Who here has a WRX again?

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A lightly modded WRX has quickly become the new "standard" of import performance. STR neons, hondas, and Cobalt's are all way behind. . . . if your car cant beat a lightly modded WRX its not worth spending the time on (crustangs, mullet mobiles, etc).
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I've owned the following cars that can wreck the WRX in every aspect:

88 Supra Turbo
89 MR2 SC
my very own 87 CRX Si (with motor work, original motor though, no swap)
my 73 Firebird Formula 400
84 Corvette
75 Bill Mitchell Camaro
88 Dodge Daytona Turbo
89 RX7 Turbo II

Outside of the CRX, these are all stockers that have out handled and out accelerated my girlfriend's 02 Bugeye wagon. For V8s, The Mustang is a bit squirrely in the back, but when given car control in the 1/4 will still eat even a mildly modded WRX alive.

the list goes on. "Crustangs, Mullet mobiles" deserve more credit than you give.
 
Except those cars may beat the car in one aspect, not all.

Look at the specs, not just your buttometer.
 
Totalburnout has answered just about every WRX-related question here (while Celerity has perpetuated a few myths :p ), but I'd just like to add that I own one as well, since I wasn't mentioned in the first post. :)

I bought mine with 18k miles on it, carbon fiber interior trim, OEM gauge package, STi short shifter, for $18.5k. It's been modded extensively, while still retaining the stock turbo. It runs a low 14 in the quarter up here at 5800 feet, so it'd probably run about a low 13 at sea level. That's on crappy tires, too. To respond to Celerity's assertion, this level of mods eats up all stock or near-stock Mustangs and all non-Z06 Corvettes on the dragstrip.

I broke the tranny a few months ago at the track. My mods include an upgraded clutch and flywheel, and it was enough to snap the mainshaft of the transmission in two (252 AWHP corrected, 256 AWTQ corrected). I've got a few various rattles and stuff, but I'd expect that at 85,000 miles. The gas mileage is GREAT for a tuned turbo AWD vehicle - 26mpg if I'm doing a lot of highway driving, and about 22mpg with a bunch of around-town driving.

When I get my bonus from work in about a month, I'll be getting a VF34 turbo, injectors and a fuel pump, along with a retune of my ECUTek ECU.
 
is the lag really that bad? When i'm driving around town, i usually stay around 3k rpm's. Say you are cruising in 3rd at 3k, and you punch it... is their significant lag? (not stock, up-pipe, catted dp, cat back, stage 2 ap map or something similar)

Im reallllllllllly interested in a wrx (wagon) and im weary that a wrx can really only accelerate well from a dig. am i wrong? Hows the cruising pull/ highway pull?
 
On the stock turbo, if you've got a catless uppipe and a good tune, you're at full boost by 2800-3000 rpm. If you've already got your foot on the gas a little, and you floor it, you'll have full boost pretty quick. The lag is NOT bad after you're modded. However....a stock WRX is kind of laggy, especially the 02-05 models.

Highway pull can leave a little to be desired, especially if you're already above 5000 rpm. The small turbo is great for spool-up, but it definitely begins to have trouble breathing above 5k or so. That's not to say that it's not fast at those rpm ranges - it just doesn't have that kick that comes with 3000-5000 rpm.
 
Well i dont do much highway driving. Once every month or so (but could be more once i start my job), i do mostly driving in town, 30-55 mph.. so its more of point and squirt type of power im lookin for.
 
If you're at 2,000rpm's or so and you punch it - you're not going anywhere.

I'm modded and given my mods, its fair to say that the car is probably capable of high 12's with a good driver. If I slapped on a bigger turbo than I'd be a lot faster, but the lag would be even worse for daily driving.

If I'm on the highway and I punch it, it doesn't feel like it kicks right away - it takes a second but then I'm to retardedly fast speeds within seconds. I mean, taking an on ramp and taking it to 80 a quarter of the way down the on ramp and then having to hold back because you're going faster than the traffic you're merging with has its benefits. I need a tune badly though, because I have something going on with my setup thats making the car jerky for whatever reason - but then again I've gotten so deep in the car and only have an off the shelf engine management map so its not specific to my setup.

Cliff notes; you'll want to be on the gas and increasing speed if you expect to be going anyway. You can't just put your foot into the car and expect to instantly go without a downshift when you're in the low rpm's.
 
totalburnout said:
If you're at 2,000rpm's or so and you punch it - you're not going anywhere.
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Isn't that damn near true for every small displacement engine, FI or not?

I mean... why would you WANT that, unless you never drive in the rain or snow.

I wouldn't mind 3500 rpm of lag time to have my (affordable) dream car.
 
2000Si said:
Isn't that damn near true for every small displacement engine, FI or not?

I mean... why would you WANT that, unless you never drive in the rain or snow.

I wouldn't mind 3500 rpm of lag time to have my (affordable) dream car.
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If thats fine with you, then the car is fine for you.

