Private Fleet Car Review: 2016 Subaru WRX Premium CVT
To get an idea of the WRX, click here: https://awheelthing.wordpress.com/2016/01/28/car-review-2015-subaru-wrx-manual/ for a more indepth view of Subaru’s 2016 WRX, in manual, entry level, form.
This will be a brief review of the CVT equipped as there’s really just a few notable differences between the basic manual and Premium CVT tested. As both transmissions are available in both models, we’ll start with the CVT (engines are the same).
The CVT is programmed with eight distinct shift points, operated by the gear selector or paddleshifts on the steering column. If left alone, it works fine and hand in hand with the turbo four’s performance, with that shove in the back coming in at 2500 revs launching the car forward at a stratospheric rate. Subaru’s official 0-100 kmh time is 6.3 seconds, just 0.3 seconds slower than the manual. Consumption of 95 RON gogo juice was rated at 8.6L/100 km combined, 11.9L/100km city and 6.7L/100 km highway.
Using the manual change, there’s a sense of real urgency you don’t get with the self driven option, with response to the gear change and forward motion being much, much more rapid. In that peak torque rev range, it’s a tractable, flexible, almost think and it’s done, car to drive.
From Reverse to Drive, there’s the usual wait for the gearbox’s internals to decide what it’s going to do, a downside of the way a CVT works.
Externally the two are the same, down to the same sized wheel/tyre combo, lip spoiler at the rear and flared, meaty, guards. Inside, there’s leather look, perforated but non heated/ventilated seats (power operated for the driver), a sunroof, the bigger touchscreen for the navitainment systen and the cruise control safety system, EyeSight. It’s a comfortable office to be in and leaves a driver relatively fresh after an extended run.
The dash dials in the Premium auto are the same, there’s two USB ports in the front end of the centre console, instead of one, no rear aircon vents, no memory seating but there is Blind Spot monitoring, Pandora audio streaming, the surprisingly lacklustre Harman Kardon audio, auto dimming rear vision mirror, Lane Change Assist, Smart Key start and the vastly handy left hand side rear vision camera for reversing.
Ride wise, the car provided seemed to have a softer rear end than the manual, to the point it hit the bumpstops on the larger speed control bumps found locally. This, at the speed appropriate for these things, which raised the question of why this car bottomed out but the manual didn’t. Apart from that oddity, handling, braking etc were identical.
The Wrap.
The auto makes sense around town for those that dislike being involved in driving a car, but it’s also a very good highway bruiser. A Wheel Thing saw a best consumption figure of 8.8L/100km in mainly urban highway, not country highway driving. Naturally, there’s the same warranty, service and safety ratings the manual gets, so depending on your preference to drive with two or three feet, and if the extra touches the Premium does get tickles you, then spend the extra coin (pricing can be found at the Subaru website). Either way, that two litre engine is a ripper and that’s the heart of the WRX legend.
Private Fleet Car Review: 2016 Subaru WRX Manual
Take a two litre capacity petrol engine, use your entry level seda, whack on a hairdryer, do a spot of suspension work and find the largest hole in the bonnet that’s legal, go rallying and boom! you have one immediately immensely popular car. That’s what Subaru did in the 1990s and thus was born the WRX.
Fast forward to 2016 and A Wheel Thing resamples the legend, with the entry level model WRX, complete with six speed manual, edgy styling, and fire engine “Pure Red” paint, with a family trip to NSW’s south coast via the nation’s capital.
It’s the now familiar two litre boxer engine, sans the firecracker red paint on the intake system the STi receives but with a plastic shroud that the STi doesn’t get. The selling point is the torque, of which more will be discussed soon….but it’s the almost mandatory 350 torques, from 2400 to 5200 rpm. That mesa of oomph was so very handy in the drive…peak power comes in just after the torque gently rolls off, with 197 kilowatts being spun out at 5600 revs. Transmission in the car, the “entry”model, was a six speed manual.
The old saying “Bad news travels fast” was apt with this particular car. Although built in mid 2015, it had the gear shift feel of a ten year old vehicle. It lacked the precise, machined, movement of the STi, with no real weight and a somewhat notchy feel into the gate. A fair explanation would be to say the springs that normally tension a manual gear shift’s lever had none. Tension, that is.
The gate is also wider than that found in the STi, it felt, so any “sporting changes” were initially up to more luck than design. Yet, once some time had been spent with the WRX, familiarity with the movement’s foibles made such things closer to instinctive than expected. The clutch is suitably weighty, without excessive heaviness, and the pickup point does allow for smooth changes, with no jerkiness.
New Auto Tech
Cars are evolving quicker than they have ever before, and it’s exciting times for the automobile enthusiast. Innovation and key ideas are rapidly changing the way we do cars. Boasting newer technology to make cars faster, safer, more interactive and more economical can be mostly put down to the evolution in computer technology. However, there are other amazing ways to advance the functions of a motor car.
The Engine Control Unit (ECU) was a bit of computer technology that found its way into the automobile back in the 1970s. Back then the ECU controlled the fuel mix, making cars more economical and more powerful. Now, the ECU provides other stuff like: performance mapping for the engine, fuel efficiency, traction control, automatic night driving lights, activating aerodynamic aids, activation of the windscreen wipers, active safety aids like dynamic stability control and more.
Race Ready
Ever since the motor vehicle has been chugging on the road they have been raced. One of the first races ever was the Paris-Rouen in 1894. The cars had to travel 126 km between two French cities. Simply put; as motorcars developed, so did racing. However, particularly in modern times, you could also say that as motor racing developed, so did the motor car. I enjoy a bit of motor racing, and have occasionally enjoyed watching it trackside. One of the joys of watching the cars race around the circuit is that you can recognise the makes and models of the race cars and associate them with their everyday, road-legal versions. So what’s the difference between the road-going version and its racing cousin? Let’s take a closer look.
A mass-produced road car needs to have its set-up catered toward keeping its occupants comfortable, safe and relaxed on a journey. So, you’ll see the majority of features like a comfortable ride, air-conditioning, premium audio sound, a standard engine geared for economy and leather upholstery inside a mass-produced road car. The race car is usually stripped right back to the bare shell, and therefore lacks all these comfort features to ensure that the race-car remains as light as possible.
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