For 2026, Subaru is doing something WRX fans have been begging for: bringing back the base trim. That means the cheapest way into a new WRX is once again on the table, starting at $33,690, with cars expected to hit dealers this spring. It is a meaningful reset after 2025, when the lineup started higher and the entry point disappeared, leaving a lot of shoppers priced out or looking elsewhere.

What makes the base WRX’s return even better is that it is not a bare-bones special. Subaru says it now includes keyless entry with push-button start, summer performance tires, a sport-tuned suspension, and a tire pressure monitoring system. Core creature comforts are there too, including wireless phone connectivity, a rear-view camera, dual-zone climate control, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, cloth seats, auto up and down front windows, a tilt-and-telescoping steering column, and LED headlights.

The rest of the lineup gets friendlier on the wallet as well. The WRX Premium drops to $35,190 (down $3,730), the Limited is $40,190 (down $3,505), and both the GT and tS land at $46,190 (each down $2,685). New at the top is the limited-run WRX Series.Yellow at $47,190, which wears a Sunrise Yellow exterior, 19-inch black wheels, black badging, and a black interior with yellow stitching. It also borrows the same performance-focused hardware found on the WRX tS.

If you are cross-shopping the higher trims, the tS is still the enthusiast-friendly sweet spot on paper. It brings STI-tuned electronically controlled dampers, Brembo brakes, Recaro front seats, and Bridgestone Potenza S007 tires as standard equipment. No matter which 2026 WRX you choose, every model uses Subaru’s turbocharged 2.4-liter boxer four making 271 horsepower, with a six-speed manual as the standard transmission. Subaru’s “Subaru Performance Transmission” CVT is optional on the Limited and standard on the GT.

The pricing shift also lines up with the bigger story behind last year’s slump. WRX sales fell 41.2% in 2025 to 10,930 units, a year that also coincided with Subaru dropping the base model and raising the buy-in. Subaru has also said WRX production was constrained as it prioritized the more popular Forester, and that it is expanding U.S. Forester production, including plans for Forester Hybrid production to begin next spring. With that production pressure easing, it looks like Subaru can finally give the WRX lineup the accessible entry point it has always needed.