Read this in The Manila Times digital edition.

THE WRX moniker is synonymous with Subaru's high performance rally bred machines, equipped with a powerful turbocharged flat-four boxer engine, four wheel drive and four doors.

Last week, Motor Image Pilipinas, the sole distributor of Subaru vehicles here in the Philippines, debuted the new generation WRX models, in sedan and wagon forms, with hopes to reinvigorate the brand and its enthusiasts alike following the launch of the BRZ last April.

Tan Chong International Managing Director Glenn Tan said the Philippines is the first market to receive and sell both vehicles in the Asean region. "The all-new WRX is here to ignite your senses. From its stunning exterior and premium interior, to the sporty sound and powerful performance of its new 2.4-liter turbo boxer engine, the invigorating smell of the exhaust and the exciting handling, the WRX gives a raw driving experience that makes burning rubber fun. I am very confident that both the all-new WRX and WRX Wagon will totally ignite your senses, and remain crowd favorites that are much-loved by Subaru enthusiasts here," he said.

Both of the cars' design language follow Subaru's "Dynamic x Solid" concept, but with emphasis on "bolder," with a look that echoes the design of the Viziv STI Performance and Viziv Tourer concept cars. The most prominent feature of the WRX Sedan is its black cladding surrounding the front and rear bumper, as well as the side skirts and overfenders, emphasizing ruggedness and athleticism to match its on-and-off road performance. The side sills on the black fender cladding is also functional as well — they channel air smoothly to the body to keep the car stable.

The C-shaped headlights, a hexagonal honeycomb grille, a large hood scoop to feed air into the intercooler, wide overfenders, a small boot lid spoiler and black boot garnish, BRZ-inspired C-shaped tail lights, an imposing rear bumper clad in black, 18-inch aluminum alloy wheels, as well as quad exhaust pipes under the diffuser define the look of the WRX sedan, a rally bred performance machine.

The Wagon, while still called the Levorg in Japan, sports a similar design language as the sedan, retaining the aggressive looking C-shaped headlamps and hood scoop, but the rest was made in a more elegant form sans the black cladding. Designed to be more of a tourer than a performance machine, the WRX Wagon features the extended C-shaped taillamps connected by a gloss black line trim in between, below the Subaru badge. Dual exhaust pipes are implemented over the quad pipe units to represent the touring nature of the wagon. While the WRX Sedan rides on wide 245/40 R18 tires, the Wagon uses narrower 225/45 R18 tires.

Both the Sedan and Wagon are the first to use the company's new Subaru Global Platform, which improves the rigidity and handling prowess as well as ride comfort and safety. Subaru's Vehicle Dynamic Control also includes Track Mode for both models for people to look for some fun on the race track, and with the sport tuned suspension, it delivers the handling agility befitting a WRX no matter the body style.

Powering both models is Subaru's FA24F, a turbocharged version of the FA24 2.4L flat four that produces 275PS at 5600 rpm and 350 Nm of torque at 2000-5200 rpm, mated to a 6-speed manual (for the WRX sedan only) or a CVT (for both models).

As Subaru also stands for safety, the new Eyesight 4.0 safety suite is installed on both models (except for the 6-speed manual model), which debuted on the 2022 Forester last April, featuring adaptive cruise control with lane centering function, pre-collision braking with autonomous emergency steering, pre-collision throttle management, lane departure warning with lane departure prevention lane sway warning, and lead vehicle start alert.

The WRX also has its driver monitoring system which detects if the driver is sleepy, tired or distracted, and alerts the driver. Other safety features include an array of airbags, a ring-shaped reinforcement frame, steering responsive headlights and a rear-view camera, with the CVT variants adding high beam assist, reverse automatic braking and rear vehicle detection.

New to the WRX models are the tS trim — which stand for "tuned by STI," which feature more controls and modes via Drive Mode Select to suit the driver, aiming for a more spirited drive. Both WRX tS models also sport a pink STI logo on the steering wheel, illuminated red meter rings, and tS badging on the boot lid. The tS models are available only on indent order.

The WRX sedan models start at P2,508,000 for the six-speed manual, P2,658,000 for the base CVT model and P808,000 for the CVT tS trim. The wagon models start at P2,558,000 for the base CVT and P2,708,000 for the tS CVT model.