safari rally subaru

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1998 Subaru Impreza WRC98

1998 Safari Rally entrant with World Champion, Colin McRae

First registered to Prodrive – 'R7 WRC'

Fully restored by Subaru WRC specialists Autosportif Engineering, zero-mile engine, gearbox and differentials

Works Subaru World Rally Team 1998 World Rally Championship competitor

One of only two Subaru Impreza WRC’s driven by Colin McRae in a Safari World Rally

Chassis no. PRO GC8-98.020

Colin McRae - The most famous World Rally Champion

Colin McRae is the most famous World Rally Driver in history, claiming the World Rally Championship behind the wheel of an iconic blue Subaru Impreza in 1995. It was not just his ferocious speed, or god-given talent that set him apart, Colin always gave his everything. Regardless of his situation, you always knew Colin McRae would be giving it hell, becoming famous for his motto “when in doubt, flat out” – a saying that perfectly encapsulated his approach to rallying.

Colin McRae was born into a rallying dynasty, with his father being five-time British Rally Champion, Jimmy McRae. Colin’s Brother, Alister McRae was also a World Rally Driver, claiming the British Rally Championship in 1995. Over his World Rally career, Colin McRae raced for several works’ teams including Ford, Citroen, Skoda and most famously, Subaru. He claimed an incredible four hundred and seventy-seven stage victories and twenty-five World Rally victories, a record at the time, alongside his 1995 World Championship. McRae is also the youngest ever World Rally Champion, at only 27 years and 109 days.

McRae is the Senna of World Rally, with many millions of fans not only watching him on the stages, but also playing his many video games which really brought the World Rally Championship, and Colin McRae, into the homes of many millions.

Colin McRae – The most famous World Rally Champion

Subaru and the World Rally Championship

Subaru is one of the most successful and iconic brands to have competed in the World Rally Championship, winning three consecutive Constructors’ World Championships from 1995 through to 1997, along with the 1995, 2001 and 2003 Drivers World Championships. Forty-six World Rally Victories were scored by the Subaru World Rally Team, with drivers including World Rally Champions Colin McRae, Tommi Makkinen, Juha Kankkunen, Carlos Sainz, Petter Solberg, Markku Alen and Richard Burns.

World Rally regulations changed in 1997, with a new era of cars being introduced. Subaru and Prodrive entered the Impreza, now in two-door specification using the latest GC8 body shell. The 555 Subaru World Rally Team dominated the 1997 World Rally Championship, claiming eight World Rally victories from fourteen events, and winning the Constructors’ Championship by twenty-four points over the works Ford Motor Co, and works Team Mitsubishi Ralliart.

For the 1998 World Rally Championship, Subaru and Prodrive developed the already reliable and competent Impreza, unveiling the WRC98 at the opening round, the Monte Carlo Rally in January. The new WRC98 was a development of the WRC97, with the engine manifolds had been reshaped, a new turbo was fitted with a little more power and careful attention to the anti-lag system (internally referred to as the ‘push to crash’ system by Prodrive engineers) maintained throttle response.

During the 1998 FIA World Rally Championship, Colin McRae claimed three victories in his Impreza WRC98 to finish third overall in the Driver’s Championship, with the 555 Subaru World Rally Team finishing third in the Constructors’ Championship.

Over the course of its life in the World Rally Championship with the works 555 Subaru World Rally Team, the Impreza scored an impressive forty-six victories, making it the most successful car in the World Rally Championship, alongside the Lancia Delta, and one hundred and twenty-two podium finishes in one hundred and ninety-three World Rallies, claiming six World Rally Championships in the process!

This ex-Colin McRae and 555 Subaru World Rally Team, Impreza WRC98

The 1998 Subaru Impreza WRC98 being offered here, chassis PRO-GC8-98-020 was built in late 1997 and first registered in England on 1 st January 1998, being assigned its iconic registration ‘R7 WRC’, which it retains to this day. Upon completion of build at Prodrive, R7 WRC was given a shake-down run at MIRA, a vehicle test facility in west Lancashire, before being dispatched to its first World Rally event.

1998 Safari Rally – R7 WRC Competition debut

The car offered here, R7 WRC, made it competition debut with the works 555 Subaru World Rally Team at the 1998 Safari Rally, round three of the 1998 World Rally Championship. At this event, R7 WRC was assigned to 1995 World Rally Champion, and Scottish legend, Colin McRae with British co-driver Nicky Grist.

