One of the reasons we do long-term road tests of cars is so that we can discover and appreciate some of the little things that we might not have a chance to touch on, or even notice, during a first drive press trip or typical week-long loan. On our Subaru WRX, one of those little things literally caught my eye this week: some cool lighting details.
Among the options we added to our WRX is an LED backlit badge (shown at top). During the day, it's pretty much impossible to tell that it's illuminated. The ring around the badge and the stars in the Subaru Pleiades look like normal chrome against the navy blue background. But at night, when the lights come on, the light shines through the chrome. What could be more fitting than stars shining brightly at night? Well, not super brightly. This is one of the most subtly illuminated badges I've seen, but I actually appreciate that. It's noticeable enough, and small enough, to be a fun detail, instead of being a showy, branding Bat-signal for the world to see. It is an option, and it's $350. Is it really worth it? That obviously comes down to each individual person, but I'm certain I've spent nearly as much on similarly useless car accessories, so I'd probably give it a go if it had been my money. At least if I had a little budget wiggle room. But if you've got a tighter budget, it's an easy one to pass on for other more prominent visual upgrades or performance upgrades.
Something that comes on every WRX that all owners will be able to enjoy is the detailing in the taillight housings. Subaru borrowed from some past Mercedes models in giving the lower section of the light reflectors a fine, faceted finish. The result is a twinkly, sparkly effect as the light bounces off in all different directions. I'm a little disappointed more cars don't do things like this, as it's quite a simple and affordable way to add some extra flair to basic lighting. After all, it's still just chromed plastic, just molded for a fun effect.
Are either of these lighting details a big deal? Of course not, but we car enthusiasts always like it when our cars have those little, extra-special details we can point out to anyone interested. And if in the case of the light-up badge, that's especially true when we're the ones who went out of the way to add them.
Oh, and by the way, I'll be pointing out another one of those dive-deeper details next week: the front seats.
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