First Test: 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX STI Sedan

You complained; Subaru listened. The WRX STI is a sedan again for 2011, and it just might be the best-handling STI we’ve ever tested.

When Subaru went hatch-only on the previous-generation STI, the company explained that the body style handled better, which had something to do with center of gravity, weight distribution, polar moments of inertia, and other such things. Perfectly rational explanations, and completely lost on the fans. You wanted a sedan with a wing big enough to pick up premium movie channels in Tokyo, and you got it. And it performs even better than the last STI hatch we tested.

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Not that it’s a completely fair comparison. Subaru didn’t just build a sedan version of the STI for 2011 and call it a day. As long as it was building a new model, Subaru let its engineers loose on the suspension to see if they couldn’t make up for that non-ideal body. We saw the first hints of that improvement in the 2010 Subaru WRX STI Special Edition we tested back in May, with its stiffer suspension lifted from the JDM-only Spec C model. Subaru hung onto those parts for the 2011 car, and even gave them another going-over.

A lower ride height, even stiffer stabilizer bars on top of the already-stiffened springs, and new Heim joints on the front suspension conspire to turn out the best figure-eight performance of any factory-spec STI we’ve ever tested, the Special Edition included. Though the new sedan gave up a small amount of lateral grip (0.93 g average on the skid pad versus an all-time best of 0.95 g average for the 2008 model), it made big strides where it counted, on the figure eight. By testing transitions as well as pure lateral grip, the figure eight gives us a better impression of real-world handling, which the new STI has in spades. Completing the circuit in just 25.5 seconds at 0.73 g average, it’s quicker and stickier than both the last-generation STI and the STI Special Edition, which clocked in at 25.7 seconds at 0.71 g average. A quick look at our test data dating back to the original STI reveals that the only way you’re going to do better is with aftermarket parts.

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With luck, handling is what matters to you the most, because the STI sedan is otherwise unremarkable in comparison to the last-generation hatch. It’s slightly slower to 60 mph, requiring a full 5 seconds compared to the old car’s 4.8-second sprint, a difference our testers attributed to an excess of grip. Say what? The old car, with its smaller tires, would spin the wheels just a bit on launch, keeping the revs up, and, subsequently, the boost. The new car, testers theorize, sticks so well that the wheels won’t spin on launch, causing the engine to bog and come off boost.

Despite weighing slightly less than the old model and the Special Edition, braking distance increased several feet to 113 feet from 60 mph. Fuel economy didn’t change, though, and still sits at 17 mpg city and 23 mpg highway. If you want a commuter, buy a Legacy with a CVT and save $8000.

Yeah, you read that right. Base price for the four-door 2011 Subaru WRX STI is $34,720, about a grand more than the stripped-down STI Special Edition that’s almost as good. Still, you’ll save $2000 over the price of the five-door model, and $1000 over the base price of a 2010 model (also a hatch, incidentally), and that’s worth writing home about. Our tester, equipped with navigation as its only option, rang in at $36,250. Rack up all the options and you can push this car above $40,000 if you try, which still is cheaper than a maxed-out Mitsubishi Evo X. We recommend you blow the savings on off-road tires and rally driving school.

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