2024 Subaru WRX TR First Drive: Track Rationalized
Track focused high end model packs everything you need—and nothing you don’t.
Sorry, this is not the long-awaited reincarnation of the STI. We're expecting hybridization to invigorate the next one of those soon enough, for better or worse. In the interim, a new variant of the WRX—one delightfully free of thick orange cables and hefty battery packs—is being launched to fill a tiny gap in the lineup through the revival an old moniker: TR. Only this time around, instead of representing a "tuner-ready" no-frills version of this working folks' Audi S4, the 2024 Subaru WRX TR is a high-end "track-ready" model, a manual-transmission version of the range-topping WRX GT.
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As such, the TR shares the GT's Recaro buckets, ditches the high-mounted mass of the helmet-crowding power moonroof, and swaps the pricy Electronic Adjustable Ride Control suspension for an analog setup with spring rates stiffened a bit and damping tuned to match. Some of the cost savings are reinvested in Brembo brakes and unique 19-inch rims wrapped in aggressive summer rubber (the price still undercuts GT by $2,560, though it's $2,640 above that of the Limited six-speed). We've just had a go in a TR in Sicily, retracing elements of the Targa Florio Rally racecourse.
Why It's Important
It's a brand-new sports car variant offered exclusively with three pedals and a stick—such rare occasions are to be celebrated! And sure, while it makes do with the same growly 271 hp and 258 lb-ft as every other WRX, at a claimed 139 pounds less than a GT and just 100 pounds more than a base WRX manual, it feels sprightly on some of the very roads where Subarus triumphed in the 1995 (the Alessandrini/Liatti Impreza) and 1999 (Cunico/Pirollo in an Impreza WRC) Targa Florio World Rally Championship races.
Even when plying the route at speeds that reflected a reasonable fear of cameras and carabinieri, we got a good sense of how daunting it must have been to hustle what's still a fairly large car through narrow switchbacks and blind corners (the original Targa Florio's 92-mile grand circuit had some 2,000 corners in all). It's uncertain what shape the pavement was in then, but today much of it feels as though the earth beneath the tarmac is sagging and flowing downhill, giving the WRX TR's 5 percent stiffer springs a real workout and often imparting some side toss to the occupants (who were grateful for the standard Recaro bolsters). Throw in 50-degree temperatures (on the chilly end of acceptable for summer-compound tires), and conditions ranging from in-the-clouds mist to rain, and the ABS and stability control were exercising. Then again, the conditions also served to lower the car's traction and handling limits; we got the WRX TR to four-wheel drift in the tightest hairpins at well under 30 mph.
Pros: What We Like
The WRX TR's steering telegraphed the lowered limits of adhesion better than many other cars of its ilk, and on the few stretches where we dared build up a serious head of steam, the brake pedal felt reassuringly firm. When braking hard into tight bends, the stopping power of the inch-larger front/rear rotors (12.8/12.4 versus 11.6/11.4)—chomped by monoblock calipers at all four corners—was confidence inspiring. And seats this supportive better connect the driver to the car for added confidence. It's also nice that Subaru's EyeSight system is now standard even with the manual (just know that it may automatically brake the car to a stall).
Cons: What We Don't Like
Viewed against competitors like the Honda Civic Type R, Hyundai Elantra N, Toyota GR Corolla, and Volkswagen Golf R, the WRX feels slower, because it's less powerful than all of them. Oh, and the EyeSight system still beeps more than everybody else's nannies do.
The Bottom Line
The spirit of the Targa Florio Rally is still very much alive in the WRX TR, something you can't really say about any of its competitors.
I started critiquing cars at age 5 by bumming rides home from church in other parishioners’ new cars. At 16 I started running parts for an Oldsmobile dealership and got hooked on the car biz. Engineering seemed the best way to make a living in it, so with two mechanical engineering degrees I joined Chrysler to work on the Neon, LH cars, and 2nd-gen minivans. Then a friend mentioned an opening for a technical editor at another car magazine, and I did the car-biz equivalent of running off to join the circus. I loved that job too until the phone rang again with what turned out to be an even better opportunity with Motor Trend. It’s nearly impossible to imagine an even better job, but I still answer the phone…
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