Subaru WRX tS Sportswagon review: The dad weekender drive

Wheels Media's product manager Michael Fisher spends a few days with our 2022 Subaru WRX tS Sportswagon long-termer to give us his regular-bloke "I'm no journalist" take on the new model, and to see how it compares with his older-generation Kia Sportage.

Before I start, I think it's important to call out that I’m no automotive journalist, or even a car nut for that matter. I'm part of the big team working away in the background at Wheels Media.

I'm a father of a 13-year-old and a 10-year-old, I drive a 2016 Kia Sportage that fits my lifestyle of school pickups, never-ending kids' sport sessions, Woolies runs and the occasional trip into the office (livin' that hybrid life). It does what we need, and we’ve been super happy with it.

But when Stevo handed me the keys to the WRX Sportswagon for the weekend, I was pretty excited to try something new and different!

The Car

2022 Subaru WRX Sportswagon tS

$57,990 before on-road costs

Jump to Full Specs

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First impressions

We see some pretty wicked cars roll in and out of the Wheels Media office, but this one I had seen for a couple of weeks parked out front most mornings. It had the distinctive WRX look to it, but in the shape of a wagon.

Jumping inside for the first time, there was a lot to take in – indeed, the difference of how low it sat compared to the SUV was noticeable. Then there was the amount of tech that now comes standard with a 2022 version of most vehicles; a huge display, and the amount of controls on the steering wheel was quite overawing.

After a few minutes of adjustments, I was ready to roll into the weekend – after the school pickups and a quick grocery run!

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Comfort

The "Ultrasuede" seats are super snug and easy to adjust. A sports steering wheel added to the experience, I felt I had full control of the vehicle from the controls just on the wheel. This really set the tone for a comfortable sporty ride. It was hard going back to the Kia, to be honest.

A sunroof, along with heated seating throughout (including rear which the kids loved), and the ability to store configurations for a couple of drivers topped off the front cabin experience.

In the rear, the kids had plenty of legroom, even with the driver's seat pushed as far back as it could go. The rear passengers get full control over their climate, and plenty of pockets for storage – and for them to stash their wrappers for me to clean up later. We comfortably fit three 13-year-olds in the back, and it was in no way squishy.

The boot is surprisingly large, and we could fit a full load of groceries as well as the school bags. The driver has the controls to open and close the boot automatically from the seat, which made school pickup and dropoff a little more lazy for me – which was great.

Entertainment and tech

The first thing I noticed when jumping in the WRX was the huge screen in the centre of the dash. With so many available features and configurations, don't expect to go full expert mode on day one. After a few days, I had a good grip on most of the options and features available to me.

The interface for the climate settings is quite straightforward, and allows for both driver and passenger to set up to their liking.

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For Audio, I liked that it has DAB+ digital radio on top of the standard radio and Bluetooth streaming options. Again, the controls for these were fairly straightforward, including within the steering wheel. I did find the CD option when I opened the console later in the weekend, but didn't test it out. (Who even has CDs anymore? – Ed.) The sound itself was rich, no complaints there.

The big disappointment, however, was with how the car handles Android Auto. For such a large display, you would hope that it fully utilises it for the Android Auto experience – instead only using just over a third of the display. For that reason I didn’t bother plugging it in over the weekend, and just stuck with the default apps.

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School pickup

The standard navigation app provided in the WRX was generally my default screen throughout the weekend, with a full-screen display and providing a clean, simple-to-understand interface.

Drive

As I mentioned earlier, being an SUV driver, the first thing I found was how low I felt, and although this feeling didn't change when on the road, it wasn't long before I'd forgotten the difference.

The WRX provides the driver with great visibility on the road; there isn't too much that blocks the view or provides blind spots.

The steering is smooth and responsive, in all modes the WRX holds its ground around corners, and never feels like it's chugging up steep roads. I especially felt the difference when cruising on the freeway, It really is a smooth driving experience.

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Safety Features

The safety features are plentiful, once you get used to all of the beeping – the alerts are clear for the driver to let them know when the WRX thinks you aren’t driving safely. (They're a little over the top, I reckon. – Stevo)

The lane assist has the added feature of LED indicators that reflect on the window ahead of you, with a slight pull on the steering wheel, so there's really no excuses not to realise.

This was also the first time I had experienced a car with an “Eyesight driver assist” feature, and had mixed experiences with it. It would pick you up if you turned your head for too long chatting with the passenger – which is good – but it also caught me out when I was picking my nose, my eyes clearly still on the road! (TMI mate...)

Drive Modes

Something that really blew me away was the fact I had been driving the car for the first couple of days in “Comfort Mode”, which essentially scales back all of the performance features of the WRX.

I had found this mode to provide a nice smooth ride on all types of roads – I had enough power to enter freeways or overtake, as well as climb hills.

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The Driver Mode interface and options

But, when I did work out there were different driving mode options (they're easy to miss, Subaru makes very little effort to promote the sports driving modes in its sports wagon – Stevo), I immediately selected the Sport+ mode, which flicked all of the performance options to the top spec. Wowee.

What a totally different experience this gave the driver (and the kids). The pickup in power was noticeable as soon as I touched the accelerator, maybe a little too touchy for a normal drive down the road, but perfect for those that want to race around and enjoy. Responsibly, of course!

I found the happy medium in the basic Sports mode, and spent the last day cruising around in this.

Fuel Economy

There was a quick shift in fuel economy when in Sports or Sports+ mode, which is obviously going to happen. But, for the most part while in comfort mode, I'd averaged around 10.5L/100km, and this was mainly doing small trips in an area which is quite undulating.

For comparison, the 2016 Kia Sportage generally averages around 8.5L/100kmh for the same use.

Parking

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Easy parking at the shopping centre

Parking is an easy experience too, with all the sensors in play, rear-view camera with clear path indicators, and the added angles of side mirror and front available at the push of a button.

There really was no excuse to muck it up.

Last impressions

I was really impressed with the WRX, and it definitely ticks the boxes for what a young family needs in a reliable, safe and comfortable car.

The selling point though on this one, for me, is probably the ability to kick it into Sports or Sports+ mode and relish the power and performance it has on offer.

If you’re not into that, then there are probably other wagons or small SUVs out there in a similar price bracket that provide a similar experience.

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Vehicle Specifications