I like that. Want to alert every police officer within radar range as to your hooliganistic intentions? Strap on a wing and blingy gold rims and you’ll have an STI – in the impound lot. Want to fly under the radar? The WRX is no more aggressive-looking than most of today’s crop of angular compact sedans, and comes fitted with 17×8-inch smoked-finish alloys that look like they were stolen off a Honda Accord. It’s practically subtle. (Oh, and by the way, Canadians can buy our STIs without the wing.)

In fact, the only real complaint about the WRX’s new exterior is the lack of a hatchback model. This is utterly unforgivable – I know there are things like R&D budgets, and economies of scale and all the rest of it, but the WRX has been available in hatchback/wagon form since the first car rolled off the line in 1992. It’s a major bummer that this WRX breaks with that tradition, and slightly puzzling given that fully half of all WRX sales in North America are of the five-door variant. Pitchfork and torch resources need to be diverted from complaining about the CVT to complaining about this – not that it’ll do any good.

Having said that, the drive is so much improved that you might just have to fit a Thule carrier box on the roof and make the best of it. The interior, too, is a major improvement, and not just in fit and finish and material quality. There’s more space in the back seat, and the doors open a little wider, making the car a bit better as a kid-carrier. Rear legroom is up by nearly 50 mm, meaning adults fit a little more comfortably, and there’s about 20L more trunk space.

The basic radio still looks like something you’d get in a mid-2000s car, and the backup camera is extremely small, but the WRX is now at least middle of the road in terms of interior quality. There are no mechanical differences in the three trim levels available, just niceties such as a power moonroof and power driver seat (as found here in this Sport trim tester), or leather seating and navigation as found on the Sport-tech model. Essentials like heated seats, aluminum pedals, and a quite nicely finished sport steering wheel are all available on the base model, which now represents decent value tucked just under the $30K mark.

2015 Subaru WRX CVT rear seats, trunk. Click image to enlarge

A proper WRX should be a true dual-purpose vehicle, so the first test of this CVT-equipped machine is to tackle some boring highway motoring. Here, it is surprisingly loud – not engine noise, but fairly pervasive tire roar from the 235-series Dunlop summer rubber. It’s not unbearable, but it is noticeable, and might be wearing on a longer commute. However, wind-noise is minimal, and the CVT’s I-mode keeps the rpm clamped down when cruising. Note that the official fuel economy figures of 11 L/100 km city and 7.9 L/100 km highway are actually generated in the middle S-mode, and are measured under the new, more accurate five-cycle test. Observed mileage was closer to 9 L/100 km in mixed use, and much of that with a relatively heavy foot.