Impressive Impreza

The redesigned 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX has traded its youthful rough edges for a sleeker, more sophisticated ride

by Marty Padgett

Does anyone out there still read Time magazine? A few weeks ago, the waning weekly put out a story that purports firstborns have a genetic predisposition to brilliance. Second out of the chute? Tough luck. Primogeniture rules.

So it seems to apply to the first Subaru WRX, a car that couldn't have been better received if Al Gore and Michael Moore made a movie about it. Bowing in 2002, the WRX racked up kudos and bon mots and even a few best-buys on its way to becoming a cultural icon for a certain set of shoppers also in the market for Xbox 360s, iPhones, near-Ivy degrees and Orange County addresses.

So what to make of the new, second-generation WRX-a more grounded version of the car that kidnapped the Subaru brand and relieved it of its uber-pragmatic, WNBA-admiring tendencies? The press has been mixed. Edmunds.com says the new WRX is "softer than before but still capable," and it's "gone mainstream." Car and Driver thinks "the WRX delivers better ride quality, but responses feel a bit less eager." Dan Neil of the Los Angeles Times and the Patti LaBelle fan club laments its duller responses: "Drive it really hard and the car-previously a model of tucked-in balance-feels positively deranged."

The question here at TheCarConnection.com, now that the dust has settled elsewhere, is, has the WRX grown up too much? And by corollary, do firstborns really-and this would totally exclude us from greatness-get all the magic?

Four power to you

When it comes to powerplants, the answer is most definitely not. The new WRX puts out all the brilliant power, surging turbo boost and sounds of cut-and-thrust greatness that the first-gen car delivered in ample supply.

The first WRX used a turbo 2.0-liter four to amass 227 horsepower and 217 pound-feet of torque in its maiden year. It upgraded to a boosted 2.5-liter in the '06 model year. The new WRX carries on with a new version of that later turbocharged 2.5-liter flat four, now thrumming out 224 horsepower and 226 lb-ft for this model year. Subaru says the engine delivers more torque at a lower engine speed than before, thanks to a new intake manifold, intercooler and turbocharger. With this engine, Subaru's reached Honda heights of sweet, whistling mechanical sounds coupled with supple power delivery.

The four's power gets transmitted through either a five-speed manual transmission or-holy anachronism, Batman!-a four-speed automatic. There's nothing inherently wrong with the number of gears available, but it hardly seems right when a hauling Ford Expedition can brag about its six-speed automatic and a howling WRX claims only four. And even in the case of the clean-shifting, stubby-levered five-speed manual, there's room for improvement. Why not add a cog, get the gears tighter, and give the WRX some breathing room at the top of its cruising range?

At the end of the power food chain lies Subaru's all-wheel-drive system, which doles out power by the shovelful to 50-series, 17-inch tires.

A quick survey of the 0-60 times generated by buff books pegs the new WRX at about five and a half seconds, and a top speed of at least 140 mph. It's maybe a shade slower, but so close as to be materially undistinguished in everyday driving, from the first WRX. Of course, it's on the rare track day-or on the Internet message board-where that minor quibble turns into fierce car-freak fights, with or without Mitsu Evo fans chiming in.

You say you want an evolution?

We'll spare those Subaru versus Mitsubishi arguments for another day, but evolution is a word that turns out to haunt the new WRX in another unexpected way. Subaru has strained in the past few years to richen up and smooth out its products. The Tribeca SUV's the best example, but here now too is the WRX, which gets longer, thicker, and a touch less responsive in its quest to appeal to more than the driving-glove-and-mocs crowd.

The WRX does gain some useful room in its stretching program. The wheelbase is 3.7 inches longer than before, and headroom and rear-seat legroom are up by more than a half-inch.