ALL-NEW SUBARU WRX SCOOPS AWARD ON THE WAY TO SA
- Motorweek names new WRX as “Best Sport Sedan”
- Active Torque Vectoring and Sport Lineartronic™ elevate WRX to new heights
- All-new Subaru WRX arrives in South Africa in May 2014
The all-new Subaru WRX, revealed at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November 2013, is already scooping up awards and high praise from international media as it prepares for its South African introduction in May. The new WRX employs new and super-advanced technologies to form the best WRX yet – and its international media attention is reinforcing its prowess.
2014 Motorweek Driver’s Choice Awards recognise new WRX
One of the longest-running and prominent automotive television shows in the United States, Motorweek’s annual Driver’s Choice Awards have resulted in the all-new Subaru’s first major media accolade – the Best Sport Sedan Award. Citing the WRX as a ‘perennial favourite’, Motorweek described the new WRX as aggressive in its design and ride. They also noted that the handling has drastically improved thanks to stiffer suspension.
The Driver’s Choice Awards seek to find the best vehicles which are most desirable as dream machines or those one would actually want parked in the driveway. Price, performance, practicality and fuel efficiency are the most important factors in the competition’s judging criteria, a panel of judges using these factors to select the best models available from a variety of lifestyle categories, from family sedans and luxury cars to pickups and large utility vehicles.
Other prominent international publications are also singing the new vehicle’s praises, Car and Driver magazine applauding the new electric power steering and, relating to the Active Torque Vectoring, stating that the WRX “turns in with verve and shows extraordinary levels of front-end grip.” Another highly-regarded American publication, Motor Trend stated that the new WRX represents “significantly more value” and that its “less polarising” design will attract more people to the brand.
Advanced new Subaru technology for the best WRX yet
Built upon a long line of previous motorsport-honed Subaru WRX iterations, the latest generation is naturally the greatest, a concentrated mix of Subaru’s endless performance vehicle know-how culminating in an all-new, thrill-inducing model. Featuring the typical turbocharged Boxer® engine and Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive™ powertrain so typical of a WRX, the new WRX features a number of heightened sports technologies for a thoroughly modern and reworked performance vehicle.
The tag line “Pure Power in Your Control” is most aptly applied to the new WRX, which harnesses power and handling ability and delivers them to the driver in the most controllable manner. Key to this control is the new Active Torque Vectoring system, which applies the brakes to the inside front wheel while distributing torque to the outside front wheel, assisting in vehicle rotation and creating more responsive and direct handling dynamics. Motor Trend says, “Active Torque Vectoring turns the WRX into a rip-roaring rotation machine.”
Working alongside Active Torque Vectoring, new multi-mode Vehicle Dynamics Control (VDC) and optimised suspension geometry for quicker steering response and enhanced cornering control result in the most fun and engaging-to-drive Subaru WRX, ever.
In addition and for the first time in a WRX, the adaptation of Sport Lineartronic™ Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) not only increases the vehicle’s appeal as a comfortable and practical everyday car, but highlights its proficiency as an outright sports sedan. Sport Lineartronic™ was developed exclusively by Subaru engineers and benchmarked against some of the world’s finest and quickest single- and dual-clutch transmissions.
Linked to Subaru Intelligent Drive (SI-DRIVE), Sport Lineartronic™ offers the perfect balance of transmission performance and smoothness in all driving modes. In automatic mode and under Intelligent (I) mapping, six simulated gear ratios are served up with a focus on fuel efficiency and comfort. Switching to Sport (S) or Sport Sharp (S#) modes reprograms the transmission with eight predetermined ratios, which maximise performance from the 2.0-litre turbocharged Boxer® engine (197 kW and 350 Nm). Steering wheel-mounted shift paddles transfer Sport Lineartronic™ into full manual mode, allowing full driver control of transmission ratios.
All-new WRX makes South African debut in May
The all-new Subaru WRX is well on its way to South African tarmac, with introduction scheduled for May 2014. Subaru Southern Africa Marketing Manager Ashley Lazarus, comments: “With such a strong and blue-blooded following in South Africa, the introduction of the brand new Subaru WRX is as exciting for us as it is for the thousands of South African fans who can’t wait to see it on local roads. The all-new WRX promises handling and control comparable to another Boxer-engined sports car which hails from Germany and we expect the warm international reception thus far to be echoed in South Africa.
“We can confirm that the new WRX will be here in May, with pricing and specifications yet to be confirmed. The all-new Subaru WRX STI will also reach South African shores shortly thereafter.”
