Best Sedans of 2023 and 2024

[MUSIC PLAYING] CLINT SIMONE: Welcome to Edmunds U-Drags. Subaru fans, this one's for you. So is this one. We got rally fighter and street fighter, so let's race. We just had to know. Does our long-term BRZ have the performance to take out its all-wheel drive sibling? A few years ago, this might have been a stupid question. But in today's world, these might be a lot closer than you think. Now, what is U-Drags? Well, I'm so glad you asked. It's a race to there and back. At Edmunds, we love to test cars, and we came up with this not so scientific way of doing so-called U-Drags. We're going to take these two Subarus, send them all the way down the track, where they're going to get hard on the brakes, turn around, and come all the way back. That means we're getting a quarter mile, hard braking, handling, and a rolling start, all in one race. And after the first race, we're going to swap drivers and lanes to make sure everybody gets a fair shot. If you like watching cars go fast just as much as I do, well then, do me a favor. Like this video and subscribe to the Edmunds YouTube channel. And if you're looking to sell your car, head over to edmunds.com/sellmycar. These two manual Subies make and put down power in totally different ways. The BRZ follows the classic sports car formula, lightweight, rear-wheel drive. It has a naturally aspirated 2.4 liter 4-cylinder, good for 228 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque. [ENGINE REVVING] The WRX brings all-wheel drive and turbo power to the party, whipping up 271 horses and 258 pound-feet. It also weighs around 600 pounds more. [ENGINE REVVING] I think this will be closer than things look on paper. To find out which Subaru is king, we've got two of our pro testers, Kurt and Reese. [MUSIC PLAYING] REESE COUNTS: I'm here in the Subaru WRX, and we're going to go through the launch procedure, which there really isn't any. No launch control in this. The only thing I'm going to press is the traction stability control, turn that all the way off. Then I'm going to rev the engine and sidestep the clutch. [MUSIC PLAYING] KURT NIEBUHR: Well, all manual, this thing. There's no launch control. It's just your left foot and your right foot. The only real trick, other than not getting a whole bunch of wheelspin, is to put it in track mode. In track mode, you kind of press and hold, and that shuts everything off. It also changes your tachometer to this bar graph, which is less than ideal for slipping the clutch on this car because I think the sweet spot is like 3,500 to 4,000 RPM, which, on the tach, when it's like this, is this tiny little section of the tach. So basically you kind of do it by ear and by feel. So I have to make the most of my launch to hope I can catch something back under braking because I am about 600 pounds less. [MUSIC PLAYING] COMPUTER VOICE: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. [ENGINES REVVING] REESE COUNTS: Oh! Come on. Man, that BRZ. [ENGINES REVVING] Oh, I think I screwed up the braking. Too soft. Come on, go, go, go. [ENGINES REVVING] KURT NIEBUHR: Come on. Yeah, give it to me. REESE COUNTS: Oh, come on. I got the turbo. KURT NIEBUHR: Yes, yes, I'll take that. You don't need no turbo. Who needs turbos? You caught up a lot of ground going around that cone. I didn't brake as hard as I possibly could have at the last second. And boy, that just really ate into whatever small advantage I had. REESE COUNTS: Yeah, I managed to get on the brakes pretty late and turned around. But man, that BRZ, you got me. How did it feel at the turnaround? KURT NIEBUHR: Yeah, I was slightly loose, a little loose on the way out. So let's trade places. It felt good beating this. I don't know why. REESE COUNTS: I'm excited. This is, yes, a Subaru, but a very, very different Subaru. I'm going to raise the revs up a little, probably around 3,000. That seems to be the best. But any lower than that, and I think it will just bog. Any higher, and I might spin. So yeah, we'll see how it goes. KURT NIEBUHR: Well, back again in a WRX. I really don't like launching these because you have to rev them really high, feed the gas in while you let the clutch out very quickly. So you just kind of try