Why you should buy the 2009 WRX:
You've got the need for speed but also the need for a car you can live with, the need for a car you can afford to fill up, the need to explore new routes, the need to move more than one person around simultaneously, the need to store things and the need to not spend all your money on a car payment.

Why you shouldn't buy this car:
You've got the need for speed but also the need to drive a car that looks like it was built for an adult, the need for smooth roads, the need for big engines, the need for loud noises and the need for something impractical.

Suitability Parameters:
Speed Merchants: Yes
Fashion Victims: No
Treehuggers: Yes
Mack Daddies: No
Tuner Crowd: Yes
Hairdressers: No
Penny Pinchers: Yes
Euro Trash: No
Working Stiffs: No
Technogeeks: Yes
Poseurs: No
Soccer Moms: No
Nascar Dads: No
Golfing Grandparents: No

Also Consider:
• Mitsubushi Lancer Ralliart
• Hyundai Genesis Coupe 2.0T
• 2010 Ford Mustang GT
• Mazda Mazdaspeed3

Vitals:
• Manufacturer: Subaru
• Model: WRX
• Model year: 2009
• Base Price: $25,495
• Price as Tested: $26,835
• Engine type: 2.5-Liter DOHC Intercooled Turbo Boxer 4
• Horsepower: 265 HP @ 6000 rpm
• Torque: 244 lb-ft @ 4000 rpm
• Transmission: 5-Speed Manual
• Curb Weight: 3,200 lbs
• LxWxH: 180.3" x 68.5" x 58.1"
• Wheelbase: 103.1"
• Tires: 225/45 R17
• 0 - 60 mph: 5.4 seconds (manufacturer quoted)
• Top Speed: 140 MPH (limited)
• EPA Fuel economy city/highway: 18/25 MPG
• Jalopnik Fuel Economy: 18.8 MPG (city/highway mix 25/75)
• NHTSA crash test rating: *****/*****

Also see:
• 2009 Subaru WRX: First Drive
• 2009 Subaru WRX: Part One
• 2009 Subaru WRX: Part Two

Exterior Design: **
The Subaru does not put its best face forward. Even with the addition of the STI grille, standard spoiler, and LED lights out back the WRX is odd-looking — and not odd with a dash of cute like previous generations. Fortunately, it manages to differentiate itself from the rather boring options in the economy class. Unfortunately, it's most often compared to the much-more-attractive Evo X.

Interior Design: ***
What the designers would like you to believe is this is not just a sports car. This is a luxurious grand tourer. Yeah, right. The gauge face coloration, sweeping needles and extra level of metallic-colored insets all hint at this, but deep STI seats combined with a Mattel interior scream cheap-but-fast. Despite the misleading features, everything inside the WRX is perfectly located and the low seating position enhances the driving experience without sacrificing visibility.

Acceleration: *****
As mentioned yesterday, the WRX's acceleration is a prime example of delayed gratification. Try a typical one-foot rollout and, like Peter, it'll deny you. "I don't know him, I don't know him, I don't know him" and then the cock crows at 3K and it's something holy. Turbo lag is often considered a negative, but in this case it gives you enough time to grab onto something before the car lunges forward. With a conservative 0-to-60 MPH time of 5.4 seconds, there's very little both cheaper and faster.

Braking: ****
Other cars in this class have bigger brakes than the Subie, but the combination of good pedal feel, sticky tires and calipers with python-like grip provide an excellent braking experience. After even a strong beating on the brakes there was little fade.

Ride: ****
Considering the sporting credentials of the WRX you wouldn't expect it to be comfortable. You'd be wrong. It's downright cushy over typical roads and, when the road disappears, you're anything but jarred despite the low ride-height and thick front and rear stabilizer bars.

Handling: ***
If you find yourself being chased by terrorists, militant socialists or libertarians your best strategy is to look for the nearest park, skating rink or swamp. On the street the jellybean does fine, with well-tuned variable assist steering and a relatively small turning radius (35.4 feet), but you have to stay on the throttle or else you risk being foiled by understeer. Hit the trail and the magical AWD system keeps you firmly planted on whatever surface you find yourself on.

