2023 Subaru WRX By Prodrive First Drive: The Coulda-Woulda-Shoulda STI
There's a parallel universe where, on March 11, 2022, Subaru didn't announce the death of the WRX STI. In that distant world so far, far away, Subaru's winged wonder lives on, its tach needle bouncing off the rev limiter as it slides sideways through a dirt parking lot, a cloud of Fruity Pebbles vape smoke in its wake.
In that alternate reality where the WRX STI thrives, I bet it looks a lot like the car pictured here. Except this one doesn't come from Subaru — not technically, anyway. It's the product of Prodrive, a UK-based, world-renowned tuning company that's been building Subaru's race cars and one-off projects for decades. And if Subaru isn't going to bless our mortal world with a WRX STI of its own, well then, perhaps Prodrive will.
Prodrive pedigree
The idea for Prodrive's WRX didn't just come out of thin air. The company built it as a link to the P25, Prodrive's limited-production high-end restomod project that's a love letter to the iconic Subaru Impreza STI 22B. The P25 is meant to look like a fully restored version of a 1997 Subaru Impreza rally car — minus the livery — and many of these styling cues can be found on the one-of-one Prodrive WRX.
You'll notice both cars have the same 19-inch gray Prodrive wheels — which really, really, really ought to be gold — wrapped in matching Bridgestone Potenza Sport tires. The wings are nearly identical, as well, but the one on the P25 is lighter and has an integrated center brake light. Inside, the WRX has Sparco WRX bucket seats trimmed to look like the thrones Prodrive fits in the P25.
Improving the WRX
Compared to a standard Subaru WRX, Prodrive's version has body-colored wheel arches, which make the sedan look a whole lot better and increase the car's width by 1.2 inches. Stiffer front and rear anti-roll bars, new suspension bushings, Bilstein dampers and lowered springs round out the chassis changes, while larger AP Racing brakes provide increased stopping power.
Under the hood, the base WRX's engine remains largely intact, but revised engine management software allows for a nice little power bump. Prodrive says its WRX produces 30 more horsepower than the standard car, for 301 hp total. For reference, that's only 9 hp off the old WRX STI's 310 hp output.
A driver's delight
About half way around a closed course at the UK's Millbrook Proving Grounds, it's immediately clear that this WRX is sharper in all the right ways. The stiffer suspension components really improve the WRX's overall handling, allow it to turn in quicker, stay flatter while cornering and generally communicate a better sense of what's happening where rubber meets road.
The Millbrook handling course is great because it doesn't have super-smooth, pristinely paved surfaces. This means you can get a good sense of suspension compliance, too, and even with the lowering springs and stiff dampers, the WRX doesn't feel so harsh that you couldn't drive it every day. Even with larger wheels and 255/35-series tires, there's enough comfort baked into the WRX's chassis to let it filter out sharp road imperfections and jarring impacts. It honestly feels like a last-gen WRX STI. Coincidence? I think not.
More power, more poise
Prodrive's 30-hp power bump is nice, but it doesn't radically change the way Subaru's 2.4-liter turbocharged boxer-4 behaves. There's still a mountain of torque midway through the rev range, so you can lay into the throttle in third gear rather than having to downshift to second while coming out of a corner. Running this engine close to redline in each gear makes it feel a little like having to rein in a puppy, and I much prefer to let the turbocharged torque do the talking. That's when a WRX is at its best.
Subaru offers the production WRX with an optional continuously variable transmission, but Prodrive's example has the six-speed manual — as it should. The gearing hasn't changed for this one-off project, but that's fine; this transmission is still appropriately matched with the turbo engine. Subaru's active all-wheel drive programming is unchanged, and I imagine this thing would be every bit the winter-weather warrior as older STIs.
So, what's it all mean?
My general sense after a few laps in Prodrive's WRX is that this car feels as close to a new-generation STI as I could imagine. It keeps all of the old STI's rhythms perfectly intact: Stiff but not too stiff, powerful but not unhinged, better seats for increased support and, of course, a massive wing. You've gotta have a wing.
Prodrive has no immediate plans to sell this would-be STI as a production car, but the company is open to the idea of offering a complete upgrade kit, or individual accessories. As for Subaru, well, it's still sticking to that statement from 2022. "As we look to the future, we also look forward to incorporating the essence of STI into our next generation of vehicles." Fingers crossed that something – anything, even if it's electric – comes to fruition.
Prodrive prologue
I'd be remiss not to mention that, following my laps in the WRX, Prodrive let me hit the Millbrook track in the P25 coupe. For someone like me, who grew up playing Gran Turismo and dreaming of riding shotgun with Colin McRae on a rally stage, this is a literal dream come true, and as close as I'll ever likely get to driving a legit 22B. The Prodrive P25 genuinely feels like a race car, all raw and stiff, eager to dive bomb corners and kick up plumes of dirt. It's one of the most visceral and exciting cars I've driven in, well, ever. It also made for an incredible thrill ride when pro rally driver David Higgins took the wheel and showed me how capable the P25 is while being properly manhandled.
David and his older brother, rally driver Mark Higgins, are development drivers for Prodrive, and have raced plenty of Subarus throughout their lives. Prodrive built the car that Mark Higgins used to shatter the Isle of Man TT road course record in 2016, and I got to ride along with him on one of Millbrook's more challenging courses, where I was left smiling and speechless — especially when all four tires left the ground.
These extra glimpses of Prodrive's capabilities only drove home the fact that this company knows what the hell it's doing. If that know-how can make its way into one of Subaru's road cars, the ethos of STI will live on indeed.