Subaru WRX vs Honda City

What's the difference?

The Subaru WRX – do we even need to introduce this iconic beastie at all? With its rally winning roots to being a legend in its own suburb, the ‘Rex’ is a sports car that’s affordable and fun – although the one we’re testing here is one of the pricier versions: the WRX tS Spec B.  

So what is a tS Spec B? Well, the old king of the WRX world – the STI – was retired at the end of the previous generation. Now this new grade – the tS Spec B – is the new WRX monarch. 

So does this mean the tS Spec B has more superpower than the rest of the line-up? Does it have a bigger engine? How much more does it cost? Does it have a manual gearbox? So many questions – the answers are below.

 

 

 

 

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Honda built its four-wheeled automotive empire on the back of small cars, flying in the face of 1970s convention that bigger was better. As the ubiquitous Civic grew larger and larger, a niche for a smaller car appeared, and that niche was subsequently filled by the City in sedan guise, and the Jazz hatch that sits alongside it.

The buying public, however, is simply not as interested as it once was in small hatches and sedans, and Honda, along with other importers, is feeling the pinch when it comes to slumping sales for its smaller models.

But are we all missing out on something here? After all, the Thai-built City is priced from a rock-bottom $15,990 in base manual form – which is not a lot of money for a Honda.

We’re trying the range-topping, $21,590 VTi-L to see what we may have been missing.