Subaru is clearly contemplating what comes next as an edgier alternative to the WRX.
One such possibility is the WRX by Prodrive, a thoughtfully upgraded performance version of the current model for track days and performance driving.
The edgy alternative at Subaru dealerships used to be the WRX STI, which the company announced in March 2022 wouldn’t ever come back in the same form. “In the meantime, a next-generation internal combustion engine WRX STI will not be produced based upon the new WRX platform,” Subaru said with startling finality.
That doesn’t mean the STI is dead. Subaru hinted in the same statement that the STI may come back with electrification. Consider how the fully electric Solterra STI concept shown last year might fit alongside models such as the Kia EV6 GT.
But that would be a very different car.
WRX by Prodrive, Prodrive P25, and Isle of Man Time Attack WRX STI
As I recently experienced at the UK’s Millbrook Proving Ground, with a little time in the driver’s seat, the WRX by Prodrive shows how Subaru might provide loyal enthusiasts with their fix, despite a changing landscape.
This trick WRX was put together by Prodrive, a UK firm known for tuning and motorsports support—and for creating the exclusive $600,000 Prodrive P25 supercar I also drove at one of Millbrook’s handling courses.
Subaru WRX by Prodrive
While I’m pretty much charmed by any WRX, this one starts on the right note. One of the most distinctive elements I lock onto from across the infield addresses a pet peeve with the current WRX. Body-colored wheel arches in this version replace the stock car’s black-lipped ones, which simply venture too far into Outback and crossover territory. The wheel arch extensions add more than an inch of overall width, which probably adds to the impression—and there’s a rear wing that looks similar to the P25’s. It also gets the same size wheels as the P25, wearing P255/35R19 Bridgestone Potenza Sport tires.
Prodrive says its WRX makes about 30 hp more than the stock WRX thanks to remapped engine management, putting total output just over 300 hp versus the standard WRX’s 271 hp. On the relatively tight road course, where I’m mostly in third gear with brief digs into second, it’s hard to feel that difference without a stock WRX on hand, but it feels robust and flexible in the midrange revs.
Subaru WRX by Prodrive
Subaru WRX by Prodrive
Subaru WRX by Prodrive
As I find in the same handling course where I drove the P25, there is one immediate, distinct difference versus a stock WRX: Its upgraded Sparco SPX front seats are a smart upgrade, as the car corners a lot flatter and they’re needed to hold occupants in place. Prodrive has boosted anti-roll bar stiffness front and rear, upgraded the suspension bushings, and uprated the specs for both the Bilstein dampers and springs.
The brakes have been upgraded, too, with a package similar to the P25 bringing 6-piston calipers in front and 4-piston calipers in back—larger all around, with sport pads. Only on my last lap do I begin driving this WRX hard enough to step hard into the brake pedal, and it’s more decisive than the stock WRX’s for sure.
While it’s hard to tell how much harsher this setup might ride on real-world roads, it doesn’t give the impression that it might make the WRX’s capabilities any less accessible. Like the best STI models—the 2008-2010 model in my mind—it opens up new potential.
Subaru WRX by Prodrive
Subaru WRX by Prodrive
Subaru WRX by Prodrive
The relative simplicity of the package and upgrades stands in contrast to the seemingly endless tuning changes and upgrades that STI models used to boast over the WRX. There’s no quicker-ratio steering, selectable center diff, or resonating exhaust, to name just a few.
If you can put some of those expectations aside, you’re not sure waiting for an electric STI is quite your thing, and you just want a better WRX, well, here it is.
Neither Subaru nor Prodrive will say if this might be sold as a package or a standalone car, by Subaru or by Prodrive, and price certainly isn’t mentioned. However, both insist that this represents a smart but relatively frugal set of accessories and improvements built on the stock Subaru WRX, which starts at $31,625 with a 6-speed manual (as this one has) for 2023. Seeing that Subaru of America got me out here, and it’s built on what’s essentially a U.S.-spec left-hand-drive car, it’s safe to say they’re interested.