Subaru Impreza WRX

celica115

Thank you!!!

bkaiser1

I was in the same position -- looking for an 03 vs an 04 because I happen to like the round light better. While there are a ton of 03 sedans left here in CA and NV, there were only 2-3 wagons left and I wasn't able to get the right deal on either of them. I ended up buying an 04 wagon for only a few hundred more than the 03's instead and the headlight treatment is growing on me every day.

One thing I will suggest, though, is that the redesigned seats in the 04's may not suit you as well. I loved the seats in the 02/03's, and didn't spend enough time in the 04 before I bought it. After about 2 hours behind the wheel, my back and legs are KILLING me, and there's just no adjustment to make it better for me. My partner on the other hand loves the seats and thinks they are fantastic. Otherwise, I love the car!

Brian

wannasubaru

Thanks for the advice on the 2003 vs. 2004 WRX question. Does the yellow really look that bad?

kevin111

It depends on what you want. With Yellow, you will definitely draw attention. If you are looking for something that is striking and noticeable (including the cops) Yellow or Blue are a good way to go.

hypov

laker3

I just pulled the trigger on an '03 "Sonic" Yellow this Saturday! After vascillating between the uniqueness of the '03 turtle eyes vs. the '04 aero (and other minor) updates, I went with the former.

This is a total 180 for me. A year ago, I said I'd buy it [the '03) if only the head/tailights were different. For some reason, it was six months since the auto show and I just couldn't get used to the new look. Eventually, I plan on installing aftermarket tail light lenses and front HID's for my own "refresh."

Personally, I think the limited-edition Yellow is sharp and I shouldn't be seeing too many of them -- it's definitely NOT that Ford Escape Yellow! When I brought it home during the test drive, I couldn't get the neighbors out of my driveway!

Plus, my $3,600 in Subaru credit card points (those jaws were a-droppin') combined with the $750 factory-to-dealer incentive made it an easy decision. Since I keep most of my cars for many years, I'm not too worried about the affects of a resale values. I do plan on having a whole-lotta fun with my WRX.

So, what's the consensus for the break-in period? It'll be tough not to consistenly take it above 4k RPMs for the first 1000 miles.

kevin111

I think the Red looks good, especially on a wagon. I just do not think it is as striking as the blue or the yellow. When I see a blue or yellow WRX driving the other way, I notice it immediately. Very easy to pick out.

Laker3 - Congratulations on your new car purchase! It sounds like you were able to get a great deal on your WRX. I think you were looking for the wagon? In wagon format, I am sure it looks really good!
   
- In terms of the looks and the Turtle eyes, it does end up growing on you. When I was ready to buy the car, I actually went to a Subaru dealer and stared at the front of the WRX for a little while because I was not sure if I could live with the way the front looks. Now it looks good. I saw my car next to a similiarly colored IS300 at the car wash, and the WRX looked better from the front - more agressive and striking.

jim_loves_cars

Laker,

Steady boy! The break-in period is important and will effect the long-term reliability of the vehicle (or so I've read). Keep it under 4k and no heavy braking for the first 1000 miles. Consider it foreplay...

Enjoy!

jim

hypov

Vary your RPMs and Speed...
plan long trips, long routes to the grocery store across the street ;-)

-Dave

bluesubie

Congrats laker3! Yeah, it's tough but follow the break-in procedure to the letter. It's the most important time for your car IMHO.

-Dennis

nschulman3

I am about a month away from purchasing my wr blue STI and trading in my 2002 wrx sedan. I feel the extra power, 6 speed trans and other goodies are worth the purchase. I am, though, intetested if anyone on this board is considering the same swap or perhaps someone has already done so. Well? I was considering a turbo xs stage 2 or vishnu stage 0, but have decided that the low financing and warranty friendly purchase of the sti is a better idea. The power may be close with these kits, but I'll be putting more strain on the trans.

bkaiser1

My 04 wagon is now 9 days old and I've already logged over 1100 miles! We've had it on the highway every chance we can -- it was REALLY hard to keep the revs down in the city!

I'm through the break in period, but still taking it easy for a while just to make sure all's well under the hood. I took it to redline in 1st and 2nd last night going to the grocery store...my first time, and WOW! I didn't push the one's I test drove very hard because I would feel too guilty, in spite of the salesman begging me to push harder. The high RPM power is amazing, and a stark contrast to the sub-3k rpm feeling of the engine. Wow.

