2026 Subaru WRX tS Spec B: long-term review part two – Exploring Victoria’s best driving roads

Something I’ve come to appreciate as a driving enthusiast over the last decade is that Sydney’s relative closeness to good driving roads is far superior to that of Melbourne.

It takes a good chunk of time to break away from suburbia down here in Melbourne, which makes it all the more challenging to trek out and properly get under the skin of sports cars like the 2026 Subaru WRX tS Spec B.

We picked up this long-term test car a bit over a month ago, and although I’ve clocked plenty of to-and-from-work kilometres behind the wheel, I’ve had limited time spent driving the car in anger.

That’s the idea behind this long-term loan. I’m determined to share some of my favourite driving roads across Victoria, from behind the driver’s seat of this special-edition Subaru WRX.

My first chance to get the WRX on some proper driving roads happened a few weeks ago. I had a chance to sneak out of the office, out of Melbourne, and into the heart of some of Victoria’s best driving country. Turns out, it’s not even too far from Melbourne, either.

The Yarra Valley is often associated with wineries, farm-to-table eateries, lush greenery, and plenty of on-foot hiking activity. However, for those in the know, it’s also arguably a Melburnian’s best option for scoping out a nice driving road.

I’ve managed to note down some of the best in the region during my time as an automotive journalist, and they’re exactly the kind of roads I wanted to drive the Subaru WRX tS Spec B on, to find out whether it’s been sprinkled with STI magic, or is simply a parts-bin special.

What’s more, many of these roads are within cooee of one another, meaning you can string them along together to extend your drive as long as your time allows.

All three are within 90 minutes of Melbourne city, too, which means you could spend a morning blasting along some of the state’s great driving roads, and make it back to suburbia in time for lunch.

In any case, the first stint took Photographer Mat and I up through the outer suburbs like Hurstbridge and Wattle Glen on our way up to Kinglake.

The road I was after, the C746, is particularly challenging because it’s extremely tight and narrow, with constant corners that ensure the steering wheel (and arms, by extension) gets a proper workout.

It’s proper rally-stage stuff, which is why I was confident that the Subaru’s all-wheel-drive system would be able to keep up and supply plenty of grip for fast cornering.

What I was less sure about was the body's size. The sedan body style has become increasingly rare, and I usually bring nimble hot hatches up to Kinglake – not four-door sports sedans.

As such, while the C746 is fun for hot hatches, the WRX tS Spec is perhaps a smidge too big to be comfortable. I was constantly straddling the median lane markings, and the steering was a bit slower than I would have liked for the situation.

The road is speed-limited to 60km/h, but you’re so busy tackling sharp corners that you barely get near the limit anyway. In any case, it’s great fun cycling through the first couple of gears with the H-pattern manual gearbox.

It doesn’t offer the smoothest shift sensation, it’s a long-ish throw, and it lacks the notchy nature I like to see in a sports car, but the fact that this car comes with a six-speed manual transmission at all is a major win for enthusiast drivers.

The road is straddled by bush to one side and rockface to the other. I had the WRX’s windows down and was relishing the chance to hear the STI Performance mufflers backfire as I jumped off the throttle into a bend.

It’s a dry-looking area that reminds me of interior Australia, with light-coloured sand and rock walls right beside the road and no run-off whatsoever – if you come off this road, you’re almost certainly damaging your car.

The black bark of tree trunks still bears a reminder of the Black Saturday bushfires of 2009, which razed the entire region and took 173 lives.

In the time since, many of the thousands of destroyed properties have been rebuilt, while the forest has made a comeback with green offshoots and thick tree canopies to the west.

It’s a quiet road during the week, but you can often get caught behind a cyclist or an SUV. Disappointingly, there are very few lay-by areas, and it’s difficult to even come to a stop.

Grip from the Bridgestone Potenza S007 tyres is fantastic; they support the Symmetrical all-wheel-drive system’s power delivery with a strong hold on the bitumen.

There’s no denying that, despite its size, the Spec B’s point-to-point ability is hard to match, especially with respect to its price point.

