2025 Subaru WRX tS First Test: Points for STI-le, But…
A compelling mix of heretofore unmixable WRX features makes for a better WRX, but it’s no STI.
Pros
- Refined ride quality
- Improved brakes
- All-wheel-drive traction
Cons
- Loud inside
- Notchy shifter
- Not as fun to drive as competitors
The current-generation Subaru WRX is great on paper. Surely, we can’t complain about a turbocharged compact sport sedan with all-wheel drive and still available with a manual transmission. But in truth the WRX does little more than check a box for existing. It’s slower than WRXs past, it’s pricier, and it’s further let down by Subaru’s decision to skip building a hotter STI variant for Subie fans to get riled up over. But there have been signs of life lately, first in the WRX TR and, more recently, in this, the 2025 Subaru WRX tS.
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It's not an STI, of course, but it shares two letters (in backward order) with Subaru’s top-tier performance badge, and it blends the best elements available in the current WRX lineup into a single car. Want adaptive dampers and a manual transmission? This is the only way to pair the two—otherwise you either forgo the dampers, or you're stuck with the WRX’s available continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT). That spec sheet headliner is joined by, effectively, the same upgrades from the WRX TR, including 19-inch wheels and summer tires and larger-diameter Brembo brakes augmented by an upgraded booster.
The Best Current-Gen WRX Yet?
By a hair, the WRX tS is the best-performing WRX we’ve tested since this generation arrived for 2022, better than the initial version we tested, the Limited-spec long-term test model we kept for a year, and the WRX TR we tested in 2024. Its 0–60-mph acceleration, quarter-mile time, lateral grip, and braking performances are all tops, if only just. The 5.8-second run to 60 mph edges the 5.9-, 6.0-, and 6.1-second figures recorded by the 2022 Limited long-termer, another 2022 Limited (initial test car), and the WRX TR. Same goes for lateral grip, which at 0.97 g is a tenth or three of a g better than those other WRXs, and braking, which at 109 feet from 60 mph is the best by a few feet.
Still, the tS uses the same 2.4-liter turbocharged flat-four engine, six-speed manual transmission, and all-wheel-drive driveline as those other WRXs, and the engine’s rated at the same 271 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque, too. The TR-derived upgrades shine through in the tS’ handling and braking tests, though we’re chalking up our acceleration times to driver differences. Launching a current WRX remains a frustrating chore; the clutch pedal damper Subaru installs to keep you from sidestepping the clutch with the engine revving high ensures the WRX bogs down or otherwise leaves the line less rapidly. To us, it's the biggest reason why older WRXs are quicker, even with the same or less power, though on the plus side it’s a lot harder to grenade the driveline when attempting drag-race starts.
The only metric where the WRX tS fails to out-gun the other 2022–present WRXs we’ve tested is the figure-eight lap time, which lags 0.3 second behind the TR’s and one Limited’s time and half a second behind our long-term test car, though its average grip figure (0.76 g) is highest. The steering revisions shared with the TR help starch up the light action felt on other WRXs, calming turn-in behavior. But some might miss that hair-trigger action because it’s the most exciting thing about the WRX’s otherwise benign, safe handling. There is no drifting on dry pavement, and even aggressive trail-braking only tucks the nose in and ices the default understeer somewhat. On the tS (and TR with the same tires), there is so much rubber on those 19-inch wheels that the WRX corners as if on rails—capably but with little room to play with the car’s balance.
Between the Numbers
Not only is the tS the best current WRX on paper and at the test track for the most part, but it also puts forth the best driving experience out on the road. The TR’s braking upgrade already elevated the WRX’s previously lackluster brake feel and pedal action to proper sporting levels, with a firm pedal delivering crisp, feedback-laden braking response. Same goes for that model’s 19-inch Bridgestone Potenza S007 tires and their improved grip, which carries over to the tS, as well.
The electronically adaptive dampers are the real difference maker, with the WRX tS ably soaking up the worst of Michigan’s roads “like an Audi RS product,” wrote testing director Eric Tingwall after piloting the sedan to and from our Detroit-area testing grounds. The ride is smooth in the Comfort and Normal drive modes, seemingly without detriment to body control or added float, while the Sport and Sport+ setups starch things up slightly, though the suspension’s behavioral differences mode to mode take careful study to observe in practice.
Drivers can mix and match, too, via the Individual mode that tailors the driveline behavior (Normal or Sport), steering (Comfort, Normal, and Sport), and even the EyeSight active driver assistance features (newly compatible with a manual transmission on this tS and the TR and customizable between Eco, Comfort, Standard, and Dynamic aggression levels). The suspension can be set to Comfort, Normal, or Sport, though, again, the two ends of that spectrum are fairly close. All of this is handled through the WRX’s large vertical-format touchscreen, which displays everything in oversize fonts and enjoys huge on-screen buttons; good for ergonomics, but the colors and graphics give it a children’s toy vibe. The mix of digital and physical buttons, too, while welcome, is a bit overwhelming at first glance, with a scattershot organization that takes getting used to.
A Good Deal?
Volkswagen’s Golf R is leaps and bounds more refined and useful than the tS given it’s a hatchback, but it lacks a stick-shift option. Then there’s the stick-shift-only, front-wheel-drive, $47,045 Honda Civic Type R, which like the Golf R is also more refined, roomier, and more fun. While both of those competing sport compacts have their downsides, they're quicker, grippier, more powerful, and better overall vehicles for similar money.
But if you have your heart set on the WRX’s specific brand of all-weather capability, turbocharged power, and warbly engine note, the tS is the easiest to recommend. When even the entry-level WRX costs $36,920, the roughly $10,000 jump to the $46,875 tS doesn’t seem out of bounds given its palpable enhancements, namely the smoother (and adjustable) ride, better brakes, and solid equipment mix. Is the tS a viable STI alternative? Nope, and the promise it shows makes us lament the STI’s absence all the more.
A lifelong car enthusiast, I stumbled into this line of work essentially by accident after discovering a job posting for an intern position at Car and Driver while at college. My start may have been a compelling alternative to working in a University of Michigan dining hall, but a decade and a half later, here I am reviewing cars; judging our Car, Truck, and Performance Vehicle of the Year contests; and shaping MotorTrend’s daily coverage of the automotive industry.
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