I wonder why more car companies haven’t built competitors to the Subaru WRX.
There’s a great write-up of the entire history of the WRX over at Road & Track, which I encourage you to read if you’re new to the car’s culture. Established WRX fans are already well versed in the vehicle’s evolution and beyond stoked about the concept for a next version.
Speaking of evolution, the only real competitor to the high-performance Subie was the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, which has recently been discontinued.
While the WRX was first sold in the United States in 2002, other nations, such as Japan, the United Kingdom, and Australia, have been familiar with the rally racer since 1997. That’s plenty of time for competition to spring up, but it never really did, save for the Evo.
The WRX is so different because it came from rally racing roots, is all-wheel drive, and can be had in either sedan or wagon form. That makes the car perfect for families that need to haul serious… stuff. To build a vehicle as good as the WRX, other automakers simply lack the experience. Toyota, though, could offer something similar, but with its own twist.
The picture on top of this article is the Toyota S-FR Racing Concept. Isn’t it a grumpy little thing? Unlike the WRX, the S-FR is rear-wheel drive and built for racing on pavement rather than dirt. The two cars are similar in that they’re compact racers built for speed and performance–and, if the S-FR ever goes into production, it will also be affordable, like the WRX.
Toyota isn’t saying too much about the S-FR just yet, but will debut it at next month’s Tokyo Auto Salon. According to a Yahoo article, Autonomous driving is very much in vogue at the moment. I feel better about the world when I see cars like the WRX and S-FR Concept because they give me hope for exciting driving in the future.