It’s Friday and we’re celebrating with a relatively modest Subaru WRX price bump, a tanker bottleneck in the mighty Bosphorus, a big UAW win, and an even bigger win for Ford. We also got a new SZA album, which is nice.
Welcome to The Morning Dump, bite-sized stories corralled into a single article for your morning perusal. If your morning coffee’s working a little too well, pull up a throne and have a gander at the best of the rest of yesterday.
They Only Raised The WRX Price $1,025
I have not decided how I feel about the new Subaru WRX. The car had a good run as the best value in performance cars because of its racy AWD and lack of real competitors. The Civic Type R, Golf R, short-lived Focus RS, Elantra N, and incoming 2024 Acura Integra Type-S changed all that. How to best describe my feelings of the previous-gen WRX… it’s like when you go to your favorite donut shop and you want a cinnamon sugar braid and all they have is regular glazed and you think “Yeah, sure, a glazed donut is good enough.” The outgoing WRX is a glazed donut.
The redesigned WRX, which went on sale last year, has leaned more into the car’s rally history and now looks more like a dirt-tossing mongoose than a track rat. I respect the hustle and have no good donut metaphor for this and am starting to realize I’m actually quite hungry.
With 271 horsepower from it’s 2.4-liter boxer four it’s marginally competitive. By comparison, an Elantra N offers 276 horsepower and a Type R pumps out 315.
It’s 2022 and everything expensive so what I respect the most about the new WRX for 2023 is that it’s still an OK value. A Civic Type R costs a whopping $43,990 including a $1,095 freight charge. The new WRX is just $30,605, only $1,000 over the outgoing car, or $31,625 with a destination and the manual (the destination fee went up $25 to $1,020, so overall the price is up $1,025). In an era when carmakers are sneaking $1,500 upgrades into their cars, I suppose the increase could be worse. The WRX GT tops out at $44,415 with destination and includes fancy seats, EyeSight, paddle-shifters (it’s auto only), and 18-inch wheels. No thanks.
Is it a better value than the Elantra N? Ehh… I need to drive the current WRX to say. Maybe? The appeal of the WRX is that it’s a WRX and if a WRX appeals to you then the new WRX is the WRX to get. If you don’t need a WRX the 2024 Subaru Impreza 2.5 RS is not a performance car but is a fine hatchback. WRX.
[Editor’s note: “ONLY 1,000?” Only? For the same car? Seems like Stockholm Syndrome, Matt. -DT].
[Writer’s note: It’s worth keeping in mind that the base WRX doesn’t include features like heated seats and automatic headlights linked with the wipers. If you want more amenities in your new sport compact car, the WRX’s value isn’t as strong as it could be due to the new price hike. -Thomas Hundal]
Ford Wins Six ‘What Van?’ Awards
You ever notice that everyone (not us) does awards at the end of the year? Seems like a weird coincidence. Cynical people will say that these outlets are selling their awards and I don’t know that I’ve ever seen definitive proof of that. In most cases, you can assume the journalists doling out the awards are being honest in how they evaluate vehicles.
What gets sold is not the award itself, necessarily, but the accolades. Did you know that if I said “The Skoda Superb is the greatest car to ever exist and will bring you untold riches and the love of everyone you desire and the fealty of everyone you despise” and Skoda wanted to use that quote in an ad or a billboard they’d have to pay the Autopian money for that? I don’t say this to completely shade these awards as readers want to hear what car gets what and it makes for good copy. I just think it’s important context.
The exception to this, of course, has to be the fine folks at British van rag ‘What Van?‘ I am legitimately curious about their choices and respect the van love. I’ve been watching them do this for years and I usually agree with their results. They handed out six awards to Ford this year, including:
- Large Van of the Year: Ford E-Transit
- Van of the Year (overall): Ford E-Transit
- Medium Van of the Year: Ford Transit Custom
- Used Van of the Year: Ford Transit Custom
- Editor’s Choice: Ford’s ‘Make it Visible’ Suicide Prevention campaign
- What Van? Hall Of Fame Inductee: Mandy Dean, Ford of Britain/Ireland’s Commercial Vehicle Director
A bit of controversy, though, cannot be ignored.
Ford E-Transit won the big overall award, but it was actually the commercial version of the VW ID.Buzz that won the electric van category. I can only imagine the gasps in the crowd during the lunchtime ceremony.
What Is Turkey’s Game?
