gives it one last dose of aggression as it flies past you.

Our prediction that a long-term WRX test would be a fun one most definitely came true. The parents on staff managed to get their kids and car seats into the back, but trunk space is undoubtedly limited given the small sedan shape. Maybe a GTI or other hot hatch is the answer if you need more cargo versatility. 

The car’s gotten better since we took delivery of our tester, too. Starting for the 2024 model year, Subaru added all the driver assistance systems missing on the 2023 to the fold. Our many highway trips would’ve benefitted from the now-standard adaptive cruise and lane-following. That said, it was also refreshing to drive around a car that didn’t beep at us for getting too close to another lane on occasion, so we’re not that mad about it.

We compared the Limited to the single-year TR that was promptly replaced by the tS for 2025. Of course, the better dampers and Brembos should improve the experience in the tS, but by our account, the regular WRX isn’t drastically inferior to those sportier models. We enjoyed the hell out of the optional CD player. We hooned it like crazy in the winter months on a set of Bridgestone Blizzak tires. And of course, we argued about it nonstop on the Autoblog Podcast. 

If you want to see all of our stories going into detail about our long-term WRX, make sure you head here.