Subaru WRX 2.0-liter turbo suddenly surprises in one key area

Subaru’s 2016 WRX 2.0-liter engine is a returning winner. Can it make Wards 10 Best Engines again?

Wards Auto may be more impressed the second time around with the 2016 Subaru WRX’s 2.0-liter turbo engine. It’s the same power plant that won the Wards 10 Best Engines award last year, but it’s making a new impression with the company that is everything automotive. Can it make Wards 10 Best Engines again?

The WRX’s 2.0-liter turbo engine is one of eight Wards Auto’s four-cylinder nominees for their Wards 10 Best Engines award. Wards Auto is in the test drive phase before they tell the world their 10 Best Engine selections. They drove the WR Blue 2016 Subaru WRX in eastern central Ohio through role coaster hills on two-lane roads to get some seat time with the 2.0-liter turbo again.

Wards Auto knows the boxer engine sits low in the chassis of the WRX and delivers superior driving dynamics with its low center of gravity. The 2016 WRX delivered that and more with the test drive in Ohio. What surprised them was the kind of fuel mileage they would get with the performance sedan. It was big bonus they weren’t expecting.

Here’s what Jim Irwin from Wards Auto said, “I averaged 24 miles a gallon in city driving and 31 on the Interstates, numbers that easily beat the WRX’s EPA estimates. Chalk that up to features including direct injection, twin-scroll turbocharging and Subaru’s Active Valve Control System, which micromanages intake-valve function by computer.”

The 2016 Subaru WRX is advertised to get an EPA estimated 20/27 city/highway fuel mileage with the 6-speed manual gearbox. The 24/31 city/highway Wards Auto got was impressive. It looks like the WRX’s 2.0-liter boxer turbo engine could get back-to-back Wards 10 Best Engines awards. Stay tuned.

Media source: Wards Auto