Subaru WRX 3 month/3k mile review.

[Beancooker]

Ok, so here is my 3,000 mile review of the WRX.

The WRX I purchased has Very few options, as I didn’t want to fork over any more cash than necessary. It does have the following:

Base Model:

iPod integration STI Short throw shifter Auto climate control Auto dimming mirror with Homelink and compass Engine: 2.5L Turbo (265hp/244tq) Drive train: AWD with viscous locking center diff Transmission: 5speed Brakes: 2-piston front, 1-piston rear Wheels: 17x7 w/225/45/17 Dunlop SP Sport 01 Summer tires

Current Modifications:

SPT Boost gauge Greddy shift knob HID conversion Rally Armor mud flaps SPT Turbo heat shield Weathertech floor mats De-badged Perrin shorty antenna Interior:Not as "luxury" as my G35 was, clearly. It feels more like a sports car with lightweight materials. The interior looks nice, but the door panel materials have a cheap feel to them. The carpeting is good-quality and looks nice. The only available interior color scheme is black with red accents. Headroom is excellent and legroom seems adequate. Seats are sport-styled with a 6-way manually adjustable drivers-side seat. Seats are cloth and after 3 months are comfortable and holding up well.

With aluminum pedals and a short throw shifter, driving feel is nice but in my opinion it seems to have a weak clutch as I expected a little harder snap from it. The Short throw shifter has a good feel but I wasn't sure if it really was a short throw, until I replaced the knob with a Greddy version and drove one without the short throw. Without the short throw, it is similar to a dump truck's shifter. The steering is predictable in this car and the steering wheel is almost the identical shape as the one I had in my G35, yet a bit smaller.

Dash: The gauge cluster is sweet! I love the red lighting and the brightness or intensity is adjustable. I feel that someone finally got things right with the cluster in this car as it has a large center-mounted tach and a informational dash-display. All controls are within easy reach and work as designed. Similar to the G35, traction control is mounted low on the left side of the dash yet with the WRX it is easy to hit. I would have liked both vehicles to have this switch in a better location. The automatic climate control system works well, is easily configurable and can easily freeze you as well as heat you. Heated side view mirrors is an option in this car.

Stereo: Sounds okay, not nearly as nice as the Bose in the G35. The iPod integration is sweet, and I do like that. My biggest complaint about the stereo is that it needs a great set of tweeters. I am a horrible judge of stereo sound, since I am half deaf.

Storage: 2 cup holders in the center console that fit up to a 16/20oz soda bottle. All 4 doors have cup holders for bottles. All doors have decent-sized storage pockets for maps, trash, etc...Glove box is average size. Center console opens and has room for a few CDs and other stuff but overall is pretty small though. Center console inside also has a 2nd power plug for a cellphone as well as the audio cable for iPod and another port for a non iPod MP3 player. (also a power outlet in the lower dash). There's also a small storage spot in front of the shifter which has room for sunglasses/cell phone/etc.

- Complaint: There is a little coin holder that is absolutely useless. Coins fly out of it in any corner. Wish the car had an ashtray to use as a mailbox key holder like the G35 did. There is no place to put coins.

Vents: In good positions. They are located (side and center ones) in a position where you can point them anywhere, and on cold/hot days can be directed right at your hands on the steering wheel or shifter. Once again, almost exactly like the G35.

Complaint: is that when anything is turned on, the drivers and passengers side vent by the window blow really lightly. When I turn off the upper vents, and direct the air to the floor, that is where I want it.

Trunk: Ginormous in comparison to the G35. You can probably fit 4 sets of golf clubs and seats fold down FLAT (40-60 split) for more room. Spare tire, jack, and other tools are stored underneath the trunk floor and there's a nice tray for other tools/stuff there as well as plenty of room for a few wrenches, screwdrivers, jumper cables, and other small stuff under the trunk floor.

