Living with the new Subaru WRX Sportswagon tS: Long

You know the bit I mean. The chrome window trim of the previous Subaru Levorg, the way it ran along the window sills and stopped abruptly at the rear quarter windows? Ridiculous.

Okay, yes, this is probably the last factor anybody would or should consider when buying a new car – nothing's perfect, after all – but the thing is, the Levorg was imperfect in too many ways.

The interior was fussy and too busy, infotainment was spread across three poorly conceived displays, the CVT transmission performed a desperate and unconvincing impression of a torque converter, the suspension was wildly under-damped, and… well, this isn't a review of the 2017 Levorg.

Here we’ve got the new one, still sold overseas as the Levorg, but smartly renamed WRX Sportswagon for Australia.

It's sharp and stylish in a way previous generations of WRX have never been (the Seinfeld quote, "a loathsome, offensive brute, yet I can't look away" comes to mind) and it is without question a more cohesive, mainstream-friendly offering than the generation before it.

The complete WRX range opens at $44,990 before on-road costs, getting you the base sedan with a manual transmission.

Our tester, the WRX tS Sportwagon, sits at the top of the tree with a price tag of $57,990 – again before on-roads.

As with the WRX sedan, power in the Sportswagon tS is provided by a 2.4-litre turbo petrol four-cylinder engine, delivering 202kW and 350Nm.

Unlike the sedan, the wagon offers no manual option – to our eternal disappointment – and power is sent to its all-wheel drive system through a ‘Sport Lineartronic’ CVT automatic transmission with eight simulated ‘gears’.

You’ll never see an STI version of the new WRX, either, so those specs are about as good as it's getting. In fact, Subaru is so over the notion of the WRX being a champ of the small performance car set that it doesn't even list an official 0-100km/h time. We reckon it’ll run about six seconds – which the previous WRX did officially claim – but we’ll have to test that in the coming weeks.

Fuel use is listed at 8.5L/100km on the combined cycle, breaking down to 11.2L/100km in urban driving and 7.0L/100km on the highway. So far, I’m running at about 10.4/100km with an urban drive most days of the week (the school runs and shopping) and a few 20-minute sprints down Melbourne's Eastlink to our Mulgrave office.

The new Levorg WRX Sportswagon is 20mm longer in the wheelbase than the previous wagon, and it's about 15mm taller. Neither figure is impressive on paper, but overall packaging improvements means there's a little more rear legroom and another five litres of boot space.

Interior style and tech improves on the old model by a good margin, introducing a more modern design through the cabin, while upgrading infotainment and controls to a huge new portrait screen in the dash.

The instrument cluster remains a conventional analogue unit with a colour ‘multi-function display’ between the dials; some may commend this resistance to digitisation, while others might suggest it reeks of behind-the-times, low-budget product development. Each to their own.

All models get that big 11.6-inch main display, along with wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Equipment highlights in all WRX wagon models include LED headlights, dual-zone climate control, rain-sensing wipers, reclining and power-folding rear seats, and adaptive cruise control.

The WRX GT adds a powered sunroof, powered tailgate, sat-nav, 10-speaker Harman Kardon audio, ‘Ultrasuede’ seat trim, eight-way powered front seats with memory, and driver monitoring.

Our top-shelf tS ups the sporting credentials, adding a drive mode selector with Sport and Sport+ in the mix, along with adaptive dampers and 18-inch alloy wheels with a design unique to the wagon.

Like some other model lines, particularly Hyundai's i30 N-Line, the manual versions of the WRX miss out on the best of Subaru's safety technology. Go for a manual sedan, and the active safety kit is limited to blind-spot monitoring, rear-cross traffic alert and tyre pressure monitoring.

Choose an automatic – which in the case of the wagon is your only choice anyway – and you get autonomous emergency braking, lane-keep assist, lane centring assist, emergency braking assist, traffic sign recognition and an intelligent speed limiter.

Lastly, and unlike the first year of Levorgs sold in Australia, the new WRX benefits from Subaru's five-year / unlimited-kilometre warranty launched in 2019. Before that, it was a mere three years and 100,000km.

In the weeks ahead, we’ll look at whether the new Levorg is just the thing for that vocal minority of buyers that can't give up on the wagon dream (this writer included), or if you’d be better off with an SUV – or, perhaps, the similarly priced Skoda Octavia RS wagon.

