Sometimes, less is more.
The just-updated Subaru WRX, for instance. It has less engine than previously – but more power. Performance is better – and gas mileage has upticked noticeably.
Also noticeable is the new six-speed manual transmission, which has one more gear than the previous WRX’s five-speed box.
One other thing’s that’s less, by the way, is available body styles. The new WRX (and STi) are sedan-only deals now. The formerly available hatchback version isn’t.
Also of note, it’s just WRX now. Not Impreza WRX.
Just as Pontiac once upon a time cut the cord between the GTO and the grocery-getter Tempest it was based on, so also Subaru has decided it’s time for the WRX (and WRX STi) to be models in their own right rather than an optional package you can add to an existing model.
To emphasize the point, the all-new 2015 WRX (and WRX STi) was launched ahead of the 2015 Impreza.
WHAT IT IS
The WRX is a compact-sized, all-wheel-drive high-performance sedan inspired by World Rally Cup competition cars. Unlike traditional muscle cars – and sporty cars in general – the WRX is made to be driven really fast in almost any conditions – including snow and rain.
The WRX – along with its primary rival, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution – pioneered affordable all-wheel-drive high-performance and appeals to the same demographic today (the under 35 set) that bought GTOs and other muscle cars back in the day.
Base price for the 2015 WRX with six-speed manual transmission is $26,295. A Limited trim with continuously variable (CVT) automatic stickers for $31,195. The even higher-performance WRX STi’s base price is $34,495 – topping out at $37,395 for the Launch edition.
All versions of the WRX STi are manual transmission-only.
While the STI’s traditional competition is the Mitsubishi EVO (base price $34,495) others are about to enter the fray – including the almost-here 2015 VW Golf R, which will also feature a powerful turbocharged engine as well as standard all-wheel-drive.
However, neither Mitsubishi nor VW offer a direct WRX competitor.
The regular Golf maxxes out at 170 hp (vs. 268 for the ’15 WRX) and is not offered with all-wheel-drive. You can buy a Golf GTI ($24,395) and get 210-220 hp, but not all-wheel-drive.
The highest-performing non-EVO version of the MItsubishi Lancer, meanwhile, is the Lancer Sportback. It’s much less expensive ($18,595 to start) but much less powerful (148 hp) and also automatic-only.
WHAT’S NEW
The ’15 WRX is completely redesigned.
WHAT’S GOOD
Improved economy doesn’t come at the cost of diminished performance.
Six-speed manual… finally!
A sporty car that’s also a great snow-day car.
Historically, these Soobies are tough – and can take hard use without falling to pieces.
WHAT’S NOT SO GOOD
Similar straight-line fun (if not snow-day capability) can be found in FWD “fast and furious” sport compacts such as the Ford Focus ST and MazdaSpeed3 for thousands less.
Just the one bodystyle now.
Manual six-speed clutch is either in – or out. Takes some time to learn to drive it smoothly when you’re not driving it Banzai! style.
Standard infotainment LCD display is small (4.3 inches) and an upgrade is only available in the more expensive trims.
Choose the optional CVT automatic and lose 3 MPG on the highway.
UNDER THE HOOD
The Soobie’s turbocharged “boxer” (horizontally opposed) four-cylinder engine is smaller now – just 2 liters vs. the previous WRX’s 2.5 liter engine. But there’s been no down-sizing of power, or performance.
The new engine makes 268 hp – three more than the old 2.5 liter engine – and (interestingly) 14 ft.-lbs. more torque, which increases to 258 ft.-lbs. from 244 ft.-lbs. previously. Why is this interesting? Because – usually – a smaller engine makes less torque than a larger one, all else being equal. But here, the smaller engine makes more horsepower and torque.
Double play.
The triple play comes when you mash the accelerator. The ’15 WRX is even quicker than the outgoing WRX, launching itself to 60 in about 5.2-5.3 seconds (depending on the driver and which transmission you opt for, either the standard six-speed manual or the CVT automatic).
The old car did the same deed in about 5.4 seconds.
It was also thirstier.
