Subaru has really has lost its way with this WRX parts bin special.
The limited time I spent in the car around Auckland I will admit was not an ideal length of time nor the ideal location for testing a 2.5L turbocharged Subaru, so please keep that in mind while reading this. However going on the shoot and getting to spend both time in the drivers and passengers seat has given me some strong initial impressions about the car.
Firstly is the interior. The previous generation WRX (I'm talking the GDA chassis here) had a typically Japanese interior. Plastic dash, not a huge amount of features and a budget feel to it, and that didn't matter too much, but what we have in the WRX Nemesis is a car that is meant to be more than a WRX, but not quite as awesome as an STI. For the extra dosh you have to put forward to get your hands on one of the 12 cars I would have thought a more upgrade filled car would be on offer.
Sadly the dash is very much of a finish you would expect on a sub $30,000 vehicle than one over $50k, made of a very hard plastic that screams budget and really ruins the interior feel of the car.
The gear shifter looks like something straight out of the 80's, a strangely shaped blob of plastic that isn't anything special at all. For a special edition I would have thought Subaru NZ would have fitted an STi accessory knob to spice up things a little.
It does have leather bucket seats which at first glance counters this budget feeling, but sitting in them is again another story. The leather isn't of the highest quality it would seem and doesn't feel right in a performance oriented car, cloth seats with a special embroidery would have done it for the exclusivity factor, like the mid 90's Impreza WRC specials with the 555 embroidery as an example. The seats are also nowhere near as supportive as previous generations of the WRX were blessed with, but most people already know that the current crop of WRX is quite soft.
Speaking of, the suspension setup of this car is quite soft. I was able to get a good lean on during our shoot about Auckland at speeds lower than the suburban speed limit. Another item I would have thought was easily upgraded to full STi spec, and not just supposedly stiffer (though my experience said not by very much) springs.My disappointment didn't end there. The brakes were factory WRX, albeit with a coat of what could've been Repco red heat resistant paint (red brakes adds 5kw you know) and the only performance upgrade I could easily spot was an STI front strut brace. The Nemesis does have a little bit more power than the standard WRX, but at around 10-15kw its nothing to write home about.
The Nemesis does have a few saving graces. The clutch pedal has a long engagement which makes getting into the car and operating it around town a breeze. Highway driving is entertaining also as the turbo is just a quick downshift from 5th gear (Top in the Nemesis) to 4th to get it to its sweet kick in spot for a ride along the torque surge wave. It's also fantastic at getting waves and smiles from people you happen to pass which is nice if you're one for grabbing attention at every opportunity. Lastly the wheels nicely offset the car from its WRX and STi siblings.
For your money you do get an engine with around 300bhp, a very cool bodykit including the STI sedan wing, a set of black 17 inch rims and the exclusivity of owning 1 of just 12 examples of the WRX Nemesis, and naturally there will be people out there to buy them, the Crouching Tiger WRX's did sell after all and it feels like every few days I spot an example on the streets of Auckland.
Is the name Nemesis deserved? I don't think so, the car is far too soft for such a hard core bruiser of a name. If it was my money I would spend the extra dosh and go for the full blown WRX STI to get the more powerful engine, Brembo brakes and tuned suspension for the real road warrior, and the last of the Impreza based WRXs if you believe Subaru will succeed in bringing back the crazy that made the first generation Impreza WRX one of the best drivers sedans of the 90s. I've got my fingers crossed they hit the nail on the head next time.
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