Russia continues to make money off of energy exports even with all the sanctions, which is why Western governments in the G7 recently announced a price cap on Russian oil that forces tankers carrying the black stuff to accept a price of $60 or less or risk losing insurance from European providers.
According to Reuters, this is causing some issues. Specifically, tankers are lining up at the Bosphorus strait waiting for Turkish authorities to let them pass. The Turkish government says this is due to wanting to make sure these tankers have proper insurance related to the potential change in the value of their cargo. The G7 governments (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the US) say it’s not on them:
“This situation is not due to the G7 oil price cap, since there is, in any case a 45-day wind-down period for seaborne Russian crude oil purchased before 5 December,” a European Commission spokesperson told Reuters in emailed comments.
Under the G7 scheme’s transition period, which runs to Jan. 19, services, such as insurance, can still be provided for seaborne Russian crude bought before Dec. 5, even if it was bought at a price above the cap.
The Commission spokesperson said that after this transition period, Turkish authorities can continue to verify the insurance policies of tankers in “exactly the same way as before”.
So what’s up here? Turkey is both a country and, historically, a lever that exists between Western governments and Russia. It’s been this way since the end of WWII and the biggest winner from Russia’s illegal occupation of Ukraine has been Turkey and the company’s President Recep Erdogan.
What’s not clear, immediately, is what Erdogan wants. We’ll probably find out soon.
The UAW Organizes Its First Battery Plant
Workers at the Ultium Cells LLC plant in Warren, Ohio, voted 710-16 in favor of joining the United Auto Workers union. In case it wasn’t obvious, the Ultium plant is owned by General Motors in a tie-up with LG Energy Solution.
Here’s some important context from The Detroit News:
The Warren Ultium facility is the first of several battery plants the UAW will look to organize as the Detroit Three automakers progress on their EV plans. The organization efforts come a year before the UAW starts contract talks with the automakers, which are likely to focus on preserving union jobs in the move to EVs.
“The successful organizing of the new wave of electric battery manufacturing is essential to the UAW’s future position,” said Marick Masters, a professor at Wayne State University’s Mike Ilitch School of Business, in a statement. “Its victory in the recent election to organize the Ultium facility represents a milestone in its path toward this end. Now the challenge is to meld the representation of these workers into the overall fabric of the auto negotiations so as protect jobs and wages.”
The GM Lordstown plant is right next year so this will be interesting to watch.
The Flush
It’s late at night. You’re happily asleep dreaming of a pristine Isuzu Impulse RS. Suddenly, you’re jolted awake by your kid who is claiming she can’t go back to sleep without ‘Cho-Cho-Chokey’ a cat she hasn’t played with in three years. You go digging through their closet and find an old laptop. A thought hits you like a jolt of lighting! Back in college your friend couldn’t pay for pizza and gave you two Bitcoin for it. Those two Bitcoin are on a wallet on that computer. You ignore your kid and run to transfer that money into cash while you can and end up with $34,324. You’ve got to buy a new performance car. What do you get?
Read more on The Autopian
- The 2024 Subaru Impreza Revives The Impreza 2.5 RS And Kills The Sedan
- Here’s Every Car The $43,990 Honda Civic Type R Competes With
- The 276 Horsepower 2022 Hyundai Elantra N Is A Blue Collar Sports Sedan Revelation
Got a hot tip? Send it to us here. Or check out the stories on our homepage.
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Photos: Mitsui OSK Lines, Ford, Subaru, GM
Its crazy to me that the new Prius can be had with 220 hp and 0-60 in 6.6 seconds which almost matches the WRX.
Subaru dealers near me have a lot of WRXs sitting on lots… many since July. No surprise, but they also have 4k of markup on them. There’s one local dealer that discounts them (5% below msrp) and they actually sell. Point is, a price increase is the last thing the WRX needs.
No facelift, no buy.
I still can’t change my profile pic. I go to gravatar, which is also wordpress (?) and it recognizes my username, but not my password. Tried to reset my password, it emailed a reset, but I never got it. This new comment system is worse. No upgrades in terms of voting/edits/notifications, but now 3 friggin sign ins? Here, gravatar, and wordpress? Makes no sense.
Test post with an entirely new account, working with gravatar and wordpress.
Now the name isn’t working. Man….. you guys dropped the ball with teh comments section hard. I’m out for a while. So frustrated.