Too thirsty for comfort given the government’s not-far-off mandate that all new cars average 35.5 MPG. The ’14 WRX was in the high teens in city driving – and best-cased mid-20s on the highway. The smaller-engined 2015 delivers a much more palatable 21 city and 28 on the highway, the latter figure not too far removed from the golden-aura’d 35.5 MPG average figure demanded by Uncle. It’s not quite there – and people shopping a performance car like the WRX probably won’t care. But the gap is narrow enough now that the new WRX doesn’t stick out too much for its consumptiveness – and any punitive “gas guzzler” fines ought to be tokens rather than massive burdens.
One caveat: The WRX’s optional CVT automatic lowers the WRX’s EPA fuel economy numbers. They drop to 19 city, 25 highway – same as the old car’s.
This is also interesting – because unusual – because these days, usually, it is the automatic-equipped variant of a given vehicle that will deliver the best gas mileage. Especially when the automatic is a CVT, which is a direct-drive automatic that does not use hydraulic fluid to transmit engine power to the driven wheels. CVTs were brought to market specifically and chiefly to increase fuel economy vs. traditional/conventional hydraulic automatics.
But – strangely – that’s not the case here.
Another interesting thing about the ’15 WRX is that the STi ultra-performance version still uses the larger 2.5 liter engine, which carries the same 305 hp and 290 ft.-lbs. of torque ratings as previously. Why not a pumped-up version of the WRX’s 2.0 engine instead? Probably because the STI’s larger engine can produce that kind of power with a bit less turbo boost – and a bit less stress on the internals. This is a production car, after all. Durability (and warranty) concerns are as real – and perhaps even more important – than how much power it makes and how quickly it goes.
As before, the STi is manual (six-speed) only. This fact ought to please the hard-core, as well as steal away some of the sunshine from the soon-to-be-here 290 hp/AWD 2015 VW Golf R, which – reportedly – will only be offered with an automatic.
ON THE ROAD
You can do things in a high-performance AWD car that are harder to do – or not doable at all – in rear-drive or front-wheel-drive performance cars. You have the RWD car’s cornering advantage – being able to use the throttle to increase traction to the rear wheels by transferring force (and so, weight) from front to rear – without the RWD car’s disadvantage of not being able to kick power from rear to front when the drive wheels begin to lose traction. And of course, a FWD car has both the disadvantages not being able to use the rear wheels to throttle steer or use all four wheels to maintain traction.
The driver-adjustable AWD system lets you fine-tune the power split via a sliding “C. Diff” control on the center console. Send more – or less – power to the rear (or front) wheels, as you like. There are also driver-adjustable multi-mode settings (Sport, Sport-Sharp. etc.) for throttle tip-in and so on. 
The Soobie’s only deficient in one respect that will only matter to the few hoons (an Aussie term; look it up) who still care about being able to lay rubber. This the WRX cannot do – or at least, it’s a lot harder to do it than it is in either a FWD or RWD car. It can be done – just try it sideways rather than straight ahead.
But it’s not all about performance – or hooliganism. The WRX is actually – surprisingly – a pretty practical car. Because unlike most FWD and RWD performance cars – which are disasters in winter and iffy even in the wet – the Soobie is at home in both. It will even take to grass and dirt, with ground clearance being the car’s main handicap there. But on paved roads – rain, snow or sun – the thing is all-but-unstoppable. Fitted with winter tires, it’s almost better than a 4WD truck or SUV. Is better, actually – in everything but deep snow (with ground clearance once again being the car’s only real weakness in terms of dealing with that sort of thing). Remember: truck-type four-wheel-drive is set-up chiefly for off-roading, on even terrain. All-wheel-drive is optimized for on-street driving.
And high-speed cornering.
Yes, yes. The ride is stiff. It’s supposed to be. What were you expecting? I read bitch reviews by overweight old men who ought to have given up this gig 20 years ago complaining about how hard the seats are to get into, how the seats hurt their backs. It’s as silly as a 22-year-old kvetching about the S-Class Benz being too quiet.
The one gripe, driving-wise, I’ll spew about the car is the too-small standard-issue LCD screen. Get your ruler out and measure 4.3 inches. Size matters. For reference, the display screen in the Kia Soul I tested out a few weeks ago had an 8 inch screen. There’s only so much you can fit on 4.3 inches – and most of what you can fit has to be small. Which makes it hard to read, no matter how eagle-eyed your eyesight. The optional screen is much better – but it costs extra. And it’s not available at all on the base trims, which is a mean trick in my book.
