Subaru Impreza WRX

paisan

These are probably the best all season tires I've ever had on my car. I run 245-45-16s on mine and they are excellent. So good I ran them in 6-14" of snow during a blizzard while driving across upstate NY last winter, then ran them at Virginia International Raceway in Feb for 2 days on the track, and then in 70 degree weather @ Limerock Park for a BMW track day. So IMHO they are quite versitile!

-mike

andmoon

Paisan,
What wheel width and offset are you running? No rubbing?
Don

paisan

That's on my stock SVX rims on my SVX

-mike

xcskier

This is what I found at Tirerack:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Dunlop&tireM- odel=SP+Sport+5000+Asymmetrical&vehicleSearch=true&partnu- m=055WR65000&fromCompare1=yes

Are these the tires you like so much? They're called SP Sport 5000 Asymmetric.

I'm thinking of replacing the RE92s, but want to stick with 16 inch for $$ savings.

Thanks.

sensei1

Maybe you can have snead_c talk to this guy on money.cnn.com

snead_c Jun 1, 2003 4:28pm

There's quite a bit of us >40 who don't live in a basement, enjoys driving and recognizes a good buy when we see one.

Right on snead_c!!!

ateixeira

Dennis: that comment is absolutely silly. The RSX is based on the econobox Civic.

And when you think econobox, don't you think of FWD 4 cylinder hatchbacks? Guess which one that is...

-juice

krzyss

"Greetings, Krzysztof,

Thanks for your feedback. I was just funnin' around, didn't mean to
take a cheap shot or anything. (I'm actually a big fan of
the WRX' performance). Drove the new STi at California
Speedway a few months ago, definitely a fun, fun ride, though I'm not sure
it's worth another $5,000 or $6,000 over the standard WRX.

Thanks for reading, and writing -- much appreciated.

Lawrence Ulrich"

axp696

Those are the ones. Much cheaper than RE92s, and the difference is like night and day. IMO they're what should've been on the car out of the factory.

manavi

The Dunlop SP5000's were original equipment on my 2001 Protege and they were terrific. They were 195-50-16 V-rated and provided great wet and dry traction. Also, I got a tad over 40,000 miles out of them.

I decided to try a different replacement to try to get even more mileage out of them so I replaced them with Toyo Proxes TPT, which have the same specs but come with a 60,000 mile warranty.

Anyways, two big thumbs up from me for the Dunlop SP5000's.

cptplt

lots of people at nasioc have said they have fitted 225/50-16 on stock(or lowered) WRX sedans and wagons without any rubbing issues. Tirerack also say its ok (I was interested in getting some which would fit both my WRX annd 98 GT but they were concerned about the Gt rubbing but not the WRX).

The Continental Conti Extreme , a new all season, is getting rave reviews at Tirerack, about the only Continental to do so!Cheaper than the Dunlops I believe.

cosmothedog

Are these effective? I have alergies and would love it if this could keep pollen out. Does it do anything for odors like cigarette smoke or exhaust fumes?

kens

The air filter itself is designed to trap pollen and dust so it should help your allergies. It also helps to keep the inside of your vehicle clean. I'm not sure about smoke, though -- those are some very fine particles.

Ken

ateixeira

No smoking in my car, and I doubt the filter would help.

The filter itself works great. I've had it for 3 years now, and I have asthma. Just checked it yesterday morning, as a matter of fact, and it was *NASTY*. What was white became black and it's just full of dust.

Guess the alternative is to inhale all that stuff.

-juice

prayerfor

I am enjoying my Continental ContiExtremeContacts, size 215/45/17 on Rota rims. I posted a review on TireRack recently if you'd like more detailed observations.

bluesubie

I posted the same question regarding the odors several months ago.
It seems like it would be fairly easy for them (or anyone) to put a thin piece of carbon on the filter for odors.

-Dennis

cosmothedog

Are these effective? I have alergies and would love it if this could keep pollen out. Does it do anything for odors like cigarette smoke or exhaust fumes?

ateixeira

If you saw how dirty mine got, you'd say that definitely, Yes, they are effective.

-juice

merrycynic

They are effective. Mine was absolutely gross after 7000 miles. They are expensive to replace, $43.95 part, $37.50 labor. The recommended replacement is something like very 12 months or 7000 miles? Mine had to be ordered. BTW, they are housed behind the glove box. I'm glad I have it, but, think the price of replacement is outrageous.

jocko2

"And when you think econobox, don't you think of FWD 4 cylinder hatchbacks? Guess which one that is..."

