The lack of refinement was the cause of my divorce with the WRX/STi after 10 years. I would of happily paid $50k for an STi with some upscale features and an interior. Going down scale never is a good strategy in the end IMO.
I think going upscale would be a mistake. The whole point of the WRX is it's a tough little economy car with race car hardware. It's not meant to be an Audi, BMW or other old mans car.
It does need updating though. I think they should keep the legend alive by dropping a few hundred pounds and adding about 100hp for the WRX and 200hp for the STi. It needs to be the dream car for young people again.
True. But nobody is asking for a luxury car here. Just an interior that is at least comparable to other offerings in the "nice-ish" end of the economy car market (which the WRX certainly should be given it's price). Sit in a Focus, Mazda 3, Golf, Civic Si, etc. They are all much nicer inside than the WRX/STI.
The stereo in my 2010 WRX seems equivalent to what Honda might have offered in 1998. And probably sounds worse... I have no doubt they could have provided something newer and better for roughly the same price. They just stuck with older parts in their supply chain.