Exterior:I think it looks decent, though could use a bit less wheel gap. The paint sucks. It is a fair bit better than Nissan's paint, but it still chips easily. The antenna was ridiculously long. I changed that out after the first week.

Handling: Handling is tight, with good turn-in and a good bit of understeer when pushing. The car is extremely responsive and clearly has a very stiff frame (compared to the G35 or my old Maxima). Ride is firm but not uncomfortable, but there is a bit too much body roll. Exiting turns is the high point of the AWD setup as you can really pull through turns aggressively.

Brakes: Decent. They stop the car, but they're not like having a set of Brembo's.

Power: The power band takes some getting used to coming from a VQ35, which was so torquey. From the line driving normally it feels like a 2.5L engine up to about 2k rpm’s, and then the boost comes in smooth through 3k-4k and is simply wicked after that. This car is SIGNIFICANTLY faster than the G35/Maximas I've driven, or at least it feels like it. I wish it was a 6-speed, but I'm still learning to use the power correctly and am still getting used to the turbo lag (though it is not bad compared to other turbo cars I've driven).

Lighting: Headlights are/were halogen projectors. These are hands down the crappiest headlights I have ever had. These POS lights were so dim that I was sure I was going to kill someone at night. The Halogens were replaced with a HID kit at about 1k miles. The projectors have a great cutoff, and after the HID swap (with no adjustment), I have never been bright-lighted by oncoming cars. The high beams are stupid bright, which I like.

Fuel Mileage: the sticker says 18 city/24 highway. I average between 17 and 20. I am sure if I stayed out of boost, and was on the freeway, I would get much better mileage.

The 16 gallon tank has taken some getting used to. The G35's 20 gallon was just right for my commute to work and back. A tank full would last me 2 weeks.

Other stuff: - Rear windows roll down almost all the way (about 90%) - Car feels like it is always going slow. I find myself doing 80mph on the highway when I thought I was going 60. There is very little wind or road noise for such a "sporty" car, however, the G35 was much quieter - It has front, side, and side curtain airbags

All in all, I like it. It's a sporty little car. I loved the luxury of the G35, and miss a few of the options, but I also like the sportiness of this car, and the fact that it is much more "mod friendly" and affordable to squeeze HP from than my G. I only have 4 years and 9 months of warranty to wait through until I can really start to mod it.



These pics are from before I installed the RA mudflaps.

[Otto.]

Any interior pics?

[Beancooker]

Any interior pics?

Yep, I assume you wanted to see the dash, so I went down and snapped a pic.

[NismoDriver240]

awesome review, and an awesome choice

[Urabus GodofTraction]

Nice Toyota.

Heh. I love turbo'ed Subies.

[Beancooker]

Nice Toyota.

Heh. I love turbo'ed Subies.

Thanks, that's not a bad stationwagon you drive either.

[MinisterofDOOM]

How on earth can you have automatic climate control without a temp readout? Still, knobs > buttons, so they at least got that part right.

[Otto.]

Interior is nice. Head unit not so much.

[Urabus GodofTraction]

Thanks, that's not a bad stationwagon you drive either.

Nice!

Don't be hatin' because you're upset you didn't buy the hatch.

[HashiriyaS14]

In regards to your understeer, throw on a bigger rear sway bar. My 2004 understeered like a pig, but a big whiteline rear sway fixed it to a great extent. You can also monkey with tires (size, pressure, whatever).

In regards to your lag problem, have your removed the intake silencer? IMO, it helped my 2004 to spool about 400-500 rpm faster. You also get a great "whoosh" noise, lol.

Is your car the new 260hp version or the 2008?

Anyway, WRX's are fun. Be nice to that trans, it's made of glass.

This picture is WIN:

[EpicNightMayor]

Noah, you've got one of the cleanest Dodge Neons I've ever seen.

[DrifterXRPS13]

it's looking good noah.

[S13_love]

Noah, you've got one of the cleanest Dodge Neons I've ever seen.