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This WRX isn't blessed with an STI badge – indeed, no second-gen WRX will ever be – but it's still sold as a sports car, and it still packs a formidable 202kW, 350Nm turbocharged four-cylinder boxer engine.

Buyers of the new WRX sedan can opt for a six-speed manual – which most drivers do, if barely, with the sales split currently hovering around 55/45 in the manual's favour – but in the wagon, it's the CVT only.

So, really, the sales figures – small as they are in terms of the overall market – suggest it's working out just fine. Certainly well enough that developing or sourcing a conventional auto, or a dual-clutch system, wouldn't be worth the risk of the investment not paying off in sales volume.

Ask any wagon obsessive, though, and the CVT path is a move with only one sure outcome: eventually the wagon gets pulled from the market, and the brand points to the lack of interest in making this regrettable decision. (This despite us now being blessed with two generations of Levorg/WRX wagon.)

If the wagon ends up dropped, was it ever truly set up for success? That's hard to answer, and when it comes to affordable sports wagons with manual shifters, there isn't a lot of precedent in modern times. Subaru offered a shorty wagon version of the WRX in the past, but it certainly wasn't the most popular shape in the range.

There were also sports-focused versions of the Liberty wagon – which this new, almost mid-sized WRX Sportswagon ostensibly replaces – but those, too, didn't sell in big (enough) numbers.

There's another reason the WRX wagon is auto-only: in every other market it's sold, it once again wears the Levorg badge of its predecessor – and that's an easier name to market as a sporty, ‘WRX-powered but not a WRX’, wagon.

And… breathe.

You’re now set up for me to give the WRX Sportswagon a proper lambasting, but… well, the thing is – and I risk making a pariah of myself among enthusiasts – it's a genuinely fun car to drive. Not thrilling, not a weekend racer and definitely not a future icon. Just fun, and anybody buying this car has already decided that's plenty.

Those that do make the leap will find that while this wagon doesn't really live up to what experienced WRX-Men expect from the badge, it's a compelling and tightly tuned family hauler.

Even discounting the CVT, it's easy to understand where it falls apart for diehards. For one, there's no limited-slip differential or rear diff disconnect – with Subaru opting for its electronic ‘Variable Torque Distribution’ system on the automatics – nor a manual handbrake, wiping out any opportunity for handbrake turns.

But, far out, who's really talking about doing handbrake turns in a family wagon, fast or otherwise?

What the WRX Sportswagon does have, if not in spades, is power. My street empties out at the bottom of a very big hill on a very big highway, and if there's one thing I’ve come to love, it's ripping out and up the hill just ahead of a fresh green light for the cross traffic (about 100 metres further down the hill).

It's childish, but it's also intoxicating – and that's what Subaru wants buyers to feel with this car.

I’d even argue, if not with great conviction, that under most circumstances this CVT actually hooks up faster than the average dual-clutch auto – most of them being too easily confused by sudden demands for power. The WRX's CVT will drone as they all do at certain points in the rev range, but its simulated gears are generally effective and stomping on the pedal will wake it up fairly quickly.

That it also happens to boast beautifully tuned adaptive dampers and surprisingly grippy eco-focused Yokohama Bluearth GT tyres to handle some spirited family hauling ("dad I feel sick"), well, that's just a bonus.

And as Dan Gardner noted in his launch review, switching to the WRX sedan's Dunlop Sport Maxx rubber would only improve an already competent package.

Subaru claims a combined-cycle figure of 8.5L/100km on its factory rubber, which is already a bit high for a modern family car – even a performance variant – but I’ve struggled to get it below 10L/100km.

In Subaru's defence, much of my driving has been urban, which the WRX Sportswagon tS lists at 11.2L/100km – so it's really not been too bad. But, with a minimum of 95RON required and fuel prices being what they are, you’ll want to consider keeping those "I drive a WRX" urges under control.

In some ways, it's a shame Subaru slapped on the WRX badge instead of marketing this as a massively improved Levorg. There's a psychological barrier here for enthusiasts who might’ve happily bought a second-gen Levorg, but, for those who don't care about such things, this new Levorg WRX is worth a drive.

