The colour run continues
Subaru has a naming convention for its limited-run WRX and BRZ specials: Series, then a dot, then a colour. Series.White. Series.HyperBlue. Series.Gray. Series.Purple. Now Series.Yellow, the seventh entry, revealed at Boxerfest 2025 in York, Pennsylvania, on September 14 last year.
The formula has not changed. Take the most capable trim in the range, paint it a colour you cannot get anywhere else, limit production, charge a small premium. The WRX Series.Yellow is built on the tS, limited to 350 units, priced at $45,995, and mechanically identical to the car it is based on. The BRZ gets the same treatment, also 350 units.
What the $1,000 buys
The tS costs $44,995. The Series.Yellow costs $45,995. That $1,000 delta gets you:
Sunrise Yellow paint. The colour is not available on any other 2026 WRX trim. Subaru calls it a heritage shade, pointing to the Japan-only WRX STI S207 and BRZ STI Sport as precedent. For the North American market, this is a first.
Matte black 19-inch alloy wheels replace the tS's satin grey items. Black exterior badging replaces the standard chrome. Inside, the Recaro Performance Design seats get black Ultrasuede with yellow accent perforations and yellow contrast stitching. That stitching extends across the instrument panel, door panels (simulated leather), and carpeted floor mats.
Everything else is carried over from the tS without modification.
What you already get from the tS
The tS is, mechanically, the WRX to have. The 2.4-litre turbocharged Boxer flat-four makes 271 hp and 258 lb-ft (350 Nm). Six-speed manual only. Symmetrical AWD. Electronically controlled dampers tuned by STI, switchable between Comfort, Normal, and Sport. Brembo brakes: six-piston front, dual-piston rear, cross-drilled rotors. Bridgestone Potenza S007 summer tyres on 19-inch wheels. Recaro front seats. 11.6-inch infotainment screen. 12.3-inch digital cluster.
None of that changes for the Series.Yellow. Same tune, same suspension calibration, same brakes, same tyres. No weight reduction, no exhaust, no aero. This is not a WRX STI by another name. It is the tS in a different suit.
The context that matters
The 2026 model year is notable for the broader WRX lineup, not just the Series.Yellow. Subaru brought back the Base trim at $32,495, a significant move after the 2025 range had trimmed the entry point upward. The Premium drops to $33,995, roughly $3,750 less than the outgoing model. The GT and tS both shed about $2,700.
So the Series.Yellow arrives at a moment when the WRX range has gotten cheaper across the board. The $45,995 ask is still the highest in the lineup, but the gap between it and the base car is now over $13,000, which makes the value proposition clearer: you are paying for STI hardware and a limited-production appearance package. Whether the paint and stitching justify the premium over a $44,995 tS is the kind of question that answers itself depending on whether you plan to park it or drive it.
Our take
Subaru's Series editions are honest about what they are. They do not pretend to add performance. They do not invent a story about chassis development or a niche within a niche. They are colour-and-trim specials built on the best mechanical package in the range, limited to a number that makes them uncommon without being artificially rare.
350 cars is low enough that you will not see another one at the grocery store. It is high enough that Subaru is not pretending this is a museum piece. The Sunrise Yellow is loud enough to justify the exercise, and the manual-only restriction means every one of these will have a clutch pedal, which is its own kind of filter.
If you want the sharpest WRX and you like yellow, this is the one. If you want the sharpest WRX and you do not care about yellow, the tS is $1,000 less and mechanically the same car.
The 2026 Subaru WRX Series.Yellow is available now at select U.S. retailers. 350 units total.