As a result of Subarus weapon of choice for the Safari Rally, R7 WRC was built by Prodrive in a slightly different specification that a standard tarmac or gravel car. Visually the car sits much higher to allow for greater ground clearance over the rocky terrain, with the damper top mounts on the underside of the body shell, instead of on the inside as standard. To help the engine breathe in deep water, a carbon fibre snorkel and airbox were fitted, raising the air intake to the roof. Large and strong bull bars were added to the front of the car, both in front and behind the front bumper to protect the car from the wildlife regularly seen in Kenya. An enlarged windscreen washer bottle was also fitted for the longer stages. In the boot, the car carried two spare wheels and tyres and an enlarged fuel tank with 120 litre capacity for the longest rally of the year. For the drivers, little changed, although the windows were fitted with heat-reflecting film and the mirrors fitted with additional spotlights.

Held from the 28 th February to the 2 nd March 1998, the 46 th running of the Safari Rally Kenya was the ultimate test for man and machine, with drivers enduring incredible cockpit temperatures over the longest event on the World Rally Championship. It is also important to note that the Safari Rally was run on open roads, with each crew using a helicopter and spotter to ensure the road ahead was clear of pedestrians, vehicles and animals. Recent rainfall had seen the crews greeted by an even more daunting prospect as the stages were washed clean of sand, leaving punishing rocks everywhere.

 This was the first World Rally event outside of Europe in 1998, with Nairobi chosen once again as the host city for the rally. Day one, Saturday 28 th February, saw six competitive stages covering 364 kilometres, more than most rallies cover over three days! McRae and Grist quickly got to pace but suffered two punctures on stage 2. Due to the camber setup, and long high-speed straights on the second stage, the Pirelli tyre tread came off the tyre, resulting in two punctures. Despite stopping to change tyres, McRae and Grist lost nearly four minutes to rally leader, Tommi Makinen. After stage two, the Subaru team adjusted the rear camber, and McRae was back on track. A loss of four minutes would usually put a driver out of contention in a World Rally event, however there were two things to take into consideration at this event, one was that this was the Safari Rally, and four minutes was recoverable, and the second consideration is that this was Colin McRae, and he never gave up!

Over the four remaining competitive stages on day one, Colin McRae and Nicky Grist took commanding victories in all to finish the day in third place overall - an incredible comeback. Thanks to McRae’s desire to win, R7 WRC was back in contention and battling with the very best. “We would have been beating the Mitsubishi’s if it wasn’t for the tyres this morning” – a sign of Colin’s confidence at the end of day one.

Day two saw McRae continue to climb the ranks, and at the end of stage nine, along the knife edge rim of the rift valley, he was lying second overall having crossed the equator several times throughout the day. On the final stage of day two, whilst in second place overall, McRae was hit with more bad luck and suffered an engine issue which resulted in his retirement. Boiling oil and the engine cutting out meant it was impossible for him to continue, curtailing an incredible drive.

Colin McRae raced only two Subaru Impreza WRC-era cars at the world’s toughest rally, the Safari rally in Kenya, P8 WRC in 1997 and this car, R7 WRC in 1998. This was Colin’s last appearance in Kenya wearing the famous blue and yellow of the Subaru World Rally Team.

Post 555 Subaru World Rally Team

With its factory competition duties complete, R7 WRC returned to Prodrive in England where it was rebuilt as a customer specification world rally car and sold, the same way as every 1997 and 1998 ex-works Subaru Impreza was sold. Interestingly, R7 WRC was seen and photographed at Prodrive a couple of months later where we can clearly see the Safari rally specification points on the shell.

The remainder of the 1998 season saw R7 WRC compete in rounds of the European and Russian Rally Championship before being bought by McKinstry Motorsport in 2001 and competing in English and Irish rallies. R7 WRC was a regular at small rallies around Ireland before being purchased by Darragh Raftery in 2004. In its post-works life, this Subaru was painted white, gold and then white once more. Many cars that rally in Ireland are converted to what is referred to as ‘Irish tarmac’ specification, which really is a tarmac car in right-hand drive with gravel springs. Over the following twelve years, R7 WRC and Raftery would compete at a limited number of rallies, mainly in Ireland. 2006 saw six appearances, 2007 two, 2008 two, 2011 one and two final events in 2016.