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Price as tested: $57,990 before on-road costsThis month: 421km @ 10.2 L/100km ( 4732km on odometer)Total: 969km

The new WRX's exterior design is about as close to attractive as the once Impreza-based car has ever been, having evolved through generations of what must’ve been a series of "hold my beer" challenges inside Subaru's dimly lit styling studio (if indeed the lights were ever on at all).

Finally, the WRX is blessed with angles and proportions that say sleek and modern, lines that come together for a naturally sporting look, and details that even give it a bit of the premium look not seen since the fourth-gen Liberty.

Thankfully, the cabin delivers more of the same, especially in the top-shelf tS form of our wagon long-termer.

With combination leather and ‘Ultrasuede’ (a synthetic suede, like Alcantara) upholstery applied to the seats, along with an abundance of red double-stitched leather panelling throughout the mostly blacked-out cabin (right up my alley), it's clear Subaru has taken its interior presentation to a new level here.

The steering wheel design is familiar from other existing Subaru models, but the flat-bottomed rim, thicker grip, dark chrome spokes and red cross-stitching work to produce a convincing sports-car impression – even if the once-feared STI badge in the bottom spoke clashes in concept with the CVT automatic gear shifter to its left, breaking the spell with their dichotomous pairing.

Still, the new WRX Sportswagon's sporting credentials are no mere pretensions, as our previous chapter spoke to. Because as much as this wagon is a quick and capable family wagon that doesn't quite graduate to full STI status, the view from inside doesn't overpromise.

The front seats are a firm and supportive sports design, with lower and side bolstering suited well to The Australian Body – but without boasting any of the often hard to live with lock-you-in-place qualities found in more performance-focused offerings.

As a result, the seats are comfortable and well-suited to long drives, with eight-way electric adjustment and heating all hinting at a comfort first, sports second. I’m also an avowed fan of Ultrasuede, especially its liberal application here in the WRX.

It's a terrific all-weather alternative to leather when it comes to hot and cold temperatures, although it isn't without its downsides: it can be a right pain to keep clean, and its wear pattern over time can be unsightly, taking on a shiny appearance – if mostly only on surfaces touched regularly by greasy human hands. Of course, the grades of leather used in cars at this price point will often last no better.

The WRX Sportswagon proves its value as a family-friendly alternative to the average medium SUV, with room enough for two adults or three kids to sit comfortably.

There's a good few centimetres of space above this 176cm author's head, and legroom behind my own driving position is likewise plentiful.

You won't fit three child seats across the rear bench, but a third taller child could sit between two, and toddlers in child seats will find plenty of leg-swimming room in front of them – depending on their age, of course, and whether they’re freakishly tall.

Child seats are easily installed, although the ISOFIX points could do with a little more care at the design and engineering level.

They don't have the ease of use you’d find with a Volkswagen, because while the average VW has a hard plastic ‘tunnel’ to pass the anchor clip through before easily clipping in, the WRX Sportswagon simple has a velcro patch over a slit in the base of the seats.

It's a cumbersome process, but at least most owners will only need to do it once or twice (whereas motoring journos are installing child seats a few times each week).

The second row gets air-conditioning vents in the rear of the centre console. Climate controls is tied to the driver's setting, but there's at least heated seats in the outboard positions. A pair of 2.1A USB points are also featured in the rear, again proving that family-first thinking.

Ah, the true selling points of a wagon. The rear space in this one is good for most purposes, measuring 492 litres with the rear seats upright, expanding to 1430 litres when folded. I’ve found this more than suitable for strollers and Bunnings trips, but if rear cargo capacity is a top priority, Skoda's ‘Simply Clever’ Octavia wagon has the Subaru comfortably beat with 640 and 1700 litres respectively.

The Subaru's smaller boot doesn't give you any advantages in the spare-wheel category, either, with a temporary spacesaver wheel stored under the floor.

There are no clever storage tricks in the WRX Sportswagon, like you’d see in some rivals these days, and it shows a lack of innovation that can make it feel a little old-school. Still, if you don't have a need for little cubbies and hiding spaces, that's a minor quibble.

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Mike Stevens has been writing, ranting and raving about cars since the early 2000s, and professionally since 2007 – after throwing in the towel on a decade of graphic design. Instagram: @yomikestevens