Subaru has brought back a name from its past — one longtime fans are happy to see. The Japanese automaker used last weekend’s Subiefest event in Florida to revive the WRX TR — a version of its WRX dirt road performance car designed especially for people who want to upgrade it.
If you don’t speak Subaru, TR translates to “tuner ready.” The moniker traditionally goes on a model with a few performance upgrades. But one with none of the added creature comforts of top-of-the-line trims. It’s the kind of thing you buy if you’re working with a budget and hoping to have fun with your car on the weekends.
Sadly, we don’t know what budget you’ll need for the 2024 Subaru WRX TR. The company hasn’t revealed pricing details for any 2024 WRX. The 2023 model starts at $30,605, with the top-of-the-line GT Trim costing $43,395. Considering those numbers, we expect the TR to sit in the mid-$30,000s when pricing is revealed. We’ll let you know when we know.
Performance Upgrades, Not Creature Comforts
In keeping with tradition, the TR gets a handful of performance upgrades.
The engine is unchanged. It’s offered with the same 6-speed manual gearbox or a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT) as the standard WRX. But, Subaru says, it gets “stiffer springs and revised damping rates for better body control and steering response.” Brembo brakes reel it in, 6-piston in the front and 2-piston in the rear, with larger pads and rotors than the standard car.
The steering has been retuned for “improved road feel.” Subaru deleted the moonroof for weight savings and added grippy Ultrasuede-upholstered Recaro racing seats to the front.
Nineteen-inch Bridgestone Potenza S007 tires should give it added grip.
Without knowing the price, it’s hard to be certain whether this is a proper successor to the TR model that disappeared after the 2006 model year. But Subaru seems to have designed it in the same spirit, with lots of go-fast upgrades and little in the way of added luxuries.
