Exciting drive

The 2.5-liter, four-cylinder turbocharged engine may also play a role in injecting "go-fast" into your blood. The engine creates 265 horsepower and 244 pound-feet of torque, which for a car that weighs 3,200 pounds is more than enough juice. The WRX loves to be flogged and pushed through decreasing radius turns.

Rarely do work commutes leave a little sweat streaming down your back, but the WRX lets you hop out of the car a little more excited than when you got into it.

Even the five-speed manual offers quick throws and makes you drive with a little more enthusiasm. Drivers use manuals. A six-speed may have helped the car's mileage, though, which at 19 miles per gallon city and 25 mpg highway are middle of the road at best.

But that's just one of the give and takes with any car. Want great performance? What are you willing to give up?

    See also:

    Cooling and dehumidifying in high humidity and low temperature weather conditions
    Under certain weather conditions (high relative humidity, low temperatures, etc.) a small amount of water vapor emission from the air outlets may be noticed. This condition is normal and does not indi ...

    California proposition 65 warning
    Engine exhaust, some of its constituents, and certain vehicle components contain or emit chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductiv ...

    Reclining the seatback
      WARNING To prevent the passenger from sliding under the seatbelt in the event of a collision, always put the seatback in the upright position while the vehicle is in motion. Also, do no ...