2026 Subaru WRX Tested: All About That Base

• What's new: The Subaru WRX gets its Base trim level back for 2026, bringing its starting price down to a very reasonable $33,690.
• Why it matters: The WRX offers tremendous bang for the buck; most other sports cars in this segment cost more.
• Edmunds says: There's no need to pony up for a loaded WRX. The Base — or perhaps the WRX Premium — is all you'll ever need.

The base WRX rides on 245/40R18 summer tires that give it remarkable grip on our skidpad and around our handling course. We observed 0.98 g of lateral acceleration — 0.01 g off the WRX tS — which is above average for a car in this class. For reference, the last Volkswagen Golf GTI we tested pulled 0.95 g.

Braking is another strong point; the WRX stopped from 60 mph in just 109 feet, which bests not only the GTI, but the aforementioned WRX tS, both of which needed 115 feet to come to a halt.

The base WRX doesn't come with the fancy electronically adaptive dampers found on some pricier models, and that's fine; we like the standard setup, which is stiff enough to quell body motions while cornering without being punishing over broken stretches of pavement on the highway.

"I'm surprised by how competent this thing is for what it is," Cortés said. "It's just happy to go around. No big interventions of any kind. Steering is kind of dead, but you can hear the tires to know when you're about to lose grip. God, am I a WRX fan? Is that what's happening? I really like this thing."

Living with the WRX

Every WRX comes with the same engine: a turbocharged 2.4-liter flat-four with 271 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque. A continuously variable automatic transmission is optional on the more expensive WRX Limited and GT trims, but the Base only comes with a six-speed manual — and we can't imagine owning a WRX any other way. The six-speed manual transmission has long-ish throws, but gear engagement is solid. It's also really tough to stall this car, which makes it great for everyday driving, though the WRX doesn't offer any sort of trick rev-matching tech that blips the throttle and smooths out downshifts — something you'll find on the Honda Civic Si and Type R.

The WRX's steering is light, which leaves a bit to be desired on the test track but makes this car easy to drive day to day. You won't feel fatigued when running errands or making tight maneuvers in a parking lot.

Another plus: The standard cloth seats are comfy and supportive in all the right places. There's good headroom and legroom up front, and rear passengers won't feel any more cramped in the WRX than they would in another compact sedan. The trunk offers enough space for a pair of carry-on suitcases and a backpack or two, and you can fold the rear seats flat to carry things like a set of wheels and tires.

Like most new Subarus, the WRX's cabin is spartan at best. There are a lot of hard plastics and drab-looking materials, but considering the sub-$34K price of the Base, we'll cut it some slack. What we can't forgive, though, is Subaru's old and outdated multimedia system, housed on an 11.6-inch vertically oriented touchscreen. The software is slow to boot up, responses to inputs have serious lag, and the whole interface just feels a generation or two behind the times. The screen is also notoriously prone to washing out on sunny days, making it hard to see and use.

The best WRX for your money?

Subaru reworked the pricing strategy for the entire 2026 WRX lineup; the most expensive version is the Series Yellow, which costs $47,190, or $1,000 more than the WRX tS. The WRX is by no means a luxury car, and the more expensive versions don't feel vastly more premium, even if they can be had with goodies like a decidedly bad-sounding Harman Kardon stereo, a moonroof or leather-lined Recaro front seats. Because of that, we'll stick with the Base, or perhaps the WRX Premium, if we absolutely had to have heated seats. The WRX is at its best when kept simple; $33,690 is all you need to have a heck of a good time.