[NismoDriver240]

Anyway, WRX's are fun. Be nice to that trans, it's made of glass.

This picture is WIN:

The "glass" transmission is usually found in older models, like 02, I don't think the newer ones. None the less, be careful, the fail point of the motor is FAR from the fail point of the trans, so if you plan on going big, swap in a 6 speed.

Truth. That pic is epic.

[Urabus GodofTraction]

The "glass" transmission is usually found in older models, like 02, I don't think the newer ones. None the less, be careful, the fail point of the motor is FAR from the fail point of the trans, so if you plan on going big, swap in a 6 speed.

Truth. That pic is epic.

02's certainly have the weakest gearboxes *sad face*.

"Glass" is an overstatement, though, even for the 02s.

The RA gearset solves most problems for streetable power (and is less annoying to install that the STi trans).

[Beancooker]

Nice!

Don't be hatin' because you're upset you didn't buy the hatch.

No hate for my underpowered Brady family truckster brother!

In regards to your lag problem, have your removed the intake silencer? IMO, it helped my 2004 to spool about 400-500 rpm faster. You also get a great "whoosh" noise, lol.

Is your car the new 260hp version or the 2008?

Yep, it is the 265 HP version.

The '09 doesn't have an intake silencer/snorkel. It's a small square intake box.

This picture is WIN:

http://is.rely.net/3-78-15693-...A.jpg

Thanks. It's definitely one of my favorites as well.

[Urabus GodofTraction]

No hate for my underpowered Brady family truckster brother!

I'll give you a lift when your engine conks out.

[Beancooker]

Hey now, 70% of the #1 rod bearings don't fail...

I'll keep your number on speed dial.

[Jesda]

Man, that thing is just not pretty. Maybe it'll become more palatable over time. That's a hell of a car though.

[EpicNightMayor]

I know it's not a Dodge Neon, I was just f***ing with Noah!But seriously Noah, you do have one of the cleanest 4dr civics I've seen.

[Urabus GodofTraction]

Hey now, 70% of the #1 rod bearings don't fail...

I'll keep your number on speed dial.

867-5309.

[touge_951]

im jelous.....

[Ca_Silvia]

Did you test drive the Mitsu Ralliart before you bought this?

[Urabus GodofTraction]

Did you test drive the Mitsu Ralliart before you bought this?

Ralliart is down on power. I'm torn to which is uglier, though.

[Beancooker]

Ralliart is a little lower in the HP numbers, and I have just never been a Mitsu fan. It was hard enough to step away from Nissan, but I couldn't have made the leap to a car that I don't care for at all.

My Subarota Campreza's looks will grow on you. I just wish it had the fender flares still.

The Ralliart is definitely uglier.

[greenwar]

Nice review man. Only thing I don't agree with is the seat bolstering. The seats seem to be designed for a little bigger person. I slide around quite a bit while taking turns. Best WRX seats were the 02-03 ones. Bugeye owners will attest to that.

I bet you miss the Bose stereo from your G35.

On a plus side, I feel the WRX actually has better interior material than my 02 Altima! Parts inside the Altima truly feels flimsy.

Modified by greenwar at 7:15 PM 3/23/2009
Modified by greenwar at 8:32 AM 3/24/2009

[The_Chosen_One]

I guess I'll throw my baby in here.

[Beancooker]

Nice color!!!

I do miss the hell out of the Bose system.

As far as the seats... They are a lot less slippery than the leather seats in the G35.

[greenwar]

Nice color!!!

I do miss the hell out of the Bose system.

As far as the seats... They are a lot less slippery than the leather seats in the G35.

Ah, I see what you mean. The only leather seats that I didn't slide around in was a honda.

BTW, my stock 08 with an SPT CBE dynoed at 190 awhp/199 awlb-ft on a mustang dyno. With no bolt-on and some magic it now reads 205 awhp/267 awlb-ft. The same magic will do wonders for your car ....

[Beancooker]

What is this 15 HP "magic" you speak of???