Uhhhh...neither. The article was about the TSX, not RSX.

axp696

The air filter is definitely overpriced, but they can be found for $30 online (www.subaruwrxparts.com or www.subaruparts.com), and installation consists of unscrewing 7 or 8 screws, pulling out the glovebox, and replacing the filter. Alternatively, I've heard of people recently cutting up heater filters into quarter sheets and having them function just as well, at a mere $8 per panel from Home Depot. Just a few things to think about.

ppek

Does anyone know how difficult it is to retrofit the air filter? My WRX did not come with this, but it sounds like it might be a nice thing to keep the dust and pollen down.

Thanks,
Paul

bluesubie

Paul - I believe it's an option on all WRX's. It's just a guess, but I would think that the filter housing is already there and you just put in the filter.
Anyone know?

-Dennis

edit: Here are installation instructions:
http://subaruparts.com/install/2002iairfilt.pdf

ateixeira

jocko: oopsy! Mis-read that.

Even so, the TSX is the euro Accord, an economy sedan over there.

It's easy, I did this myself. bitman shared a site that had the photos I took when I did it. If that's not enough I'll e-mail you my originals.

-juice

kngjake

He obviously hadn't seen the re-designed 04 model. Besides, who want's a car that looks like everyone else's with no distinguishing features?

himiler

Well, Honda does sell a bunch of Accords and Civics...

robmarch

are you sure the accord is an economy sedan in europe? One of the reviews I read specifically stated that it competes with higher class cars over in Europe than our Accord.

himiler

the higher-kit Accords fall into the "medium executive class," I think.

redkey1

Have any of you seen the new accord's interior? It certainly is not economy by any sense of the word. It is actually quite luxurious in the higher trim levels.

himiler

As long as you like a high cowl, it's great shakes!

cosmothedog

What have been your experiences with less restrictive exhaust kits? My dealer said they offer something for around $1000 that maintains warranty coverage. What type and pricing of exhaust kits are out there and what sort of power improvements can be gained? Other ideas for low cost power enhancements? I'd prefer not to invest more than $1000 or so.

paisan

Will retain 100% warranty coverage, even Subaru performance parts are subject to the same scrutiny that aftermarket parts are subject to.

I'd wait til after you had it for a while and see how you like it. There are plenty of tuners out there that can upgrade you if need be at a later date.

-mike

prayerfor

Mike is right, any exhaust mods you do have the potential to void your warranty. It really depends more on how "mod friendly" your dealer is than anything else. Some service depts will do warranty work on heavily modified cars, while others will deny claims on near-stock cars. Even the Subaru stuff comes with the standard "for off road use" disclaimer.

Getting to know the car and waiting until the "honeymoon" is over before tinkering is also good advice.

When/if you get the itch, some good "starter" power mods are as follows:
* ECU reflash (changes stock parameters to enhance performance within a fairly conservative safety threshold)
* Intercooler hose kit (increases intercooler flow)
* Exhaust mods: 1) catless uppipe, 2) catless or hi-flow cat downpipe, 3) catback pipes & muffler (2) and 3) together are commonly referred to as a "turboback" exhaust).

Like any other car, freeing up the car's ability to breathe is one of the easiest ways to squeeze out more power. In the WRX, that involves removing the "pre-cat" in the uppipe, removing/replacing (with a high-flow cat) the "primary cat" in the downpipe, removing the "secondary cat" in the midpipe, and increasing piping diameter (upping from 2.5" to 3" is the norm).

Unlike most cars, tinkering with the WRX's intake plumbing is generally not a good idea, as the stock setup is better than most of the aftermarket setups that tend to screw up the MAF readings.

Before upping the power, however, you would do well to upgrade the WRX's handling and braking. For handling, the first step is better tires and perhaps larger rims. Performance street pads are the place to start with the braking.

Good luck and enjoy the car!

corkfish

I've heard rave reviews about the new Cobb reflash. Personally, I'd buy a complete unit from Cobb for around $1000 so I could drop in the original unit if it needs work at the dealer. Takes about 10 minutes to install and apparently increases horsepower and torque dramatically. You'll get another 20 horsepower and won't have to contend with a harsh exhaust noise. I've also read that 2.5 inch pipes are better than 3 inch.

rexaroo

with the 2.5 inch pipe without any restriction of exhaust flow unless you go over 300 hp.