A Mustang convertible with the Ecoboost. I think it’s an overlooked car. You get over 300 hp, a droptop, and RWD. That would be an awesome summer cruiser.
On another note guys, I usually have Autopian open on my Chrome tabs, but my email is open on my Edge tabs. It’s a small matter but ever since you switched to the new system earlier this week, if I try to log in on Chrome it sends the link to my email on Edge, and then opening that link sends me to Autopian on Edge. As a result I’m unable to log in on Chrome at all because it keeps asking me to redo the sign-in link.
Still mired in the switchover or is this something we can fix?
Let me check! Sorry about that.
Here’s what we got back when we looked into this:
“I believe they should open their email in Chrome and then after they get access to the site, close email on Chrome and go back to using Edge for it. ”
Let me know if that works.
Right click the link in your email, paste it in the browser you want to use. I had to do this to log in with my work browser (procrastination ftw).
I think you can use the “copy link” right click from the Edge email, and then paste it into the Chrome address bar to get the Chrome Autopian to work right. Try that and see.
That worked, thank you.
Now that I see how easy that was I’m a little embarrassed I didn’t figure that one out on my own in the first place…
A WRX. Wait, did you bait us with the first shift or something???
Since Matt’s stated mission is “to convince you to buy a Peugeot” I’d get this 406 and pocket the difference:
https://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/cto/7560994981.html
Admittedly it’s fourteen years newer than any car I’ve ever owned, but never let it be said that I’m not willing to consider new things. I don’t see a choke cable, though, which is making me a bit nervous.
Wow.
“She drove it here and then I purchased it” amphibious Peugeot! /s
Seems like there should be just a little more info in the ad – like engine size (with the 16V on the engine, wiki says it’s a 2.0L), also it doesn’t appear to have A/C. Also, how long it’s been here – Carfax says 2014/how’d it get here to begin with when it’s only just turning 25 now?
“Thought about keeping it, but too many cars.” what else do they have if they’re getting rid of this?!
I would cheat and just dump all the money into new parts for my crappy Civic. 34K would build a hell of a track toy K-swapped 2003 Civic LX.
I’m assuming “new performance car” can mean new to me? If so, I’d get an S2000. Unfortunately, it seems a nice S2000 costs around 2 bitcoins at the moment (a fact that sucks for both S2000 buyers and people who bought bitcoins in the last few years). I can’t believe I passed on a reasonably nice 2006 S2000 for $8000 a few years ago. That was dumb.
Also, the donut analogy in the WRX segment doesn’t work. It is scientific fact that the best donut is a plain glazed donut. Your implication that a “cinnamon sugar braid” is somehow superior to a glazed donut is absurd and mildly offensive.
I’m also kicking myself for the lack of an S2000 in my driveway, prices have gone crazy on these. I’ve come so close to buying one twice before, both times for under 10k.
And I’m kicking myself for not buying a second gen CRX Si. Crazy prices.
In fact, $34K would buy a very good CRX Si, but not the very best ;-(
Miata RF.
A man of culture. Excellent choice.
Re: the WRX…it’s just an ugly car. I’ve seen a few in person and I just have no idea what they were going for styling wise. The numbers are adequate and apparently the power curve is much more enjoyable than the peaky older engine’s but is that enough? I think the car will survive as long as they make it because the standard all wheel drive in that price range makes it unique, but it’s definitely dated on arrival compared to some of its competitors.
It gets lousy fuel economy, the automatic option is a non-starter for people that care about driving, and the interior is definitely a cut below a GTI or one of the Hondas. It all comes down to how much you want or need all wheel drive and whether or not you want a manual. I think a lower spec GTI with the DSG is pretty much the perfect starter enthusiast car for most people and I own an N so obviously I’m a big fan of the more rambunctious and edgy qualities they offer in addition to the slick DCT (and before anyone jokes-mine hasn’t been recalled so I guess I dodged a bullet). A lot of cars in this price range babysit you with electronics as well but the Ns do not. If you shut everything off it’s all off and the DCT will let you smash the engine against the rev limiter to your heart’s content.
I think a base WRX around $31,000 is an appealing buy for an enthusiast who wants or needs all wheel drive. But once the car is spec’d into the mid/high 30s that’s when the GR Corolla and Ns come in and I personally wouldn’t pick a WRX over either…not to mention the highest trim in the mid 40s is hysterically uncompetitive. At that point you’re paying Golf R/CTR/well equipped Mustang GT/Camaro SS/New Z/4 popper Zupra/m240i money for 272 horsepower and a damn CVT.