your best to not hurt the drive train too much. But that's the way these things get off the line. Temperature is a little cooler, so there might be a little wheelspin, which might actually help. I hate abusing cars, and that's kind of how you have to launch these things. But we'll see. We know that's hard to launch. But I think if I get the turnaround right, I might be able to take him. [MUSIC PLAYING] COMPUTER VOICE: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. [ENGINES REVVING] KURT NIEBUHR: Come on. Oh, this just lags on the shift. Still right there. Brake a little late. Oh, no. [ENGINES REVVING] Oh! Oh, no! REESE COUNTS: Oh! KURT NIEBUHR: Oh, this is so close! It was right at the line. This just bogs coming out of that slow corner. That car comes out of it with so much more acceleration and just a better angle. And this thing is just kind of suffering. And yeah, yeah, how did you like that? REESE COUNTS: Well, you can kind of power the rear around. And it definitely doesn't bog, which is nice because as soon as you get the wheel pointed straight, you can get back on the power. CLINT SIMONE: Talk about an unexpected nail-biter. Our Subaru showdown was about as close as it gets in both races. In race one, the BRZ got off the line better, getting to 60 in 6.2 seconds. And it maintained its lead through the quarter mile, doing it in 14.3 seconds. The WRX evened out the score in the braking zone, but the BRZ cornered harder, pulling a full G. The sprint home was neck and neck, but the BRZ pulled off the upset, finishing in 39.7 seconds, with a top speed of 111.2 miles per hour. Race two flipped the script. This time, it was the WRX that hit 60 quicker in 6.2 seconds, with the BRZ just behind at 6.4. The WRX stayed ahead at the quarter mile with 14.2 seconds, but in the turnaround, both cars pulled hard, with just over a G of cornering force. Then it was power all the way back. The BRZ won the race with a time of 39.7 seconds at 109.6 miles per hour. Yep, it was close over the line. But in the end, it was 2-0 for the BRZ. And now, let's turn to our updated Edmunds U-Drag leaderboard. Remember, our races from last year are not shown because we had to lengthen the course to accommodate big EVs with not so big brakes. Each car's quickest run goes on the leaderboard, regardless of race pairing. The Subaru siblings earn places in the bottom two slots on our board, with the BRZ just ahead of the WRX. With all that settled, let's check out the in-car camera and the data. [ENGINES REVVING] REESE COUNTS: Oh! Man, that BRZ. Oh, come on! I got the turbo! [ENGINES REVVING] KURT NIEBUHR: Come on! Oh, I think I screwed up the braking. Too soft. Come on, go, go, go! [ENGINES REVVING] Come on. Yeah, give it to me. Yes, yes, I'll take that. You don't need no turbo. Who needs turbos? CLINT SIMONE: Sun going down. Smell of brakes in the air. A really fun race at the end there. This is why we do U-Drags, for this reason, to feel out small differences between cars that look very similar on paper. KURT NIEBUHR: There's the way this car launches, which is the difference going 0 to 60. But then, there's the way this car turns and accelerates at low speeds. And it weighs 600 pounds less. REESE COUNTS: Yes. Less weight-- I mean, it really does make a difference. And this thing just turns around so much better down there. I mean, that nice rear drive balance, you can kind of rotate the rear. The WRX just bogs down. CLINT SIMONE: The thing about these two Subarus is they're so similar. They have almost the same 0 to 60 speed. They have almost the same quarter mile speed and almost the same track speed. KURT NIEBUHR: Yeah. REESE COUNTS: Yeah, it really is about how they turn around. If this was just a drag race, it would be a lot different. CLINT SIMONE: Was there ever a point where this felt better on the track than the BRZ? KURT NIEBUHR: The ride was more comfortable. REESE COUNTS: Yeah, it was definitely a bit smoother. KURT NIEBUHR: Yeah. CLINT SIMONE: That's good. That's great. So there you have it. If you want a comfortable car, buy a Subaru WRX. And if you want to see more U-Drags episodes, check them out right here on the Edmunds YouTube channel. Thanks for watching. [MUSIC PLAYING]