The Cobb reflash stage 1 will get you to about 260 safe hp. Adding a free flow exhaust will add another 5-10 hp and give you a 270 hp Rex. This is bumping up against the 280 hp limit which WRX guru Mike Shields (www.spdusa.com) says is the safe threshhold for our U.S. EJ205 engines. Any more than that, and you'd better strengthen the engine internally or you are looking at a blown engine somewhere down the line, unless you drive most of the time with kid gloves.

So the good news is doing the Cobb 1 reflash with free-flow exhaust (about $1000) and using synthetic fluids will max out your engine's safe potential (with about a 10 hp safety buffer) without doing any other modifications.

prayerfor

I'm planning on doing the Cobb reflash soon myself corkfish. I'm waiting for them to come out with their AccessPort hardware (end of June they're now saying), which will be designed to plug into the OBD port (beneath the steering column) and download the Cobb-provided map to the ECU without taking anything apart at all.

Subsequent reflashes, if needed, are facilitated by calling Cobb and paying them $20 to email the needed map, uploading it to the AccessPort (via serial cable I believe), and finally downloading it to the ECU. No downtime at all.

There's no need to have a spare ECU at all (which I infer is how you got to $1000 for a "complete kit"). Furthermore there's no need to reflash to a "stock" map before visiting the dealer, because the reflash itself is undetectable, according to Cobb.

You are correct that ~30 smooth and reliable HP (from 227 to 260 according to the Cobb site) for $400 (add another $100 for the AccessPort hardware) is about the best deal going. $20 for reflashes is easy to stomach too.

I did a lot of studying on exhausts, trying to find a setup that would avoid the harsh noise and highway droning you mention. I also wanted a near-stock "stealth" look. Two systems that meet these objectives and also free up significant amounts of power (another ~25 HP) are the MRT turboback, and the TXS "stealthback" mated to a prodrive muffler. I've got the MRT pipes sitting on the floor in the garage, waiting to be installed.

You are correct that for an otherwise stock car, a 2.5" system may be superior to a 3" system for providing better gains on the low end. The ScoobySport system is the best going in this regard, but it's got a distinct but loud tone. The 3" system will be better at higher revs, or with a more modified car.

paisan

Isn't that stock size of the pipes?

-mike

kens

I've read good things about the AccessECU to over at NABISCO. I think it's great that Cobb is offering such a competitive price.

How much torque does the AccessECU add below 3000RPM (the main area where WRX owners complain about turbo lag)? Is it noticeable with the butt-dyno?

Ken

rexaroo

on the Rex. The 3 inch is best for 300+ hp, heavily modified engines from what I've read.

Cobb Stage 1 AccessECU creates a little extra torque in the 3000 range, but the butt-dyno probably won't register it much. Engine pulls a lot stronger from 5-7,000 rpm though. This is going by what owners have said on the Cobb WRX forum and here on Edmunds.

You have to go to the Cobb Stage 2 to get a big bump in low-end torque, but personally I'm not comfortable exceeding 270-280 hp for reliability reasons.

paisan

my SVX is 2.5" also and when I re-did it with hi-flow cat and magnaflow muffler along with 2" pipe after the collectors I notice a big jump above 4K rpms up to 7K.

-mike

andmoon

I was waiting for Cobb's access port. Was to be ready at the end of May but now it 'might' be by the end of June...so I sent in my ecu to be reflashed. They have a 30 day guarantee and when the access port comes out, those who have had the flash done can get the port for the $100 diff.

I have driven cars with both the stage one and two (which requires you to obtain a turbo back exhaust, Cobb recs. to leave the uppipe) and even my numb butt dyno can tell a diff., the top end is MUCH stronger. The biggest gain is how much smoother the car runs. The Stage two (the one I drove had APS turbo back) makes it feel like it has added displacement.
 
Now the questionable parts...I have heard that Subaru CAN detect reflashes...and even if they can't, anyone who is familiar w/ wrxs will know just by driving the car. There also is some device that is part of the stage one that is inserted into a tube in the engine compartment that is a physical sign of modification.

As for me, I figure if a modification I did causes something to break then it's not Subaru's obligation to repair it...If they won't repair an unrelated item then I'll have to fight them. The 'grey' areas are going to make for some interesting arguments.
It's a risk I choose to take.

Don

bluesubie

The easiest way for Subaru to detect reflashes is by reading internet forums. ;-)

Cobb's FAQ says that a dealer cannot detect them. Have people been saying otherwise?

-Dennis

andmoon

I've been reading a lot of forums and I remember one (either iclub or nasoic...are these two one and thw same?) guy mentioning that his dealer detected the reflash.

corkfish

That's my other concern about an ECU and why I thought I'd just buy a second unit. Can the dealer, whether he detects it or not, reflash the unit back to original specs? The dyno charts for the Access ECU seem pretty impressive and people seem to be saying there's a dramatic and noticeable improvement in torque. Anyone have one yet? How easy is it to install?

