2002 WRX Wagon - it hauls

Once in a while a car comes along that is so thrilling, so fun, so wonderful, and yes, so darn cute that you can’t help but take notice. The Subaru WRX Wagon is just such a car. A thrilling Subaru you ask? Yes, thrilling.

Many people may not know this, but Subaru has had years of success in rally racing. Fans of the sport have long associated Subaru with performance and know that such unassuming brands as Mitsubishi and Subaru are forces to be reckoned with on the World Rally circuit. When most American consumers hear the name Subaru, they think of small, economical cars. The WRX is out to change all that. Subaru still sells economical and reliable compact cars, but the WRX Wagon is one of those watershed cars that will change the image of Subaru forever.

The WRX is available in both a station wagon and a sedan, but it’s the wagon that really shines. The WRX Wagon offers serious performance, and useable cargo space combined with real world, errand running, drivability. The engineers at Subaru have taken the unassuming Impreza and stuffed a turbocharged, 227 hp, flat-4 engine under the hood. How much is 227 horsepower? As an example, the new Toyota Camry offers 192 horsepower in its optional V6 engine. That means the WRX has 35 more horsepower than the much larger and heavier Camry. The result is an astoundingly fast car that can also take the kids to soccer and carry a weeks worth of groceries with ease.

Pulling away from a dead stop the WRX feels like a normal small car, but add a little extra throttle as the revs get higher and the little Subaru lunges forward like it’s racing toward an unseen finish line. Drop the shifter in 2nd gear and power just keeps coming, the engine pulls hard as the tach needle quickly approaches the red line. Quickly shift into 3rd and after a short lag, the power comes on again with a smoothness not normally found in cars of this size. No doubt drivers will find themselves purposely keeping the revs high to insure plenty of turbo power at any given moment. This car virtually begs to be revved. In 5-speed form, the WRX will instantly bring a smile to the driver’s face. There is some turbo lag, but once the RPM’s climb to around 2200, the power comes on like a rocket. Unlike most small cars, the WRX Wagon is somewhat quiet at highway speeds – this car is so versatile. A long trip in the WRX Wagon would not be as tiring as in, say a Kia Sephia or Nissan Sentra. But wait, it gets even better. The little wagon’s strength is not limited only to straight line performance. The WRX has an all-wheel drive system that allows the car to handle like a much more expensive sports car, while also working as a safety feature on slippery surfaces. This car has tons of grip. It’s almost like Subaru has found a way to give the driver all the benefits of Audi’s Quattro system at a fraction of the cost.

Also, given the high performance nature of the WRX, one would think it difficult to drive around town, or in commute traffic – not so with this cute little car. Although there is some engine noise at higher RPMs, once in 5th gear on an open stretch of highway, the cabin is somewhat pleasant. At highway speeds there is more road noise than anything else. Rough pavement is noticeably noisier, but this is a performance car, so some sacrifices must be made. The beauty of the WRX is that it is so much fun to drive hard, yet completely willing to settle into a nice (semi) quiet road trip.

The interior of the WRX wagon feels small, but not cramped. The interior is quite stylish with sporty touches like racing style pedals and a metallic look center piece on the dash. Although great looking, the interior of the WRX seems to employ some cheap materials here and there. For example, the metallic looking bits on the dash are really nothing more than silver plastic pieces – it seems prone to scratching and cracking in the long term. Front seats are comfortable, very supportive and have a bit of race car feel to them. Side bolstering for the thighs and back keeps the driver in place during hard cornering. Rear seat room is a bit tight for adults over 5’9”, but more roomy than many other cars the size of an Impreza. The rear seats fold down to improve the already spacious cargo area, another advantage to the wagon configuration. Standard features include such amenities as a rear cargo cover, sport bucket seats, and a 6 disc in-dash CD changer. There is a small storage bin in the center console, but storage space up front is a bit sparse. While there are two cup holders for the front occupants, the effort is less than compelling. One cup holder is built into the molded plastic of the console, while the other pops out of the dash area just over the radio. Frankly, this is a serious sports car with plenty of power to keep the driver busy without worrying about a can of Mountain Dew.

The only possible down side to this furiously fast wagon is the price. In terms of sheer performance, $25,000 is a bargain when you consider that the WRX Wagon is a serious sports car cloaked in the body of grocery getter. However, $25,000 will get you into many nice family sedans, although without the excitement of the WRX’s 227 hp engine. Anyone shopping for a sporty wagon or a performance car owes it to themselves to check out the WRX Wagon, it is pure fun.