One other small thing. The clutch is fairly sensitive and – if you’re new to high-performance cars with manuals – you might do the herky-jerky until you master the nuances. But the payoff is positive engagement and track-car communication, which is what people who buy cars like this want in a car like this.
AT THE CURB
The new WRX’s styling is (pardon the term) evolutionary rather than revolutionary. The molded in body haunches and other souped-up stuff looks less added-on (as in the past, to transform a grocery getter Impreza into a WRX) and that’s good. The new car has enough visual distinction – in addition to its mechanical distinctions – to set it apart from the Impreza.
Two areas of objective departure are the increased width of the new car (70.7 inches vs. 68.5 for the outgoing ’14) which – oddly – doesn’t translate into increased hip/shoulder room inside the car (specifications are nearly identical for the 2015 and the 2014) and the take-it-or-leave-it sedan-only bodystyle.
Subaru must believe the sedan’s what people want – or rather, that not enough people want the five-door hatchback to make it worth building. Then again, it arguably gives potential competitors – like the VW Golf – a leg up. Or at least, something to tout that they’ve got (i.e., multiple bodystyles) that the Soobie hasn’t got.
Which includes trunk space.
There’s not much – only 12 cubes’ worth. About the same as in a Miata – and that’s a two-seater. The outgoing WRX hatchback wagon, in contrast, had nearly 20 cubic feet of cargo capacity and more truly usable interior space by dint of the hatchback layout.
I’ll miss it.
The dash and center stack are pretty conventionally laid out and combine an analog main cluster with an LCD upper info center that can be toggled through various displays, including a turbo boost gauge and “power split” graphic that shows how the AWD system is putting the power to the ground. Other than the too-small size of the base LCD display, everything’s sensibly positioned, attractive if not knock-your socks off and most important of all, does not distract from the business of driving – which is ultimately what a car of this type is all about. 
As before the WRX is more under-the-radar than the STi – especially the special edition (limited to 1,000 copies) Launch Edition, which comes with contrast-gold anodized BBS wheels and, of course, the 747-style wing on the trunk lid.
Both the regular WRX and the STi can be ordered with a freer-flowing (read: louder) exhaust that makes the car sound faster, even if it’s not actually any faster.
Order it.
Trust me.
THE REST
The STi is as impressive as ever but now has several direct crossshops to contend with, including the ’15 VW Golf R. Its price point also puts it into the same ballpark with a number of other performance cars that may not be directly comparable in layout but which nonetheless offer comparable acceleration, visual sizzle and fun-to-drive factor. These run the gamut from traditional muscle cars like the Chevy Camaro to sport-lux sedans like the Infiniti G.
It’s the WRX that truly stands alone. There is nothing – literally, no other car – that packs the same whallop – or delivers it the way the WRX does – for just over $26k, sticker. As impressive as the STi is, with a little tuning and tweaking, one could probably obtain STi-esque performance – in a straight line at least – in the regular WRX without paying anything close to STi money.
Either for the car or to insure the car.
Another thing that must be mentioned in praise of both the WRX and the STI is that – unlike the Mitsubishi Evo – they don’t seem to break. How many six-year-old Evos have you seen on the road lately? And how many older WRXs?
Enough said.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Subaru hasn’t done anything to mess with success. Except, perhaps, for deciding to go with one-body-only.
Time will tell.
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eric,
i was wondering about the seats and comfort driving this car (particularly past that 1 hour point). in the next 6 months i may be in teh market for a sedan and a wrx might be an option.
i am also 6’2″ but more like 225lbs. i had issues finding a comfortable seating position in my wife’s 2008 outback sport and wonder if it is likely the same with this gen wrx’s.
i didn’t see much mentioned on the comfort in your review so i was hoping you could share a little perspective with me.
thanks for what you do.
Hi Harry,
I hesitate to make statements about seating comfort because this is such an individually variable thing. A seat that feels fine to me might feel too firm to someone else (and vice versa). Position is a bit more objectively quantifiable (e.g., how much leg and head room is there?) but – again – people vary. Even two men of the same height will often have different ratios, upper torso and lower torso-wise. There is also arm reach to consider and a slew of other factors.
That said, I can tell you this car fit me comfortably. But I’m a lanky 6ft 3 and 195. I have long legs, a skinny waist and long arms. Your mileage may vary and probably will.