In early 2017, R7 WRC was bought by its current English owner who immediately sent the car to Subaru World Rally Car specialists, Autosportif Engineering in Oxfordshire, where he commissioned a complete restoration. The team engineers and mechanics set about stripping and inspecting every component of R7 WRC, ensuring it was correctly rebuilt over a period of nearly two years. After the Safari rally with McRae in 1998, Prodrive rebuilt the car for sale to a privateer as a tarmac specification car, removing the various Safari-specific add-on items. However, the Autosportif team worked hard to ensure that R7 WRC was reassembled using many original Subaru Safari components, including the iconic carbon-fibre snorkel running up the co-driver’s a-pillar, air box,  bull bars, bonnet, rear-view mirrors, enlarged 120-litre fuel tank, windscreen washer bottle, and even fitted two Coralba rally computer units the same as those used by Nicky Girst in the 1998 Safari Rally. The car was repainted by SGM Race Paint, owned by Steve Goddard who painted these Subaru World Rally cars in period, whilst also still painting cars for Prodrive today. Using period imagery, R7 WRC was finished in its iconic 1998 Safari Rally livery. Upon completion, R7 WRC made its first public appearance at the 2019 Goodwood Festival of Speed where it was certainly a favourite with fans.

Today, R7 WRC is offered fully restored with a freshly rebuilt and dynoed engine, gearbox, front, centre and rear differentials, hubs and driveshafts. This really is a ‘zero-mile’, two-door, ex-Colin McRae, works Subaru World Rally car ready to be enjoyed by its new owner, either on road, or off road, the choice is yours!

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Posted Thursday, June 29, 2023 at 10:33pm

ALL-FEMALE CREWS CONQUER GRUELLING SAFARI RALLY KENYA

Among the trailblazing teams were Tina and Caroline Gatimu – the first mother-daughter crew to tackle the African classic in its 70-edition history – in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. Joining them in a trio of Subaru Imprezas were Tash Tundo/Chantal Young, Jennifer Malik/Wangui Mungai and Pauline Sheghu/Linet Ayuko.

All four teams were proudly supported by the Government of Kenya through its Talanta Hela initiative. Aligned with the government’s bottom-up economic transformation agenda, Talanta Hela strives to identify, nurture, market, and monetise talent.

©2024 Subenet, LLC • Call Direct: (612) 999-8025 This site powered by Scott Putnam

Safari Rally

Marlboro Safari Rally 1987

16 - 20 April

• Starters 53
• Finishers 23
• Distance 1542.35km

Overall winners

Event photo's.

Photo's are an important part to keep the memory to the Safari Rally alive. Only the best are taken from personal archive to be displayed. They are collected over the past years and were found on a variaty of medium (including old forums!). Be aware most of them have copyright on them and you should enjoy them on this website and not take them.

Memorabilia

It is amazing how many items are still around! Friends from around the world helping a lot. There's great joy in sharing these items with you. All these items are in private collection and carefully stored and documented. The collection will never be 'complete', but slowly new historic pieces are being added. Visit the website occasionally to find the new gems and go back to memory lane.

At this moment I don't have a video yet. Check back later!

Explore other years

Go back and forth in time and enjoy each year of the Safari Rally.

Marlboro Safari Rally 1986

29 March - 2 April

Marlboro Safari Rally 1988

March 31 - 4 April

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PASTRANA PICKS UP FIRST SEASON WIN IN AT A CHALLENGING OJIBWE FORESTS RALLY  

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The 2024 Subaru WRX TR Is The Rally-Bred Sedan's Final Form

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Key Takeaways

• The future is electric, but the 2024 Subaru WRX TR holds onto its rally roots with track-ready upgrades & a mature performance feel.
• With Recaro seats, Brembo brakes, and sharp handling, the WRX TR offers a balanced driving experience between luxury and engagement.
• Positioned between the Audi A4's comfort and the rowdy Toyota GR Corolla, the WRX TR is a grown-up, rally-inspired sedan for enthusiasts.

It’s a weird time for the affordable enthusiast car. On one hand, we’re almost spoiled for choice, with Honda, Acura, Toyota — and even Hyundai — ready to sell you a high-strung turbocharged hatchback that can shame brands like Bugatti and Lamborghini on the Nurburgring. On the other hand, these same cars may represent the end of auto enthusiasm as we know it. Well, at least as we’ve known it for the past 30-odd years.

It's no secret that the future of transportation will be electric. Sure, infrastructure issues and the like may push mass adoption out a few years longer than we all initially thought, but a significant number of OEMs have publicly stated their plans to shift to an all-EV lineup within the next five-to-ten years. This means that we may be witnessing the last hurrah of our beloved, rowdy, manual-shifting rides.