Gearbox: ***
The five-speed in the WRX is exactly where I want it and the large knob fits just right in my hand. Throws are a touch on the long side and it's slightly notchy, but the clutch engages quickly and without much effort. If only the shift boot wasn't made of rice-paper-thin pleatherette.

Audio: ***
The 6-speaker audio system provides just enough noise to cover the sound of the Subaru boxer four... as if you'd want to. The controls are fairly straight-forward, relying more on buttons than nobs, but the display is unfortunately only 14 characters across. There's an auxiliary jack for music players but no special iPod hookup.

Toys: **
There aren't many options for the WRX other than a mirror with dimming and a compass but, once again, who cares? The car itself is one big toy. Who needs GPS? Who needs a sunroof? Who needs Bluetooth? We don't even need the radio.

Value: *****
At just $26K with the goodies you want, the WRX is faster than nearly everything cheaper than it and just a few ticks slower than bigger, badder vehicles like the 2010 Mustang, Nissan 370Z, and Hyundai Genesis 3.8T. Plus, it's got seating for four adults and a real trunk. We can think of few new cars able to offer the same balance of fun, speed, and space.

Overall: ****
Thirty years from now we find it hard to imagine a WRX is going to be polished and parked alongside the pretty metal in some beachfront Concours. Instead, people competing in LeMons endurance racing will be scouring used car lots and the internet for this car. We don't get why Subaru thinks they have to choose between style or substance, we're just glad they made the right choice.

Also see:
• 2009 Subaru WRX, Part One

In fact, Wes talks about it so much I've decided I have to hate the WRX. It's not what you'd call good looking, it's got the wrong image for someone who produces the third most popular Lutheran podcast on iTunes and it's a five-door hatch, the hallmark of boring cars.

I decided to put Siler's claims to the test in a local patch of dirt I found. It's where any rally-bred car should excel, but it's also rutted, full of concrete obstacles and covered in a mix of loose gravel and hard-packed mud. So it's not the best place to push a car that doesn't belong to you. Duly noted.

The first test is the slalom. I pick a section of dirt that's primarily uneven soil and, since I don't have cones, the few weeds sticking through the earth will have to do. Off goes the traction and stability control. Initially, the Subie's 265 HP 2.5-liter, four-cylinder boxer engine, with its new, larger turbo feels like most economy cars when you mash the go pedal. There's a rather anemic response as the needle climbs. Not good so far.

Then you hit the 3k mark and things take off. The WRX goes from a standstill to 60 MPH in approximately 5.4 seconds, which makes it only three-tenths of a second slower than both the Challenger R/T and Nissan 370Z. I'm convinced after driving it the Subaru goes from 0-to-20 MPH in 4.4 seconds and makes up the rest in the last second when the turbo kicks in. On dirt, squirming sideways under power, it feels even faster.

Thanks to a drastic series of upgrades between the 2008 and 2009 model, there's little body roll as I toss this bright blue jellybean back-and-forth. The all-wheel drive moves power moves effortlessly between the wheels without any input from me other than the gleeful application of more throttle. This will not do if I'm going to prove Wes wrong.

I move the car towards a dustier part of the compound, hoping the moonlike surface will provide just the right amount of shifting surface to undermine the Subaru's chassis. I shift into second and lean heavily on the gas. Flicking the steering wheel right-to-left in an attempt to slide does little to shake the WRX's confidence. It just digs in deeper.

There's only one surface up to the task, though I'm wary to take it. The rally version of this car is built for handling the kind of gravely road I'm contemplating attacking, but it isn't something you'd expect a production car to do. I start rehearsing what I'm going to tell the tow truck driver in my head.

Looking over the hood of the WRX you see the massive hood scoop. It's not a distraction. It's more like the sight on an assault rifle — and all I want to do is keep pulling the trigger.

