The 2022 WRX is nearly upon us, and Subaru is whetting everyone’s appetite with a couple of photos and a short teaser video full of quick cuts of the sport sedan drifting about, mostly obscured by dust. There’s simply no other way to tease a new WRX.
As you’d suspect we never get a clear look at the car in the clip, which you can see in full on Subaru’s website. For that, we’ll have to wait until the New York International Auto Show kicks off on August 19.
What we can see are small details in very snap, close-up shots. And these details in and of themselves are kind of interesting, because they deviate from the stereotypical WRX getup. The car in the video is orange, for one — like that pastel-toned, glossy shade you sometimes see on Crosstreks. (It’s almost what you’d get on a Hawkeye Spec C Type RA-R, too.)
We also see black plastic cladding behind the rear wheel arch, leading into the bumper. I suspect this is going to rustle some feathers because black plastic is something typically seen on grocery-getting crossovers looking to impart some rugged personality.
Maybe it’ll only be offered on select packages. Maybe it’s supposed to win over showroom visitors who would otherwise leave with a Crosstrek. Or maybe it’s a philosophical statement about how the only thing keeping us from good crossovers is automakers’ collective indifference toward making them the fun rally cars they ought to be. But that’s neither here nor there.
What a little cladding doesn’t change is that this WRX is still essentially a three-box sedan, just as it’s (almost) always been. That isn’t changing, and neither is the car’s iconic wide hood scoop — visible in another darkened image Subaru published last month. I’ve brightened the shadows for clarity, but you still can’t really see shit.
For what it’s worth, toward the end of the video we’re treated to some 2022 BRZ-esque taillights. Or at least that’s how they look, if you squint real hard.
Appearance aside, the big news with the upcoming WRX is that it’s likely to receive a new engine for the first time in ages — potentially a take on the turbocharged 2.4-liter flat-four that produces 260 horsepower in the Ascent SUV. Rumor has it you can expect more grunt from the WRX’s tweak on that boxer, possibly as much as 400 HP for the STI. That would handily make it the most powerful Subaru ever, toppling the 341-HP WRX STI S209.