So what does any of that have to do with the ride you see here? This, as the headline tells you, is a 2024 Subaru WRX TR. In the past, that “TR” stood for “Tuner Ready,” but at least within Subaru, those letters now stand for “Track Ready.” Is it track ready? Maybe. But perhaps more importantly, this isn’t built to the level of Subaru’s iconic race car: the WRX STI .

Blame electrification. Subaru has explicitly stated that the future of any STI is electric , so the company hasn’t thrown its money or engineering magic into transforming this WRX into a mechanically brilliant track and gravel machine. But the base car is solid, as are the upgrades, making this rally-inspired sports sedan worthy of consideration.

2024 Subaru WRX TR

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Subaru's rally-bred sports sedan gets what the brand calls a "Track Ready" edition. While not as hardcore as the classic WRX STI, the Subaru WRX TR gets some true performance cred in the form of standard Recaro seats, Brembo brakes, sharper steering and a more sport-oriented suspension. What it lacks in boy-racer excitement it  makes up for with a more grown-up sense of sophistication.

In order to provide you with an honest and unbiased review, I drove the vehicle reviewed in this article on a daily basis throughout the course of daily life for a period of one week. For detailed insight into testing procedures and data collection, please review our methodology policy .

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2024 Subaru WRX TR First Impressions

I consider myself to be a Subaru fan, primarily because of the original GC Impreza WRX STI. I love the fact its form is informed by function. It’s an economy car-turned-factory hot rod, with a technically advanced powertrain and chassis that has proved itself across the world’s most demanding rally stages. I’m smitten by its muscular stance, and am charmed by comically large—yet functional—wings and scoops. This general design ethos has defined the WRX and STI models for each generation, and it’s something I feel is missing from this latest WRX.

Visually, the current WRX seems to be a vehicle without a clear identity. It’s a sports sedan, yet it doesn’t hunker itself down to the ground, and with that black plastic cladding, it almost seems as if Subaru is trying to position the WRX as a light crossover. I get Subaru’s argument that this textured plastic offers aerodynamic advantages — think the dimpled surface of a golf ball — but I also feel that the only place to see said advantages is on a computer monitor running a computational fluid dynamics program. And even with this contrasting black plastic, the sedan itself feels subdued, as if it wants to disappear into the background. The WRX is a rally ca — it’s literally the name —and needs to feel a bit wild in order to feel “right.” What I’d give for color-matched overfenders and a dinner-table-sized rear wing.

Exterior Dimensions

The latest subaru wrx looks much better with the sti trim it deserves in this render.

With only 271 hp, the base model WRX is lacking in performance and style - this is how it would look with the 2021 WRX's STi trim in our render.

Driving Impressions And Performance

As much as I’d love some more visual flash from this latest WRX, it remains a car where function inspires form, with ever component designed in service of performance. No matter the WRX model, every scoop, vent and hole serves a real, measurable purpose. Its bulging front fenders are constructed from aluminum to help keep weight down. The engine undertray gets a similar texture to those exterior plastic bits, and is shaped specifically channel airflow in a way that helps add downforce to the front of the vehicle.

2024 saw the entire WRX lineup get some thoughtful tweaks, including a larger master brake cylinder to help improve braking performance, and structural upgrades to the underside of the vehicle to increase overall rigidity.

I’m almost hesitant to say that the tweaks made to transform a standard WRX to TR spec are upgrades, as they feel more like a final polish to the vehicle. Essentially, the TR is what the standard WRX should have been from the beginning. The moonroof has been ditched to both shave weight and lower the car’s overall center of gravity, but all the hard work went into upgrading the car’s footwork.

Let’s start with those wheels: they’re all-new 19-inch rollers that come wrapped in sticky Bridgestone Potenza S007 tires. These surround a larger brake package, which includes four-piston Brembo brake calipers and larger-than-stock rotors up front, and two-piston Brembo calipers in the rear. The electric steering rack has also been retuned to better match these chassis upgrades, resulting in a car that generally feels more responsive, and more planted, than the standard sedan.

Not only does this all mean that the Subaru’s got grip in the corners, it means that the steering is truly excellent. Because I read the manufacturer-supplied tech documents, I know that this WRX utilizes electronic trickery to make the dual pinions of its steering rack feel like a single unit. But the feel is so sharp, so precise, it feels as engaging as the old-school hydraulic units from the golden era of Japanese performance. The rest of the controls are equally as tactile, from the six-speed manual to the perfectly spaced pedals to the honest-to-god emergency brake lever. It’s everything you want from a hot ‘90s JDM car, only with a full factory warranty.