A test drive is imperative!
thanks for sharing,
currently there are no base models available in my area and i’d prefer to not just put miles on an option-upped premium and in a moment of weakness fall prey (hihgly unlikely but not improbable) to a skilled salesperson.
i know what you mean, lanky i am not (short legs, broad shoulders & long torso). odd to many i find my ’89 mr2 to be very comfortable to drive.
i realize the variables so that i could gage it to some degree. for instance i test drove a rav 4 and the seats you spoke highly of i also found very comfortabel on an extended test drive.
I have a 2002 WRX I have had since 2002. I absolutely love the car and will attest to the reliability. I plan to drive it until the floors rust through…
The WRX is among my all-time favorite cars. I’d buy one – if it were not for the screw job on the property tax here in the People’s Republic of Virginia!
Dear Eric,
“The WRX is a compact-sized, all-wheel-drive high-performance sedan inspired by World Rally Cup competition cars. ”
Now yer talking!
I’ve long argued that the ultimate form of racing is not Formula 1 on closed, carefully groomed road courses, but rallying over roads that we mere mundanes drive, complete with deadly road hazards such as ditches, cliffs, trees, telephone poles, even cows wandering into the road.
To me, it’s not only the gutsiest form of racing, it’s also the most relevant to us mere mundanes, both in the cars’ specs and the road conditions.
Never paid much attention to them until one day a month ago. Coming out of Yosemite on a windy 1 lane road behind the conga line of cars led by a scared RV rental driver, I finally had a short chance to pass all 5 on my 1100cc bike & took it. Dropped 2 gears & nailed the bike to a quick 90+ and pulled back in. The WRX on my tail stayed with me the whole distance.
Impressed I was said Yoda.
In the right hands, a WRX is a superman costume. You can do almost anything in one!
I won’t compare F1 and autocross since it’s comparing apples and oranges. F1 is a twitch away from death and so is autocross. I used to stay in touch with both till they x’d off the high hp versions of AWD cars after more than a few were killed in one season. This has been 20+ years ago that happened. I was glad to see them come back with some bad boy cars but that 600+HP AWD appears to be gone for good. Those were snarlin, cracklin, badass machines running often nothing more than fire roads. I grew up racing pickups and anything that would roll on any surface so it all clicked for me. You’d be surprised how dicey it can get racing a couple of old gasoline tractors with a broomhandle in one hand to push the governor to/beyond the limit, other hand on the wheel and locking lever on the brake pedals even though one always braked a lot more than the other, the reason I left it off. Nothing like sliding around a gravel corner trying to keep the big wheel out of the ditch or fence. Try heel and toe with that!
Dear Gary,
Subaru is a damned interesting car company. Makes me think of the Paul Anka/Frank Sinatra song, “My Way.”
Ya gotta give the guys who run the company credit. They have the guts to do things their way. Like their cars or not, they have the independence of thought to think outside the box. They are willing to ask themselves, “Just what should a car be?” “Does it need to be what it is usually perceived to be, or can it be reinvented from a clean slate?”
Me? I used to think they made dorky cars. But that was several decades ago. Not any more. Especially with the advent of the BRZ.
Ditto, Bevin!
Big Subaru fan here. I like the attitude; I like the engineering.
Imagine what they could do if they were free to build cars the way the market would like them to build cars….
Dear Eric,
Indeed!
When I think about everything that would have come into existence but didn’t because of government, I just want to smash something to pieces.
I came darn close to buying a WRX, but then I had a chat with my insurance agent. Turns out the A3 Quattro was about the same money, but about 20% cheaper to insure. Of course, I ended up with a TDI (no quattro in the US versions). Besides, I would have looked even more like a guy going through a mid-life crisis…
I really don’t see the justifacation for the high price, other than sticking it to the tuner kids who buy them (or did, anyway before generation-sooze came along).
Oh, and I’m going to miss hatchbacks when my TDI wears out. I don’t think they look all that dorky, but even so, the utility factor is huge.
As an old guy, I have always wanted a WRX but not for my only car. I can’t afford the toy and the nice car with much more room and more hauling capability. Still doesn’t keep me from wanting a WRX though. If I ever buy one, it will be one of those cars you see in west Tx frequently now with a very strong cowcatcher on the front. A friend has a body shop. The damage deer and hogs cause are not just in the thousands but tens of thousands of dollars and often total a car.
