Subaru Impreza WRX RS40 2014 review

Yes. there's a new one in the works, but you can't keep a good special edition down especially one as attractive as this. There's also no guarantee you're going to like the new Rex (don't laugh it's happened before). This blue devil packs a punch and plenty of extra kit.

VALUE

The RS40 is available only as a sedan and is strictly limited to 300 units, all in WR Blue Mica paint. Priced from $44,490 (standard car is $39,990) it adds a grab bag of extra STI goodies valued at more than $7000.

Those extras include Recaro seats with blue coloured Alcantara inserts, STI rear spoiler, STI front lip spoiler, STI short shift gear assembly, STI flexible tower strut brace, Gold-coloured 17 inch WRX alloys, exclusive RS40 decals and a numbered plaque inside (ours was number 14).

ENGINE / TRANSMISSION

The 2.5-litre turbocharged flat four engine develops 195kW of power at 6000 revs and 343Nm of torque at 4000 revs and is paired with a short-shifting 5-speed manual transmission. The dash from 0-100km/h takes 5.3 seconds and it uses 10.4 litres of fuel per 100km, with 95 RON the minimum required. Oddly enough that figure is exactly what we were getting from the car after to close to 700km behind the wheel.

DESIGN

It's ironic the 86 and stablemate the BRZ have managed to steal much of the limelight in the past 18 months. While they are fun to drive they don't have anywhere near the level of performance of this car, nor the incredibly high levels of grip either.

The RS40 takes the car to another level with its STI add-ons. At the same time the basics like one touch blinkers and distance to empty seem to be missing.

SAFETY

Five stars of course. Subaru jumped on the safety wagon early in the piece and underpins its safety suite with the surety of all-wheel drive.

DRIVING

It's a WRX. It's goes hard, stops quick and draws plenty of admiring glances. The growl of the boxer engine is one of the hallmarks of the car, a note that never becomes tiring, but the audio system isn't too shabby either with a single CD, plus MP3, WMA and iPod compatibility and 10 speakers to get out the sound with AUX, USB and RCA connections.

Fortunately the high-rise STI spoiler doesn't sit bang smack in your field of vision like some cars. But big behinds will find the sports seats a bit of a squeeze and the lowish front spoiler is apt to scrape on the driveway.

My biggest bitch with this car is the silly Bluetooth system. It's easy to pair but it simply refuses to connect and each time I got into the car I had to manually re-establish a connection. It's not the first Subaru it's happened in either.

VERDICT

We never tire of driving this car. It's still arguably the best bang for your buck out there in boy racer land.