Subaru WRX has been given an all-new look courtesy of the wide body styling of its high-performance brother the WRX STI. Adding the blister guards front and rear gives the 2011 WRX a whole new look that's purposeful to the point of being aggressive.

Our road test review of new WRX included a drive to Philip Island but, sadly, we didn’t get any track time with the vehicle. However we did spend a fair bit of driving on the driver’s roads in the area, including time on the sort of muddy bush roads that show off Subaru's all-wheel drive system to perfection.

The latest styling also sees a sharper look with clever angles on the corners and around the foglight housings.

The radiator grille for the 2011 Subaru WRX is larger than that of the outgoing 2010 model year and is now finished in a darker shade of grey. The effect is to give the car more poise when viewed in the rear vision mirror. Indeed, the grille plus the blister guards give the hot Subaru a really positive look that will appeal to buyers in this class.

Subaru WRX also looks impressive from the rear thanks to the diffuser grille, and a four outlet exhaust system, again borrowed from the STI.

The wider body isn't just there for looks. Front and rear tracks have been widened to not only fill out the guards, but also further improve road holding. As well as the greater width of the suspension, the WRX setup has received numerous modifications, including wider tyres.

On the inside, the Subaru WRX has been revised by the use of a darker metallic look on the dash trim. We didn’t particularly like what we felt was the slightly gloomy ambiance, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder so we will leave you to come to your own conclusions.

On the road we were most impressed by the road grip and stability enjoyed by the Subaru WRX, especially when we pushed it over gravel roads made treacherous by damp, foggy weather. Our only complaint is that rougher roads made the car find the suspension bump stops on quite a few occasions. This sent a real shudder through the body at times.

Subaru continues to push hard on the safety front and the WRX, like every other model in the Australian Subaru range, has received the maximum of five stars from the ANCAP crash test regime.

On the security front, DataDot makes it all but impossible for thieves to rebirth a car, so cuts down the chances of theft.

Amazingly, Subaru WRX retains the price of $39,990 for both sedan and hatchback variants. This is the same recommended retail price the car was offered at when launched in Australia 16 years ago.