The flush: I’m with V10emous here-34k for a sports car would mean LT1 Camaro for me. For that much money you get a 450 horsepower NA V8, a great chassis, front Brembos, and a Tremec manual that I believe comes with a no lift shift feature. If you can’t have fun with that seek immediate medical attention. I think the LT1 is one of the most compelling enthusiast buys on the market and yet it seems like no one talks about it…
I’d buy a GR86 Premium MT in Neptune blue with some accessories for a little over $32k and pocket the rest.
Although I agree with what OldJackBurtonSays about using it towards something else. Since we’re in fantasy land I’d put that money towards an Alpine A110 R because in fantasy land that car would be available in America.
The Flush: For that amount of money, I would probably buy a new Chevy Bolt… it has high *environmental* performance…
My marriage would be tested while I debate with my wife over a hybrid sedan or the Civic Si I want. Hopefully, we’ll end up with both someday. Can Honda keep selling the Civic Si until we figure out college for the kids? I hope so.
$35k, eh? Honestly I’d probably go to Hemmings and see what I could get, part of the old Friday game of ‘you’ve got X amount to spend and need to pick out a vehicle.’ Even more honestly it’d probably be an old SAAB or VW.
Also, now I’m hungry for doughnuts. Dammit.
34K and Change? New? Probably try a GR86 is I could not make up the difference and get a Corolla GR
In photos I was GR86 all the way. Now having seen them and the BRZ in the flesh, I’m a BRZ fan.
I agree with David. The saddest thing here, is that we are applauding ‘only $1025’ more in the price of a pretty great little car, when the actual real wages of almost all workers in Europe and the Americas has been dropping year by year for decades. While I’m as big a gear head as most of the inmates at Autopian, the REAL problem with automotive price inflation, is that corporate profits have not been reined in by appropriate governmental oversight, particularly in the area of executive compensation. Another area that should be addressed, is stock buy-backs and the inequity of capital gains tax rates being lower than income tax rates. I encourage those of you who haven’t paid attention to Robert Reich over the years to watch this:
http s :/ /ww w.facebook.co m/RBReich/videos/1164677516878176/
It’s that crapbox interior that really makes $31k sting. Cars in 2022 = No Fun.
A 2022 Camaro LT1 with zero options is $34,000. Hopefully there is at least one of those leftover somewhere as a 2023 is $36K. Hell, I could even afford some floor mats with the leftover 300 bucks.
The LT1 is the best power for money buy on the market right now. The interior in a super base one is basically a prison cell (I’ve driven a lower trim V6) but for 34k you get a V8, Tremec manual, front Brembos…what more do you really need?
Yeah I was confused by the statement in the article that the WRX had a nice run as the best value in performance cars….did I miss that the Camaro and Mustang went away?
I mean usability is really important too. It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of the current Camaro (there are dozens of us! DOZENS!) but actually living with one as a regular car is a headache. The back seats are useless, the trunk opening is ridiculously small, the doors on pony cars are comically huge and heavy, the car is roughly the size of a 4Runner overall, and it’s hard to see out of it. I had an SS as a rental for a week in Hawaii and it was an absolute joy while driving but by the end of the week my wife and I were already getting tired of dealing with it for normal car stuff.
The Mustang is a little easier to live with (there’s a bit more space, visibility, and the trunk isn’t merely decorative) but still comes with a lot of the same challenges and I personally didn’t find it to be nearly as engaging…although who knows how valid of a conclusion that is considering I spent a few days with an Ecostang and my Camaro experiences all involve more cylinders. Apples to oranges to a degree, but I still feel like I got a reasonable amount of time with the platform.
Unless you’re single or not single but without young kids or furry friends it’s just hard to make a pony car work as a daily. That’s where the WRX and its competitors come in. You sacrifice pure performance significantly but you gain quite a lot in day to day usability. I personally have a Hyundai N rather than pony car for this reason, because we live in the city, road trip a fair amount, have a dog, and kids will likely be entering the picture soon enough…but hey, it’s good to have options.
34k can still get you a lot of performance these days regardless of which flavor you prefer.
I don’t disagree with that analysis at all, I just don’t think the author’s statement follows from it.
