The 2022 WRX Teaser. The good, the bad, and the plastic body cladding…

Update!  Subaru has now re-scheduled for September 10th!

Subaru is finally revealing all of the details of the 2022 WRX on August 19^th, and they just released a teaser video that has given away…  Well, not much really.  The video only offers a couple of glimpses of the new WRX, but there are some details that both stand out, and merit discussion.

Before everything in the world took a wrong turn and got hopelessly lost last year, we were expecting the announcement of a new WRX and STI as a 2021 model.  But because that didn’t happen, there has been even more time for everyone that has been waiting for a big change in the STI to guess what Subaru might do.  And oddly enough, as time went on and a few pieces of information leaked out from people that were supposedly in the know, the picture started to become clear.

The guess was that both the WRX and STI would get a new version of the FA24DIT.  In the WRX, power is estimated to be between 285 and 295 horse power, and in the STI the common school of thought is that power will land right about 395 horse power giving us the big bump in power that the platform rightfully deserves.  I wrote an article making the case for why the next generation STI needed to make 400 hp (maybe two actually), so all of this sounded really, really positive.

Then this WRX teaser came out, and some things seem right, and some things seem, well, more foggy.

First off, on August 19^th when we get the details about the WRX, it will most likely shed a lot of light on what the next STI will likely be.  If they really do bump the new WRX close to the current STI’s power level, that means that the STI will almost certainly be getting a big bump in power too.  Honestly that is what I want to see most.

But back to the teaser.  Here is what we know for 100% certain.

The next WRX will be a sedan, have a redline of 6,000 rpm (you can see the tach for a couple of frames), and it can cut huge circles in the dirt.  Oh, and it will have a lot of plastic body cladding.

As we slowed down the video and looked as closely as we could, we noticed one other thing that seems to be fairly clear.  The car also sits pretty tall.  For example, the center cap of the wheel is in line with the top of the black plastic body cladding.

The tall stance of the car and plastic body cladding from the front bumper to the rear bumper make the car in the video seem very much like the current Crosstrek or Outback.  In fact, it looks a heck of a lot like a Wilderness Edition WRX, or maybe a turbo Crosstrek?

Here is the current Crosstrek for reference

Notice here how the center cap of the wheel is about the same location as in the 2022 WRX teaser.

Reading a bit between the frames, the lower redline would indicate an engine with more displacement.  That would seem to confirm the FA24DIT engine (the Ascent has a 6,000 rpm redline as well).  And even though it doesn’t rev that high, Subaru could still hit that near 300 hp number with this engine and a front mounted turbo.  I’d say this is good news.

After going through the frames of this video, I have more questions about the WRX than I do about the STI.  Above all, if the WRX is only available in this type of trim, it doesn't seem or look sporty to me.  And I have always thought of the WRX as a sporty car.  If the WRX is going to be more like a turbo Crosstrek (and know that there have been a lot of people that wanted something like that) it seems a lot more utilitarian, and much more at home at a trail head than a track day.

To that end, this is the front wheel, and those brakes look really small...

We have all been hoping that the WRX would get a version of the FA24DIT like the one that comes in the Ascent and Outback, but what I had not considered until this clip is what if it got exactly that engine, and the CVT transmission as the only option as well?

There have been rumors that manual transmission WRX’s have not been selling well at all, and those rumors have gone on to say that Subaru was going to stop offering the manual WRX.  Could it be that has caused Subaru to push the WRX more towards an off-road adventure vehicle?

And if all this happens, what does that mean for the STI?

Subaru has always done a lot to keep the WRX and the STI separate, giving the STI more power and performance than the WRX.  Is it possible that they are making the WRX a car that has less motorsports appeal, leaving the STI the only option if you want a Subaru sports car?

I could see them selling more STI's if that was the only option, but I'm not sure how I feel about that.

August 19^th is going to be a big day for the WRX, and maybe the STI too.

Stay Tuned.

Jon Cooley

Up-date!

The 2022 WRX has now been revealed, and we have our reactions in a video here: