There are moments that reveal a car’s true character. For the 2025 Subaru WRX tS that moment came in turn six at Sonoma Raceway (née Sears Point). This high speed corner is a sweeping downhill carousel that requires supreme trust in the car underneath you. The entry is blind as you crest a hill and the track quickly falls off to your left. If you’re driving it at speed with the tires nearing the edge of their adhesion this corner will let you know how well balanced your car is. Does it push? Will the tail stay put behind you? Or, does it drift predictably through the apex driving confidently to turn out?
STI is in the house
Thankfully for the WRX tS, it turned out to be option three, as all four wheels provided consistent traction and predictable balance even though nearly 60% of the car’s weight rests over the front wheels. This is due in part to a brake based torque vectoring system that helps the car rotate. But we also have our friends at Subaru Tecnica International (STI) to thank as well. It turns out that while this car doesn’t wear the STI badge, Subaru’s performance wizards in Tokyo had a hand in this car’s development, specifically the suspension, which is why Subaru executives are quick to point out, “tS stands for tuned by STI.”
The WRX tS features basically the same adaptive suspension that’s in the WRX GT, but it’s been turned up to 11 for performance driving. When in Sport+ mode, this set up has more aggressive damping that reduces the roll rate by 30% and pitch rate by 55% versus the WRX TR it’s replacing. And that’s important. Because where the TR was a compromise between comfort and performance and the GT is really set up for touring, the new tS allows you to have both. As I found out in my six laps around Sonoma Raceway and about 70 miles on the winding roads and freeways around the track, it creates a car that’s easy to drive every day (as long as you can drive a manual) and will provide endless grins when you cinch up your seatbelt and strap on your helmet.
Don’t stop believing
One of the keys to going fast is being able to slow down quickly. To that end, Subaru continues its partnership with Brembo, the people who supply the brakes for every Formula 1 car among other racing series. They have developed a package specifically for the WRX tS that includes 13.4-inch drilled rotors and gold 6-piston calipers up front and 12.8-inch drilled rotors with 2-piston calipers in the rear. Both wear low metallic brake pads. The calipers are a monobloc design fashioned from a single piece of aluminum that provides more stopping power than a floating caliper set up. On the street this isn’t much of an issue, but when you’re barreling toward the hairpin at Sonoma at 100+ miles per hour, it’s nice to have the confidence these can get you to a comfortable cornering speed without breaking a sweat. In fact, no matter how hard I drove, these brakes provided much more stopping power than I was ever willing to use.
Is enough good enough?
Power comes from Subaru’s ubiquitous 2.4-liter turbocharged, boxer four that you’ll find in every WRX as well as Outback and Ascent. Unfortunately, STI didn’t get their hands on this, so the power is the same across the WRX lineup, (271 HP and 5,600 RPM and a 258 lb.-ft. of torque between 2,000 and 5,200 RPM). While I’d like a little more juice to play with, it’s still plenty to push the 3,430 pound sedan around the track and 0-60 comes up in a respectable 5.5 seconds according to our friends at Car and Driver. But if being the quickest off the line matters to you, the GR Corolla, Civic Type R, and VW Golf R are all quicker. What I really enjoyed was the willingness of the boxer engine to rev and feel of the 6-speed shifter. In addition, the pedals are placed appropriately for heel-and-toe driving which is important, since rev-matching isn’t an option.
A hot sedan in a world of hot hatches
If you’re looking for four doors, a trunk, and a car that you can enjoy on a track and autocross course, WRX and Elantra N are really your only options. The Elantra N provides a little more power, but overall the WRX is a lot more sophisticated and Subaru’s all-wheel drive is a real differentiator. In addition to the mechanical differences, the WRX tS stands out from the rest of the line both inside and out. On the exterior, the hexagonal grille, red WRX badge, slim headlights, and broad hood scoop clearly let you know this car’s pedigree. The roof-mounted shark fin antenna, side mirrors, and rear spoiler are finished in crystal black instead of body color. Most noticeable are the 19-inch satin gray, multispoke wheels, which are standard on the tS and look spectacular. WRX tS is available in a range of colors including a new exclusive color, Galaxy Purple Pearl. It’s a fun color that changes with the light from a deep purple to almost black. Of course World Rally Blue will continue to be the brand’s featured color.
Where the work gets done
Inside the cabin is trimmed out in World Rally Blue accents with deeply bolstered Recarro seats which are easily a match for the car’s performance. They do a great job of holding you in place on the track, but aren’t so snug that they’re uncomfortable for longer drives. Everything is right where you expect it to be with plenty of storage room and cupholders for those times when you’re not testing the car’s limits on the track.
New for 2025 is a fully digital instrument cluster that is configurable depending on which drive mode you’re using. It also has the ability to mirror information like maps and entertainment settings to the center screen to help you keep your focus ahead of you. The center stack includes a giant touch screen with all your entertainment, navigation, and HVAC controls. It’s common across all Subaru platforms and does a good job of keeping the things you use most often at your fingertips. I, for one, am glad to see both a volume and tuning knob are still a part of the package.
On the road
One of the most important features of the WRX tS is the adaptive suspension, not for what it allows you to do on the track, but how livable and civilized it makes this car the other 99% of the time. Hit the button on the steering wheel and you can toggle from Sport (unlike most cars, that’s the default setting – Subaru gets me), Sport+, Comfort, and Individual, which allows you to tune the steering, suspension, and throttle response to your liking. There is a noticeable difference in every dimension when you switch from mode to mode. The steering feel gets progressively heavier, the throttle comes alive, and the dampers lock things down a little more each step along the way. The result is a car you can thrash on the weekends and drive to work on Monday without having to call your chiropractor on Tuesday. If you plan on driving the WRX tS in the colder months, you’ll want to invest in a set of winter or all-weather tires once the mercury starts to dip.
I also wanted to make a special mention of the 245/35 R19 93Y Bridgestone Potenza S007 summer performance tires. Not only were they sticky and predictable on the track, they were comfortable and surprisingly quiet on the road. No, this isn’t a Lincoln that isolates you from the outside world, but the interior cabin wind and road noise were more than acceptable when I was cruising at 70 miles per hour on a California freeway.
The road ahead
Technology plays a bigger part in WRX tS than ever before. For the first time ever Subaru’s EyeSight driver assist system is available in a car with a manual transmission. That’s an important addition not just for the safety of WRX’s occupants, but also for the future viability of manual transmissions. Government regulations will soon require all cars, regardless of powertrain, to be equipped with automatic emergency braking, by 2029. In figuring this out, Subaru is guaranteeing we’ll at least have the option of a manual for decades to come. In addition to AEB, EyeSight also includes adaptive cruise control, lane departure and sway warning, blind spot monitoring, and lead vehicle start alert.
The known unknowns
The 2025 Subaru WRX tS will be available for sale early next year and will stand alongside the base, premium, limited, and GT trims, replacing the TR as the line’s highest performance model. Pricing has not been announced but given the content is very similar to the GT with only tuning differences, Subaru told us the price would also be similar, which means you can expect to pay in the neighborhood of $45,000 with destination and delivery. This should put it on par with Golf R, GR Corolla, and Civic Type R and represents a great value given the content and the fact that you get the added benefit of a real back seat and a trunk, which if you’re going make a sports car your daily driver, counts for something.