The lack of objects to run into or cliffs to fall off of inspires some confidence as I hurl myself towards a road that prudence would suggest taking at 5 MPH. Quickly approaching a dip I decide to abruptly change direction, awaiting the slide that'll follow. Cautiously, I let off the gas a bit before fully committing to the turn and, as predicted, the WRX heads towards the tree line with its nose pushing across the gravel.

Before I stamp a mirror image of the Subaru stars in the closest tree, my typically slow instinct kicks in and I manage to remember this car has an engine and I should use it. There's a loud noise as the Subie breathes in the dusty air and a noticeable shift as it reaches down with all four wheels and leans back on the rear tires. At this point I can't be sure if the car is moving over the ground or the planet itself is being moved below me but the end result is WRX pointed the right way.

Siler may look like an over-coiffed, under-fed hipster, but he's he right about this car. The 2009 WRX is both faster and more fun than either its mid-$20K price tag or its awkward looks justify. Now I just need to make it home before anyone from my church group sees me.

Of course it's another kind of ugly people are concerned about today. Heading southwest down a remote road on Vancouver Island in an American-plated WRX, I'm not exactly behaving like an ambassador for my country. These are some of the most challenging roads in North America, winding their way through the coastal mountains along ancient logging trails, the road bears the ravages of harsh winters; its two lanes rippled, rutted and patched beyond repair, concrete barricades serving as buffers when the going gets too rough.

Unlike the firmer, louder and more focused 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI, the new 265 HP WRX eats all this up. As untroubled by the bumps as it is by the limited passing opportunities afforded by the few straights — after all, double yellows are just lines painted in the road — it leaves law abiding traffic in the wake of its new, louder exhaust.

A year ago this wouldn't have been the story we would have written. A competent but uninspiring drive, the 2008 model forsook performance for practicality in an attempt to broaden the brand's performance appeal. It didn't work, the WRX's traditional focus and involvement were mistakenly left out, resulting in a car that alienated its core audience while retaining enough awkwardness to miss the mass market, too. That car lives on in the form of the 2009 Subaru Impreza 2.5 GT, a car the company expects to make up only a small fraction of Impreza sales. Meanwhile, the WRX has been rethought from head to toe. Gaining better judged, firmer suspension all-round, thicker anti-roll bars, STI seats and most important of all, an STI-spec turbo. The WRX now hits 60 in 5.4 seconds before reaching 140mph (limited) and will retail for "under $25,000."

All of this works to create a faster, better handling, more controlled car that encourages the kind of three-figure, "sure, we can make it" passing that's proving so unpopular with the locals. Stopping for a quick opportunity to mark my territory behind a tree, the 10 cars that were just passed all at once get a chance to catch up and let me know just what they think of my bad behavior. I probably shouldn't have passed them all again within the next mile, but then America's honor was at stake; we do have a reputation to maintain.

But it wasn't just passing for passing's sake. My assholery had a purpose: to find corners unencumbered with traffic. Where the STI's suspension only really works on reasonable surfaces and requires a huge amount of belief in the ultimate ability of its vague chassis, the WRX revels in reassurance, never feeling like it'd be possible to run out of grip, even on the worst surfaces Canada could throw at it. You can thank Subaru's Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive for this. Sure, it's nothing new, but unlike both the STI and 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo MR, here it's tuned for the road, not the track. In that environment, it means more speed, more involvement, more fun and an increased propensity to seek out corners with enough room to exploit it. While this on-road ability does lead to decreased on-the-limit track performance when compared to the other cars, it makes the WRX faster, more involving and more rewarding in the environment where it will be driven most. Or here in Canada, where we probably shouldn't drive again for a while.

According to the dealer memo:

"We look with anticipation as the dealers begin selling the refreshed 2009 Impreza with new added features such as a moonrood included in the premium package, interior changes for the ivory interior and a new model called the Impreza GT. This model will be an automatic vehicle with the 224 hp engine from the WRX. The new WRX will get an upgraded suspension, will only be available with a manual transmission, an STI-type front grill, a standard aero package, and the big news being the engine with its estimated 265 hp rating. In addition, look for the new gray color on the wheels and interior treatment with its red stitching on the steering wheel and seats."