The 2025 WRX tS is the 21st Century Muscle Car

About sixty years ago, the term “muscle car” entered the automotive industry vernacular. The muscle car started with a compact or midsize model of the type that would be bought by normal households, like a Chevrolet Chevelle or Nova, or Ford Falcon or Fairlane. It was usually a 2-door but stuffed with a very large high-performance V8 with other high-performance parts added to the chassis and the rest of the drivetrain. Some of these models provided the basis for stock car racing. New for 2025, the Subaru WRX tS can be seen as carrying on the muscle car tradition in a modern form. As Ewing Subaru of Plano explains, it just keeps getting better.  

The WRX tS is the most powerful WRX. The tS suffix replaces the STI name of a few years ago, and it stands for “Tuned by Subaru Tecnica International,” which STI stood for. The reason for the name change isn’t clear, but the STI’s distinct way of creating the modern muscle car is. 

It starts with a 4-door sedan that once belonged to the Impreza family before it went to all hatchback bodies for the U.S. market. Turbocharging effectively replaces engine size these days, so under the hood is a 271-horsepower 2.4-liter turbocharged BOXER 4-cylinder engine. The engine is connected to a 6-speed manual with a quick-acting performance clutch. Available as an option and standard on the GT trim is the Subaru Performance Transmission with automatic downshift blipping control, fingertip paddle shifting, and an 8-speed manual mode, all with aggressive shift logic. No offense, but it will likely perform better than you with the manual. Since this is all about fun, the short-throw 6-speed manual remains a popular choice.  

Because modern muscle cars are expected to perform in curves rather than just straight-line acceleration, the power then goes to a performance-tuned version of the Subaru Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive with torque vectoring that transfers power toward the outside wheels to help rotate the car in curves.  

The performance continues to the chassis with an STI-tuned suspension featuring electronically controlled adaptive dampers. Behind each satin-grey 19-inch wheel, 6-piston front and 2-piston rear Brembo brakes with gold calipers are wrapped by Bridgestone Potenza S007 tires.  

Keeping the driver in place for all the lateral G-forces, the drivetrain and suspension are capable of creating are highly bolstered Recaro Performance Design seats with black Ultrasuede and blue accents repeated in the door panels and other interior trim. The interior is also enhanced by a flat-bottomed “D-shaped” steering wheel connected to an extremely quick 13.5:1-ratio dual-pinion steering and specific tS graphics for the 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster.  

In addition to the 19-inch wheels, the exterior of the WRX tS sports a new hood scoop that feeds air directly to the turbo intercooler.  

Unlike those muscle cars of yesteryear, the WRX can be perfectly docile when driven casually and even delivers 25 – 26 combined mpg before springing to ferocious life when called upon.  

Nobody needs a WRX tS, but with a starting MSRP of $45,705, it can provide driving memories to last a lifetime. As of this writing, the 2025 WRX tS has not yet arrived in the Ewing Subaru of Plano inventory. If they haven’t arrived by the time you read this, ask one of our sales professionals to inform you when they arrive.