The Subaru WRX lineup appears set to expand in Australia, after a new flagship manual variant surfaced in government documents.
According to the documents, Subaru has received approval to sell the WRX tS with a six-speed manual transmission in Australia – meaning the current range-topping sedan may no longer be offered exclusively with a continuously variable transmission (CVT) anymore.
Currently, WRX buyers who want to change their own gears are limited to the base model (starting from $47,490 before on-road costs) or the mid-spec RS ($52,990). A Club Spec SE was briefly available but only 150 examples were brought to Australia.
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CarExpert has contacted Subaru Australia to find out when to expect the manual WRX tS in local showrooms.
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Supplied Credit: CarExpert The Subaru WRX tS CVT has equipment not available elsewhere in the lineup, such as electronically controlled dampers and five drive modes (Comfort, Normal, Sport, Sport+ and Individual).
Based on the $2500 price difference between manual and CVT versions of the WRX lineup, a six-speed WRX tS would potentially be priced from $55,490 before on-road costs – barring any price increases for the range.
There won’t be any more power or torque for its turbocharged 2.4-litre four-cylinder engine, which produces up to 202kW and 350Nm. Drive is sent to all four wheels, and the WRX features a torque-vectoring system.
US-market digital instrument cluster Credit: CarExpert The government approval documents show the WRX tS will tip the scales at 1521kg, identical to the WRX RS and 70kg lighter than CVT-equipped versions.
It’s not yet clear if there will be any other changes to the Australian WRX lineup for 2025, after manual versions received long-awaited safety upgrades in the form of autonomous emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, lane-departure warning and leading vehicle departure alert last year.
Subaru introduced a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster to certain variants of the WRX in Japan and North America in early 2024, however this has yet to be announced for Australia.
There’s also no sign of a global WRX STI revival, after the flagship nameplate was dropped with the previous-generation model, signalling the demise of the long-serving ‘EJ’ flat-four engine.
MORE: Everything Subaru WRX