I'm untuned and don't start seeing fun until 3500rpms.

The car is plenty of car to get you in trouble. Celerity is dellusional in his comparison of the car. On paper the WRX beats every car he listed in virtually all categories, he just for some reason has a broken butt-o-meter that stuck on a NA supra that is no where near as capable as the WRX.

You can compare the car to a Civic with a turbo kit. It has all wheel drive and its heavier so it makes the car feel planted and stout, but thats the main difference in feel between the cars.
 
totalburnout said:
If you take on a top of the line GTO on the highway, he's either not racing or you're driving something special. At highway speeds that car is a monster. It puts out like 400ft/lbs.
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The GTO owner was still mad at breakfast after our group got off the highway . . .
 
Celerity said:
I've owned the following cars that can wreck the WRX in every aspect:

88 Supra Turbo
89 MR2 SC
my very own 87 CRX Si (with motor work, original motor though, no swap)
my 73 Firebird Formula 400
84 Corvette
75 Bill Mitchell Camaro
88 Dodge Daytona Turbo
89 RX7 Turbo II
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I dont think any of these wreck the WRX in EVERY aspect . . . they are also in a different class. These cars are rwd sport's cars when a WRX is more of a sport compact.

Here is why:

1.) None comfortably seat 5 people
2.) None are as reliable as a WRX
3.) For a newb driver, the WRX is the safer choice b/c of its AWD.
 
Also, my ex gf had an o2...

there is a problem with the fuel supply lines into the fuel rail. in cold weather they contract ever so slightly, and cause a small leak resulting in an overpowering smell of raw fuel both outside the car, and inside the cabin as well. subaru will fight you tooth and nail on fixing this problem. there is a service bulletin about it. but they will try to make you pay for it. the cost of the new parts is only a few dollars. however the labor involved is quite pricy $600.00+ being that it involves them removing the entire intake manifold. this only applies to the 2002 year model, and is not found to be a problem on every car. its a crap-shoot at best.

just some food for thought

Heres the link:
Raw Fuel Smell Log [Archive] - NASIOC
 
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TWAN said:
Also, my ex gf had an o2...

there is a problem with the fuel supply lines into the fuel rail. in cold weather they contract ever so slightly, and cause a small leak resulting in an overpowering smell of raw fuel both outside the car, and inside the cabin as well. subaru will fight you tooth and nail on fixing this problem. there is a service bulletin about it. but they will try to make you pay for it. the cost of the new parts is only a few dollars. however the labor involved is quite pricy $600.00+ being that it involves them removing the entire intake manifold. this only applies to the 2002 year model, and is not found to be a problem on every car. its a crap-shoot at best.

just some food for thought

Heres the link:
Raw Fuel Smell Log [Archive] - NASIOC
Click to expand...

Labor shouldn't be $600+. At a Subaru specific performance shop where they charge $95/hr they quoted me $385 for the labor. I've been down into that system of the car and its a pain in the ass, but this is a rare problem. Perrin fuel rails are fairly cheap and can be had used for $200. To get the intake manifold off you have to take virtually everything out of the engine bay, from draining the coolant to taking off the intake manifold, disconnecting fuel lines, tons of vaccum lines and the intercooler. Definately the hardest install I did on the car. Not to mention the GBOD thats subaru term for "Green brackets of death", they keep you from getting to some of the hard fuel lines, the injectors, and easily taking the TGVs and intake manifold off.

Good call though. This should be readily apparent if there's a problem, but its a fairly rare problem.

Clutch chatter and the transmission seem to be the biggest complaints in the early years.
 
TWAN said:
Also, my ex gf had an o2...

there is a problem with the fuel supply lines into the fuel rail. in cold weather they contract ever so slightly, and cause a small leak resulting in an overpowering smell of raw fuel both outside the car, and inside the cabin as well. subaru will fight you tooth and nail on fixing this problem. there is a service bulletin about it. but they will try to make you pay for it. the cost of the new parts is only a few dollars. however the labor involved is quite pricy $600.00+ being that it involves them removing the entire intake manifold. this only applies to the 2002 year model, and is not found to be a problem on every car. its a crap-shoot at best.

just some food for thought

Heres the link:
Raw Fuel Smell Log [Archive] - NASIOC
Click to expand...
I had that problem, but I was still under warranty when I discovered it, so I got it fixed for free. So far, it doesn't appear to be a safety issue - it just sucks when it's really cold, and you start your car and have to inhale fuel fumes for a couple of minutes.

I'm not sure, but different dealers may fix that for free, as it's a TSB - that nebulous area between a pay-for-it-yourself fix and a recall.
 
how is the footroom down by the pedals left to right... width wise. I have size 13 shoes, i need my leg room and feet room. I test drove a forester when my mom was looking for a vehicle, the amount of room by my feet was really tight. Im guessing due to the flatness, tranny, and driveshaft.

compare it to a civic if you can.
 
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