The engine, on the other hand, doesn’t get anything in the way of TR-specific upgrades. But with its standard 2.4-liter turbocharged BOXER four-cylinder outputting 271 horsepower, it’s plenty for street driving. I’d personally love a longer 1st gear as the rev limiter seems to come too quickly when launching the car from a stop, but I can also remember to just shift earlier. And with this engine’s 258 lb-ft of torque readily available from 2000-5800 rpm, in normal street driving at least, this car never feels slow.

Performance Specifications

Why subaru's return to wrc is so important.

Subaru might be set for a big return to the WRC, something that is incredibly important not just to the WRC, but the automotive industry itself.

2024 Subaru WRX TR Fuel Economy

Subarus are a lot of things, but economical with fuel isn’t one of them. And this is doubly true when you go with a high-performance offering like the WRX. The EPA rates the WRX at 19 mpg city, 26 highway and 22 mpg combined. I’m the farthest thing from a leadfoot, but in my own observed driving through the city and stop-and-go-traffic highways, I observed mpg estimates closer between 16-17 mpg.

2024 Subaru WRX Fuel Economy

Interior design and comfort.

Since its introduction to the US in 2002, the WRX never tried to hide its economy-minded Impreza underpinnings . That is to say, WRX models of years past have always felt cheap, with only the seat, steering wheel and shift knob feeling nicer than poverty-spec. But that was also part of the WRX’s charm: all the money went to the stuff that counts, namely, making the car fast.

This latest WRX is dramatically nicer inside than the models that came before. Maybe sharing that 11.6-inch touchscreen across vehicles allows Subaru to put more money into the distinctive bits, or maybe construction techniques have simply improved over the past two decades, but it’s nice spending time in this sedan.

All the plastics feel nice, the stuff feels well put together, and so on. But the centerpiece of the WRX TR’s interior is the Recaro front seats. Beyond their brand-name bling, they offer a whole lot of support and comfort and just work— whether you’re flinging this sedan through a bend or forcing it to crawl its way through traffic. And since there’s no moonroof to speak of, there’s plenty of headroom in the front, too. The other primary touchpoints — the steering wheel and shift knob — feel premium as well, which is nice as all other vehicle controls have been relegated to that aforementioned touchscreen.

There are, thankfully, a couple of physical buttons, namely the defrosters, temperature controls and volume knob. It would be great to have a knob or something to modulate fan speed, but these days, I’ll take what I can get. In a nod to the car’s performance pedigree, however, this screen can also show real-time driving data such as brake and throttle inputs. Not sure I’d want to spend my time taking my eyes off the road to really soak in this data, but it is a pretty neat party trick.

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Prices for 2003 Subaru Impreza WRX ranges from reasonable to outrageous.

Interior Dimensions

Technology and ease of use.

While the actual experience of driving the WRX TR is refreshingly analog, this car’s interior, as is the case with the entire Subaru line up, is defined by that portrait-oriented 11.6-inch touchscreen. It’s large, yes, but the overall experience is merely okay. Response is laggy, for starters. It’s screen resolution is decent, but isn’t as high-res as some of its competitors. And the display gets completely washed out when hit by direct sunlight. The majority of functions are controlled via this display, but as mentioned above, at least Subaru had the sense to make the temperature adjustment controls, defroster controls, and audio knobs all physical.

I’m also thankful for the fact that Subaru is still opting to make its vehicles compatible with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as it simplifies the screen to focus both on what is intuitive and what is important. Meaning that things like driving inputs and climate controls remain in their respective places at the top and bottom of the screen while all the phone magic happens in the middle.

Cargo And Storage Space

The distinct lack of a wagon option means that this WRX isn’t as practical as some of the models that came before it, but I like the fact that it has a trunk. With most of my presscar life spent in SUVs and crossovers, it’s nice having a separate, lockable cargo area that is 100 percent out of view. Sure, that trunk’s 12.5 cubic feet of space means this Subaru isn’t suitable for those Home Depot runs, but then, who expects a sports sedan to handle home improvement duties?

2024 Subaru WRX TR Cargo Capacity

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2024 Subaru WRX TR Vs. Its Competitors

The Subaru WRX was born from rally, so it only makes sense that a WRX TR intender wants the vehicle because of its rally pedigree. Unfortunately, the WRX’s definitive rival, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, was killed back in 2015. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t other gravel-bred machines ready to go head-to-head with the Subaru. And two immediately spring to mind: the Audi A4 and the Toyota GR Corolla.

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Audi's popular compact A4 sedan is back for 2024, and sports some interesting upgrades.

