The 2022 Subaru WRX arrived with the weight of legend on its shoulders, yet it immediately fractured the community that had kept the badge alive through rally stages, autocross weekends, and snowy commutes. Instead of a simple evolution of the old formula, Subaru delivered a car that tried to bridge daily usability, looming emissions rules, and a changing performance market, and that compromise is exactly what split loyalists. The result is a sedan that is objectively more capable in some ways, but one that many longtime fans still struggle to recognize as the spiritual successor to the cars they loved.
A new WRX without the Impreza halo
The first shock for many enthusiasts was philosophical rather than mechanical, because Subaru formally separated the WRX from the Impreza line and positioned it as its own model. For drivers who grew up seeing “Impreza WRX” on rally stages and dealer lots, that change signaled a break from the compact, lightweight roots that defined the car’s identity. Reviewers who drove the 2022 car noted that the WRX felt more like a standalone sport sedan than a hot version of an economy hatchback, a shift that some welcomed as overdue maturity and others read as a loss of character, a point underscored in early first-drive impressions that framed the car as no longer a traditional “sports Impreza.”
That repositioning also set expectations that the WRX would deliver a more premium experience, and the rest of the package did not always match that promise. Commenters and reviewers pointed out that while the chassis and turbocharged powertrain were clearly tuned for performance, the cabin materials and design still felt closer to a mainstream compact than a dedicated performance flagship. Enthusiast videos and owner discussions repeatedly contrasted the sharper driving dynamics with an interior that looked and felt more like a dressed up commuter, reinforcing the sense that Subaru had changed the WRX’s badge and mission without fully elevating the rest of the car to match its new standalone status.
Styling that tried to modernize and instead polarized
If the nameplate shift was subtle, the styling was impossible to ignore, and it quickly became the lightning rod for criticism. The 2022 WRX adopted heavy black plastic cladding around the wheel arches and lower body, a design cue more associated with crossovers than rally-bred sedans, and detractors immediately compared it to lifted models in Subaru’s own lineup and even to a “lowered cross track” seen on Instagram the. Some video reviewers went further, calling the car a “Civic doppelgänger” and arguing that the overall shape and surfacing made it blend into the sea of compact sedans rather than stand out as a purpose-built performance machine.
That visual familiarity cut especially deep for fans who had prized the WRX for looking like nothing else on the road. Critics said the new car “looks like every Honda” and “every car on the road,” arguing that the combination of generic proportions and crossover-style cladding stripped away the rally aggression that once made the WRX instantly recognizable. At the same time, a subset of owners and commentators defended the design as more modern and practical, noting that the cladding could help with stone chips and winter grime and that the basic silhouette still read as a compact sports sedan. The divide over styling became a proxy for a deeper argument about whether the WRX should remain a quirky, niche-looking performance car or evolve into something more mainstream and approachable.
Performance gains that felt too incremental
Under the hood, Subaru gave the 2022 WRX a new turbocharged 2.4 liter engine, part of the FA24 family, and on paper it delivered modest gains. Official figures listed the car at 271 BHP, only a slight bump over the outgoing model, and that number became a focal point in a “Complete List of Complaints About the” WRX that circulated among enthusiasts. For drivers who had waited years for a new generation, the expectation was a significant leap in power, and the small increase fed a narrative that Subaru had played it too safe, especially as rivals pushed well beyond 300 horsepower.
Yet the spec sheet did not tell the whole story, and some owners quickly pointed out that the redesigned Chassis and updated Engine offered more potential than the raw numbers suggested. Discussions on enthusiast forums highlighted that the new platform felt stiffer and more composed, with better grip and balance, and that the FA24 responded well to tuning, giving the car a stronger foundation for aftermarket upgrades. Reviewers who spent time on back roads and tracks noted that the WRX remained “just as fun to drive” as before, even if it felt “a bit less refined,” and that the real-world acceleration and midrange punch were more impressive than the conservative factory rating implied.
An interior and tech package that could not escape criticism
Inside, Subaru tried to modernize the WRX with a large central touchscreen and updated driver aids, but the execution again split opinion. Some testers described the cabin as a “small step backwards,” arguing that while the car stayed entertaining from behind the wheel, the materials and design choices did not keep pace with competitors or with the expectations set by the new tech. The combination of hard plastics, simple door panels, and a layout that felt familiar from other Subaru models led critics to say the company had not invested enough in making the WRX feel special inside.
Owners who were more forgiving of the styling and powertrain often drew the line at the interior, especially when comparing the car to the STI variants they had hoped would follow. Enthusiast commentary noted that while you could “make it look STI like” on the outside with wheels, spoilers, and other add-ons, “the interior can’t be changed as much,” which limited how premium or motorsport inspired the car could feel without a full factory upgrade. That reality fed into a broader sense of compromise, where the WRX delivered strong mechanical fundamentals but left some buyers wishing Subaru had gone further in differentiating the cabin from the rest of its lineup.
The missing STI and the shadow of electrification
Perhaps the most emotional blow for loyalists was not something Subaru added to the 2022 WRX, but what it withheld. After years of speculation about a new Subaru WRX STI based on the latest platform, the company confirmed that a next generation internal combustion STI would not arrive as expected, and that Subaru Corporation was instead “exploring opportunities” for a future Subaru WRX STI that could include electrification. For fans who had followed every Sti leak and dreamed of one last high revving, turbocharged flagship, that announcement felt like the end of an era rather than a simple product delay.
The absence of an STI version also changed how people judged the standard WRX, because it suddenly had to carry the performance banner on its own. Some reviewers urged potential buyers to wait, arguing that the new FA24 platform and chassis might be better appreciated once the aftermarket and Subaru’s own engineers had more time to unlock their full potential. Others framed the 2022 car as a “disaster” relative to the expectations built up by years of rally heritage and the outgoing EJ powered STI, suggesting that the combination of polarizing styling, modest power gains, and no clear path to a traditional STI left the community adrift. In that context, the 2022 WRX became a symbol of a broader transition, caught between the analog, gas powered past that enthusiasts cherished and an electrified future that remains, for now, unverified based on available sources.
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