Posted Monday, September 13, 2021 at 10:35pm

Why does the new Subaru WRX have cladding?

n a nod to the car’s gravel road-blasting intentions, the new Subaru WRX features prominent unpainted plastic body cladding.
Cladding isn’t typically found on the modern rally cars that inspired the existence of the original Subaru Impreza WRX – and its simply-named WRX successors – so what is it doing on the new 2022 WRX?
Theories vary. The cladding is a nod to Subaru’s famously pragmatic and purpose-driven attitudes to design – but it’s also a strategy to dip into SUV and crossover cues.