How The Subaru WRX TR Compares To The Audi A4

When the original WRX hit the US back in 2002, it was praised for offering the driving experience of the Audi A4, but at a fraction of the price. And with both vehicles featuring a turbocharged 4-cylinder engine, a rally-derived all-wheel drive system and engaging driving dynamics, the Subaru was seen by fans as the smarter buy.

These days, however, the Subaru no longer has a clear advantage. With a starting MSRP of $41,665, it’s actually more expensive than the A4 $41,900 entry price. Granted, that’s for the weaker 201-horsepower engine, but even when you step up to the more powerful A4 with 261 hp and 273 lb-ft of torque, you’re still looking at a starting price of just $44,100.

2024 Audi A4

Expert Opinion: The Audi A4 compact luxury sedan returns for the 2024 model year. While no major changes are undertaken, it does receive a litany of tech upgrades, along with a couple of new paint colors. The A4 has been a staple model in the Audi range, and looks to continue its popularity going forward. 

At this point, you’ve got to ask yourself whether you’re going for refinement or engagement. Do you want the status of the luxury badge, and all it implies? Or do you want the nameplate born from racing, and find that comfort ruins the driving experience?

The Audi is a very nice place to be. It’s well designed, with a thoughtful interior and near-perfect driving ergonomics. Materials throughout are premium, and the drive is as responsive or as relaxing as you want it to be. There’s no manual option whatsoever, but its 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission is considered to be one of the best in the industry. If you’re old enough to have been of driving age when the first WRX came out, have room for just one car and your days are now spent mostly in traffic, the Audi may be the better option.

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Audi A4's younger sibling in the lineup, the A3, boasts of upgrades in the 2023 model year that make it a great alternative to the A4.

How The Subaru WRX TR Compares To The Toyota GR Corolla

On the complete opposite end of things is the Toyota GR Corolla. This car is, in a word, rowdy. This is the bigger “American-sized” version of the GR Yaris, whose chassis and powertrain were born directly from Gazoo Racing’s involvement in the WRC .

The GR Corolla features a high-strung turbocharged three-cylinder that spits out 300 horsepower and 273 lb-ft of torque. Its GR FOUR all-wheel drive system allows for three different power biases: a 60/40 front wheel drive split for everyday driving, a 50/50 split for maximum track day traction, and a 30/70 rear-drive bias for tail-out fun. And you can get it with any transmission you want as long as it’s a 6-speed manual.

2024 Toyota GR Corolla

The 2024 Toyota GR Corolla injects pure performance into the Corolla lineup. Its turbocharged 3-cylinder engine packs a punch, making it a hot hatch perfect for enthusiasts.

And it’s a Corolla, so it’s cheap. The base Core models start at $36,500, with the top-spec Circuit Edition coming in at $45,140. That’s pricier than the Audi, but technically still a bit cheaper than the Subie (provided you can find a GR Corolla without a dealer markup, that is.)

But it’s a Corolla, so it feels cheap. Not in terms of material or assembly quality, but in terms of comfort. Grown-up luxuries don’t have a home here, and each mile in this car is loud, buzzy and bouncy. It’s as subtle as a sledgehammer, favoring track-spec immediacy with every driving input, and refusing to take things easy on the driver in a bumper-to-bumper slog. It’s why people love the GR Corolla, but this love is best reserved for either the very young, or those who can afford to pick one up as a weekend toy.

See If The Toyota GR Corolla Can Defeat The 2024 Ford Mustang GT In A Drag Race

Despite having a smaller cylinder count and less engine capacity, the GR Corolla is both lighter and boasts all-wheel drive.

Our Recommendation For Which Model You Should Buy

If the Audi A4 and Toyota GR Corolla are the extreme ends of the rally-inspired spectrum, the Subaru WRX TR comfortably lives somewhere in the middle. It’s not as soft as the Audi, yet is infinitely more comfortable than the Corolla. It’s livelier than the Audi, but doesn’t demand every second of your attention like the Toyota does. And while the A4 may bathe you in more comfort, the WRX TR still feels like the more grown-up ride when compared to the Corolla.

And maybe that’s the best way to describe the Subaru WRX TR: grown up . It’s a car for those who have grown up with the hot Impreza, but traded in their Red Bulls for High Brews. It delivers more mature take on the classic WRX formula and can capably handle the duties of the daily grind, and when that caffeine high kicks in, it can still unleash its mischievous side at a moment’s notice.

I just wish Subaru would give us a version with color-matched fenders.