Mainly what I drive is something that will simply absorb a deer or fairly large hog without even slowing. The wife just hit a 250 lb hog this week with her bad boy Cutlass. It doesn’t look quite right but I can’t see just what is wrong, something about the way the hood sits, and this after me hitting a big deer. A friend hit the same size hog in his new Jeep and did about ten grand of damage.
Hi Eight,
Just yesterday, coming home on the Blue Ridge Parkway, I saw a guy by the side of road mournfully surveying his severely damaged late-model Corolla. Deer strike. The entire front clip will need to be replaced. I did a quick estimate in my head. Assuming no major problems with the frame/suspension/alignment (which there probably are) he’s looking at $4,000 in body damage at least.
This is the time of the year when the deer are starting the rut, and with temperatures dropping at night they are coming down into the neighborhoods. The doe love hanging out by the road for some reason. At least back east you have white tails. Out here we have giant mule deer. Twice as big and twice as dumb. And pray you never hit an elk or moose (although I think the moose will survive and stomp on you if you hit him with a car).
On the way home from work after graveyard shift I saw an SUV pulled over in the oncoming breakdown lane. Then a few feet later a big puddle/line of anti-freeze. And finally, a dead deer in the middle of the lane.
If you hit a deer, don’t assume the damage is just superficial. You might end up burning up the engine.
They may be ‘only’ whitetail here in the east, but the state of Indiana, in its infinite wisdom, decided to plant white oak between the 2 sides of I-70. Acorns are like crack for deer.
Now with the right car, you can probably go UNDER a moose. Ha.
Phillip, northern deer are larger than southern, as is anything that lives in the cold compared to hot. Big fish, big mammals that take a longer time to mature, huge amounts of same but not as large in hot climes.
I’ve been running close to the same route for a couple weeks now. On some roads the vultures are consuming the dead everything including huge amounts of deer. You can tell big pickups and trucks are hitting them since they look like they’ve been blasted with a cannon. I pass by some things so fast I can’t really tell what it was.
RE: “one of those cars you see in west Tx frequently now with a very strong cowcatcher on the front.”
Here in the Northland I’ve never seen one of those mounted on a car, until yesterday. I had to do a double-take, I wasn’t sure what I was seeing. The deer strainer (a.k.a. cow catcher) was mounted on the front of a fairly new, sporty looking Audi. The deer strainer gave the car a Mad Max look, imho. Especially on a newer car with no dents, rust or other body damage, or graffiti spray paint already on the car. It was just plain odd to see.
Dear 8sm,
There’s something to be said about the older body on frame paradigm over the new unibody paradigm.
It’s definitely more rugged, even though it’s heavier and less in keeping with the Colin Chapman Lotux philosophy of weight reduction as the path to performance.
Bevin, I’m a dyed in the wool body over frame guy. Where you gonna put the shine in a unibody? Seriously though, in my part of the country you might hit anything including horses, mules, cattle, deer, hogs and all size varmints. I had a guy pull out in front of me and I was going really slow but I didn’t expect him to be “right there” so I did hit his car with my dad’s ’64 Chevy and it dented the bumper, no mean feat. Later on I was driving it matted out to the beer store in the dark and hit a coon so big it dented that same bumper. I would never have guessed a coon could do that much damage and then 25 years later I borrowed his PA and damned if going by high grass on the road a coon didn’t run out and it really did some stuff to that unibody. What’s so strange is I seldom, I mean go for years, hit an animal. Mowers were doing a number on I-20 and I had to take evasive action for all those dead gators they were throwing on the road, those with
Goodyear on the side.
Dear 8sm,
The old body over frame cars were great if one wanted to do this sort of thing:
http://www.britishracecar.com/BillHart-Devin-Triumph.htm
Devin set up to produce fiberglass car bodies in El Monte, California. Production spanned from about 1955 into 1964. Through that decade, Devin advertisements appeared in all the popular American sports car magazines. Completed Devin projects were the subjects of feature articles. The company produced complete cars too – three basic models – but only in very modest volumes. By the standards of their day, styling and fiberglass production quality were considered top-notch yet pricing was remarkably affordable.
Who styled those beautiful Devin bodies? Bill Devin stole the design from Scaglietti. Specifically, Bill Devin borrowed an Italian-made 1955 Ermini Tipo 357 Sport (body by Scaglietti, 1100cc engine) from his friend Jim Orr and used it as a “plug” to create the Devin body molds. His genius was in adaptation. He figured out how to cut here and extend there, until he had a set of over fifty molds with which he could create just about any sized sportscar body his customers might desire.
