Every automaker has their “golden” era. For Subaru, it was the mid-2000s. They still built neat stuff like the Baja, they leaned hard into their rally racing success and heritage with the WRX, and you could get a turbocharged Outback with a manual transmission. Those days are long gone, but the 2024 Subaru WRX GT shows us that they haven’t totally forgotten how to have fun.
The WRX uses a simple but tried-and-true formula: turbo, all-wheel-drive, and genuinely fun and engaging driving dynamics you can enjoy year-round. This being the fully loaded trim, the GT receives all the niceties you’d expect as well as a couple of key mechanical differences, most notably adaptive dampers. I’m especially curious about this tweak, having come away from the WRX Sport-tech and RS thinking they ride perhaps a smidge too firm, though certainly livable for a sporty daily driver. But there’s a catch: the GT is automatic-only. It’s not just any automatic, either. It’s a CVT.
But it’s not all doom-and-gloom here, because Subaru very cleverly disguised the fact that it’s a CVT in a few key ways. First and foremost, they don’t even call it that. They call it the SPT, or Subaru Performance Transmission. If I may be so pedantic, I’d like to point out that Subaru’s used this acronym before: SPT, or Subaru Performance Tuning, used to denote their line of dealer-installed performance parts back in the golden era. I’d usually roll my eyes at this marketing bologna, but I give it a pass here. As far as CVTs go, it’s actually very good.
It starts with the “high-torque” variant of the CVT plucked from the Ascent, but tweaked to “upshift” and “downshift” through the eight “gears” much quicker. The automatic WRX also blips the throttle on downshifts, and comes with a transmission cooler to better manage temperatures under consistent hard driving. All this is to say, it definitely doesn’t feel like a CVT. The new transmission is much more in-sync with the WRX’s powerband than before, kicking down and holding onto revs—and therefore boost—much more willingly than before. The paddle shifters are much more satisfying to use as well; in other Subaru models, using the paddles seems like more of a suggestion, but the WRX GT rows through the “gears” with the snappiness you’d expect from a dual-clutch.
One extremely inconsequential thing I noticed is that the tach plays a very subtle visual trick on you. Tug the paddle for a downshift and the needle shoots up before the engine revs follow accordingly, leading you to think the whole setup is more responsive than it actually us. But that hardly matters because this is by far Subaru’s best incarnation of their CVT, and should be in everything of theirs with a turbocharged engine.
That turbocharged engine here in the WRX GT is Subaru’s 2.4-litre Boxer four-cylinder. It puts out a healthy 271 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. Granted that doesn’t sound like which doesn’t sound like much of an improvement over previous Rexes, it’s punchy and gives you that Subaru gruffness you know you like deep, deep down, but don’t want to admit it. One observation with the WRX’s early-ish 6,100-rpm redline: it comes hard and fast with the manual, and can trip up your rhythm. But with the CVT—oop, SPT—it’s nice not worrying about the WRX’s wet blanket of a revlimiter.
We’ve adored this latest-gen WRX for its genuinely engaging driving experience without being as punishing as its predecessors. This GT is no exception, proving as responsive, balanced, and grippy as other Rexes. As well, the adaptive dampers here really do make a difference. The WRX GT isolates you from bumps, potholes, and big imperfections a bit better than the standard WRX, though it’s still not quite as cushy as other Subarus. The cabin is well-isolated from wind noise, though there’s more road noise here than, say, a Jetta GLI or a Civic Si.
Inside, if you’ve spent any amount of time in any contemporary Subaru, the WRX GT will feel immediately familiar. The dash is dominated by a portrait-oriented 11.6-inch touchscreen running Subaru’s so-so infotainment—it’s easy to use, but it can be slow at times responding to inputs, and could use a re-skin to look a little fresher. Still, it works well, retains some physical switchgear, and includes wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity.
This being the range-topping GT, it gets niceties like carbon fibre-ish accents, red stitching, and fuzzy Alcantara trim, but the fundamentals are still here: visibility all around is fantastic, there’s plenty of space regardless of where you sit, and the 354-litre trunk is more than usable. It’s smaller than the Elantra N or Civic Si, but then again the Elantra N’s very cool-looking rear chassis brace makes its fold-down seats all but useless.
I’m not afraid to admit that sometimes, maybe the automatic is the better choice. I’d also argue that sometimes, the manual is the only way to go. The 2024 Subaru WRX GT finds itself in an interesting spot: you can’t go wrong with either. Whether it’s the manual-only RS or the auto-only GT, the WRX is a fun and genuinely engaging car you can enjoy year-round. Why can’t we all just get along?