From there, it’s a short hop to a road that’s even better – Chum Creek Road, which stretches between Toolangi State Forest in the north, down to Healesville in the south.

It’s impressive how, in the space of 20 minutes, the landscape can change from what looks like outback Australia to an outlook that gives its best impression of a rainforest.

Here, the trees have thick canopies that surround the road entirely – making daylight a rare commodity – while the forest surroundings are far greener and denser than before.

Chum Creek Road – also known as C724 – is much wider, and the speed you can carry between bends is heightened. This is the WRX’s real playground; one where you can rev the 2.4-litre turbocharged boxer engine out properly to extract maximum boost.

It’s a practice you’ll want to do, too, because the WRX retains a bit of old-school turbo lag until you’re mid-way through the rev counter.

It doesn’t feel as quick as some of the other performance cars around its price point – its 202kW/350Nm outputs are down compared to the 221kW/400Nm you get in a Toyota GR Corolla, and 245kW/420Nm of a Volkswagen Golf R.

Clearly, you won’t be winning any drag races, but in isolation the WRX tS Spec B feels quick enough to be thoroughly entertaining on roads like the C724.

The bends are fast and flowing, compared to the 90- and 180-degree switchbacks of the road to Kinglake, so you’re naturally carrying good speed through corners.

There’s marginally more run-off, so there’s a bit more of a safety net should grip suddenly disappear.

The chassis feels taut and composed through these bends, and you feel properly in control of the car’s destiny when in the driver’s seat. There are varying modes of steering feel, though my preference is to leave it in the default Sport mode – at least for the moment.

It’s direct and quick to dive into corners, and the feel from the system provides a good level of feedback as to tyre grip on the road below.

The adaptive suspension also does its best work of keeping the car stable through bends when in its Sport or Sport+ settings. It’s also great that it’s not at the expense of ride comfort.

As I said in the last update, this sports car feels like it can handle everyday lumps and bumps while simultaneously providing poised body control when flung through corners.

The fern-lined roads of Chum Creek are almost devoid of other cars on a weekday, which means I played around by doing the stretch a few more times up and back, before diving off down a side road to take us to Healesville.

Myers Creek Road effectively runs parallel to Chum Creek Road, so it’s even quieter in terms of traffic, and it’s arguably even greener still, with bright-green grass and daisies covering the road edges, and thick vines bridging the trees over the road.

The driving is back to being tight and twisty, and it’s downhill if you’re southbound like I was, meaning you’re carrying more speed without needing to lean into the throttle.

But it’s slow-going anyway, because the straight sections are short. It means you’re constantly working the brakes – a nice aluminium pedal in the WRX tS Spec B’s case.

This pedal is connected to a set of six-piston Brembo calipers at the front and four-piston units at the rear. They have a firm initial bite to them, and the stopping power is strong as soon as you start to lean into the pedal more seriously.

It means the 1562kg heft comes to a brisk halt, which was exactly what was required when I came up on a kangaroo that had decided daytime was the right time to go hop about on the blacktop.

Seemingly, the kangaroo didn’t care all too much, but before too long it bounced off into the forest.

The WRX’s World Rally Blue Pearl paint is a stark contrast against the greenery of its surroundings, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s such an iconic pairing that I’d find it difficult to select any other shade.

It’s in this context that the Subaru WRX tS Spec B is beginning to shine too. Although it’s fairly easy to live with every day, the six-speed manual transmission is a boon for dynamic driving, and the exhaust is better blaring off rock walls than my neighbour’s fence.

I look forward to throwing the WRX through some more fantastic driving roads next – I’m thinking a drive down the coast is in order.

Tom started out in the automotive industry by exploiting his photographic skills but quickly learned journalists got the better end of the deal. With tenures at CarAdvice, Wheels Media, and now Drive, Tom's breadth of experience and industry knowledge informs a strong opinion on all things automotive. At Drive, Tom covers automotive news, car reviews, advice, and holds a special interest in long-form feature stories.

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