2023 Subaru WRX Long-Term Update: What can't you do in this car?

When I handed the keys to our long-term 2023 Subaru WRX to Senior Editor John Snyder, it was after a long day of driving it back-to-back with a 2024 WRX TR. Fear not; that writeup is coming. But with my stint in the WRX ending, I couldn't help but think about another sporty Japanese car of which I am particularly fond. Yeah, I'm going to make this about a Miata. Don't worry; it'll be quick.

I bought my first track car in 2008. It was a 1990 Miata, red, with more than 200,000 miles on it. It cost me a whole $1,350 (negotiated down from $1,500). At its first HPDE, I handed the keys to my instructor — a foul-mouthed former BMX rider whose name you might know — and asked him to give it a quick shakedown. He directed another student to a hideously under-braked 2009 Dodge Challenger R/T and sent him on his way with a simple directive: Try to find an opening. I watched the exercise unfold from my vantage point near Summit Point Raceway's Turn 9. After fending off the Hemi for the whole session, he handed the keys back to me with a concise but heartening evaluation: “You can do anything in that car.”

It was good advice from a man who gave far more than his fair share of it, and while I still own that Miata, I hear his voice every time I walk away from our WRX. It’s communicative, engaging and quick. And more than that, it feels happy being driven hard. You really do feel like you can do anything in that car. If I didn’t already have an orange sport sedan in my garage, I’d be asking to take over the payments when this one’s scheduled to leave.