Early Devin magazine ads offered bodies for “Crosley, Healey, TR, MG, Fiat, Hillman, Volkswagen, Morris and many other light car chassis…” Initially, Devin fiberglass bodies were offered “ready-to-mount” in twenty-four different track and wheelbase combinations. That number later expanded to twenty-seven to suit longer (typically American) chassis designs.¹ Regardless of size, all twenty-seven models were priced the same at just $295.
Hi Eric,
I dig the A3, but it’s not even in the same ballpark, performance/capability-wise. The Subaru has much more power and a much more sophisticated (and driver-adjustable) AWD system.
I like that the WRX is not too visually “fast and furious,” either. A guy in his 40s could drive one and not look silly. Get it in silver, without the big wing on the trunk.
Now, a blue STi with the gold wheels and the wing…
I’m sure there’s a huge performance difference, but I’m not a good enough driver to take advantage of it. But unless you’re taking it out on a track or rally course I’ll bet 99% of the WRX’s performance is wasted too.
But that’s not the point… (Please don’t call me clover!) 🙂
“Now, a blue STi with the gold wheels and the wing…”
Are we getting a sneak peek at your Christmas list?”
eric, I can’t believe you said “dig”. Now me, I dig it(can you dig it baby?). I see something I like and say “now I can dig that” or “man, that’s real far out groovy(aka Mothers of Invention)”….ever been to a Holiday Inn? Most of the guys I work with are 20 to 40 years younger than me and they look at me like I speak a different language…..and I do. A guy, a year younger(43) than my nearly first , and his wife were laughing like hyenas about her dad saying “Gee” and the exact same things I say. I guess they didn’t realize I’m always saying it and all those other words they seem to simply ignore since it doesn’t translate for them.
BTW, Sunday morning found me on a little 350 mile jaunt with another overload. I tuned to a station I knew had golden oldies country. They were doing solid gospel. Gee, did I enjoy that, it was really groovy. Yep, I knew every song they played for over an hour till I ran out of range, could even sing 3 parts of The Old Rugged Cross. I laughed myself silly. I know all that stuff forward and backward being raised a southern Baptist. It was all the songs I grew up with, all the extended family sitting around a piano and everybody singing a different part(you wouldn’t believe how good some family singing is, have a good friend whose family even has recordings and they are good). Most of the religious music has a real fast beat and will get you up and dancing(unless you’re a Baptist) or have you playing all sorts of instruments(unless you’re a Church of Christ, an accapella bunch). Hell, they have to distinguish themselves from each other somehow.
I’ve heard Baptists are folk who don’t drink, smoke or dance in their home town.
You can hear all sorts of things. Hottest twat I ever had was a Baptist preacher’s daughter. Known as Red Hot since she was red on the head and real hot. She drove real fast, moved real fast and well, did everything else real fast, with everyone, real fast and was always ready to do it again, real fast. Protestants of all sorts have the same middle name, hypocrite.
I’ll fly away oh glory I’ll fly away……
This one Mormon girl was something. In her belief system, we all pilot our own flying saucer to our own planet when we die. Sounded like paradise to me. Can’t even remember how I let that good thing get away. Youth is wasted on the young, they say. And rightly so.
Au revoir etrangere. C’était tôt dans un matin d’hier. J’étais avant l’aube. Et j’ai vraiment apprécié d’être la Mais je dois y aller…. Au revoir Mary, Au revoir Jane Nous reverrons nous un jour ? Ne ressent aucune douleur
Call any Vegetable! (What a pumpkin!)
One small ‘oops,’ Eric. Near the top you say the STI is manual only. Farther down (just above On The Road) you say automatic only.
And another possible – “truck-type four-wheel-drive is set-up chiefly for off-roading, on even terrain.” Did you mean uneven?
Thanks, Phillip – found and fixed!
I thought the older WRX had a six speed already?
The previous STi came with a six-speed, but the 2014 WRX had a five speed. They both now have the six-speed.
Why would they go back to five in the first place?
The previous gen. WRX had a five-speed, which of course was kind of dated for a 2014 model performance car. The ’15 six-speed just brings everything up to date.