Depends what you value in “best value” I suppose. Even if it’s usability, I don’t think my mind would jump to a WRX first vs something with a hatchback body style. And if what you value most in a performance car is, well, performance, there is no way to make the case for the Subaru with a straight face.
Honestly you’d probably like my Kona N a lot. It offers a much more raw, visceral, sonically pleasant experience than just about any other turbo 4 out there. I get that that’s a bit like crowning the tallest small person, but check out some YouTube videos of how the N powertrain sounds and feels sometime. That combined with actually having some edge to the performance are mainly why I traded my GTI in on it.
I appreciate a car that’s a bit of a handful and takes time to master…it’s much more rewarding to me than something that anyone can hop in and drive well. The GTI’s electronics constantly intervening at the limit really pissed me off after a while. You couldn’t fully defeat traction control, it auto upshifted at redline, the engine ran out of breath after about 5,000 RPMs…it just felt like it was more of a small curated sample of a good driving experience rather than a buffet.
Anyway, I agree that the current WRX isn’t a super compelling buy. If you want or need all wheel drive then it makes some sense, but only in the lower trims. Once it hits 35 or so it’s a much harder sell….and don’t tell anyone I mentioned this little secret, but about 90% of the people who claim they need all wheel drive would be perfectly fine with front or rear wheel drive with an LSD and decent tires…and the GTI, Ns, and I believe the Honda front wheel drive sporty compacts all have differentials standard.
You may find this funny, surprising, or neither, but I actually was once interested in buying a Veloster N, and I still like them. There was never one nearby to test drive, WFH became permanent (removing my need for a commuter car), and having a third kid this year finally put the nail in the small car idea.
I’ve never been much of a hot hatch person, but there was something about that goofy looking thing that appealed to me for some reason.
The Veloster N is a cool car! The 3 door/4 seat thing kind of ruled it out for us off the bat…and the interiors of the Elantra N and Kona N are a little nicer, although they’re still definitely not anything to write home about. I actually originally wanted an Elantra N but my wife essentially said “we can get the mini SUV but not that ridiculous looking sedan”.
It was a compromise I was willing to make…and I don’t even regret it because the usefulness that the Kona N offers definitely outweighs the slight sacrifice you make dynamically.
Plus I enjoy the sleeper quality. No one has any idea what it is until I blow past them with the exhaust roaring. I’ve actually had a few guys in pony cars pull up next to me in disbelief that the sounds they were hearing came from a damn Kona.
I would not ignore the kid. Once they are set, what would I spent 34K on? I will assume this is the total cost and not a down payment.
With that in mind, the WRX is on the top as my Subaru’s are great.
The Kia Forte GT and Toyota GR86 would be contenders.
If that is down payment, then I am look at a new Camaro or Mustang because I like those.
It doesn’t say I can’t spend more than $34,324, so I’d just put that towards a new Nissan Z.
New Performance car for $34,324? A base manual 2-door Bronco and a Mountune tune.
Is that really how much 2 BTC is worth now? I heard the crypto market crashed but I didn’t realize it was that bad.
Anyway, I’d be looking at Lotus Esprits. V8s would still be out of my price range but that’s fine because I don’t want a V8 Esprit anyway. But I should be able to pick up a nice X180 or possibly even a Series 4 for that much. I’d even consider a Series 1 if the condition is right.
Well it looks like my reading comprehension skills are out the window today. I just saw “37,000” and “buy a sports car” and I ignored the rest. If I’m going to play by the rules, I’ll go with a GR86 and save the rest for upgrades.
This is absolutely the correct answer, and timely because I just watched an auction on Hemmings end on Tuesday for a low-mile ’99 V8 go for $38,000, or $39,900 with the fees. I’m sure you could come up with an extra couple thousand to make it happen.
I was watching the auction because I have wanted an Esprit since, oh, 1981 or so. I REALLY wanted to bid on this one since it perfectly matched my dreams, but I would have had to dig into my retirement to make that happen in the moment. And the wife was NOT going to have that.
It makes me sad, because I’m 52 now and have accepted I will never own a Ferrari or Lamborghini, yet a Lotus remains tantalizingly close. But yet still so far. Maybe when kiddo gets older but I dunno man, I’ll be near 60 by then. 🙁
It is that extra black plastic crap around the wheel wells that costs an extra grand. Jesus Subaru, you could at least paint the plastic.
If they paint the plastic, how will people know how rugged it is?
Would the paint fill the texturing they have the gall to claim is the aero explanation for all that ugly?