2centz

It seems that Vishnu claims 7-10 hp when using their pulley kit. Does anyone have experience with this? Sounds like a rather inexpensive way for more hp ($172).

bluesubie

nasioc used to be i-club. The co-founders had a disagreement about the way the forum was running.
Then i-club became nasioc. The other co-founder created a "new" i-club.

That's the short version. :-)

-Dennis

qbrozen

You think $172 for 7-10 horses is inexpensive? That's about $20 a horse. I don't know. When you can get 33 horses from Cobb for $400 ($12 a horse), those pulleys seem damned expensive to me.

I guess maybe AFTER the stage 1 ...

2centz

The pulley would be cheaper than a catback exhaust for the 7-10 hp after the stage 1 kit. Anyway, $20 a horse for the WRX is pretty cheap compared to buying the real thing. <joking> Is the $400 for the reflash?

andmoon

bluesubie, thanks for the explanation...so iclub and nasioc are two parts of the same club because the chiefs fought? Forget it I don't want to know. Thank you though.

2centz...$395 for the reflash but add shipping both ways and its more like $450. $100 more when the accessport comes out and you can reflash stage 1,2 and stock up to 100 times by yourself.

Cobb claims 195 hp at the wheels with stage 1. Same dyno was 170 hp stock. so if 170 whp = 227 crank hp, then 195 whp = 260 crank hp. $11.97 per hp sounds pretty cheap! Stage 2 is around 300 crank hp!

Now all these claims seem almost too easy but all the good reviews have led me to try them. I will keep you all posted...so far I can say that the stage 1 portion is all true.

Don

2centz

Sounds like it would be worth waiting for the accessport if it only costs an extra $100. I'm interested in the Stage 1 package, but it sounds like anything over 260 hp crank like the Stage 2 would involve more modding, which would be out of my budget. Anyway, I would definitely be interested in your experience with the Stage 1.

Kevin

socprofinblrex

Don't post often, but wanted to give an account of my Wheel/Tire purchasing experience.

Have about 20,000 + miles on my stock Potenzas (33,000 on the car so far [2002 WRX wagon in black]. Don't like the stock tires and have been drooling over 17's with lower profile.

Started running Dunlop Winter tires on stock 16 inch rims (it is Winter for 6 + months here) and had just swapped out those winters for the stock all season potenzas for the summer (same stock wheels).

Wasn't anxious to spend another summer on the stock Potenzas, but they have a lot of wear left. But I'm turning a slight bit of bad luck with one tire into lemonade after I found my excuse to extend myself and go for new wheels and tires: A slow leak on one tire that wasn't holding after repair.

Never had a car I cared about the performance or handling like this car, so had to stretch the brain and the pocketbook. I've been saving posts about tires/wheels for over a year. I'm hoping it paid off.

I Based my choice of tires on the many posts on this site: Bridgstone Pole Position S-03's: 215/45/17.

I based my choice of wheel from limiting selections on Tirerack that would fit the car. There are a million rims out there! Choice of rim: Mille Miglia Actions in 17 inches.

Priced out a wheel/tire package on Tirerack: $1284.50 with shipping.

A new Discount Tire franchise opened up nearby across the river in St.Paul. Went in to see them, too. As soon as I told them what I was looking at, the guy says, "you researched this on Tirerack, didn't you!" Told him I had.

He pretended to do some checking on his computer with the excuse that they don't stock these tires or wheels in the store and he would have to order them. "fine," I said. What a coincidence: he could get the same exact wheels and tires for the exact same price, but would have to charge me tax of course. He quickly added that if I purchased with him, I would have a place to change out my summer tires to winter tires, a place to get balancing, and repairs: things that would require shipping with Tirerack and would likely cost more overall.

Result: I did order from him, paid about $200 more with tax and the insured replacement of problems with tires, and had them mounted on the car today (48 hours after ordering).

As I was about to drive away, the technician informed me that he had put the lugs from the stock wheels in the same package that the new wheel lugs came in. He handed it to me. On the package was the shipping info for the tire/wheels just installed on my car...

... They had ordered the tire/wheel pack from Tirerack!

Before I got home, had three stares at the wheels (I home that's good) and one honk and thumbs up. Now we'll see how they handle. Happy summer driving, everybody!

Thomas in Minneapolis.