B

subearu

jeckle and hyde like in comparison, eh? 8-)

-Brian

laker3

Kev- Actually, mine's a sedan. I saw both brochures for '02 & '03, and seem to recall it said the Blaze ('02) and Sonic ('03) were sedan colors only (but I could be wrong).

With 450 or so built, my dealer in suburban Chicago still has two left!

I splurged a little and am having a custom shop reupholster the seats in black perforated leather with yellow stiching and embroidered WRX logo on the headrest.

I should hit 1,000 miles in about two weeks -- my grocery store's a little further away

-J

andmoon

laker3...What does the upholsterer do for the side airbag? I want to have some lower lumbar padding installed and the sides reupholstered but I wasn't too sure how the tearaway stitching for the airbags worked.
Don

2centz

I've been waivering on getting a Stromung cat back exhaust or Prodrive muffler (with a mid pipe from another company since it doesn't seem like Prodrive offers a cat back system.) Does anyone have experience with either company both positive or negative? I also was wondering what mid pipes would fit with the Prodrive muffler.

Thanks for any feedback!
-Kevin

laker3

andmoon-- I asked my dealer specifically about the effect on side airbags and he said the integrity would be preserved...that's good enough for me, but maybe I'll get it in writing. I'm sure this isn't the first time they've encountered this.

c_hunter

Congrats -- yellow is a sharp color on the WRX! Post a picture for us sometime.

Craig

kevin111

One of my coworkers did it for her car. In other words, the integridy of the side airbags are preserved. In leather, it does look good, and generally cost as much as a leather option would cost.

Leather with yellow stiching and WRX embroidered logo sound sweet. With the money you saved on the car, why not?

laker3

...with the money I saved, now I can tell the wife we can get that digital camera! I'll try to get some pix posted this weekend...stay tuned!

corkfish

Interesting commentary on engine break in. This has become somewhat controversial issue, but some say that proper ring seating requires a hard break in. Who knows. In any case, if a car from a dealer already has a few miles on it, chances are they are very hard miles.

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

duff8

Just bought my 04 WRX. Paint chipped first day out. Any suggestions about a clear bra? Think it would help?

rsholland

Probably not, I'm sorry to say.

The US-spec WRX is not well suited to the 4-speed automatic, for the very reason you mentioned: turbo lag. In Japan the 4-sped automatic is available with the SportShift (like our Legacy GT), which allows the driver to manually shift it.

I'm sure you noticed, most WRXs are sold as 5-speed manuals. There's a good reason for this, which you found out the hard way.

Ideally, the WRX should get the all-new 5-speed automatic (with SportShift) that the all-new Japanese Legacy GT just got.

Out of curiosity, did you try the new Forester 2.5XT automatic? Turbo lag is almost non-existant.

Bob

hypov

Susan-
clearbra will help preserve the paint in most but not all situation(s) - still better than nothing.
Where in the USA are you? There are two guys on NASIOC that does clearbra installs. "leeberbs" in NJ and "RockBlocker" in the west coast, maybe you're near them.

Also, in Australia, I believe a clear acrylic deflector is available for the MY '04. You might like to research that.

Bob-
turbo lag?... what turbo lag?
I don't feel it acting up any different from a N/A with 4EAT.

-Dave

duff8

Bob, I didn't try the Forester. I just traded in my Jeep Wrangler and was looking for a sportier body. What if I put the car in first, step on the brake, rev the engine a little when pulling out? Wouldn't it keep it in first gear longer (and rpm's higher) than if I had it in drive? I live in an area of high high traffic and fast pull-outs are sometimes necessary ): Oh....I just got back from Ellicott. My daughter lives in Catonsville. Nice town.

Dave, I'm in Missouri. Thanks for the info.

hypov

<<What if I put the car in first, step on the brake, rev the engine a little when pulling out?
Wouldn't it keep it in first gear longer (and rpm's higher) than if I had it in drive?>>

Are you attempting a Torque Launch?
Left foot brake, revving engine and release brake?

Ummm Susan-
I wouldn't do that, ... not during the break-in period or on a regular basis thereafter either.

Oh, if you put the shift to 1st, it stays in first as long as you want

-Dave

rsholland

Going from a Wrangler to a WRX is like leaping from Earth to Mars.

Catonsville is nice. I live about 10 miles west of there.

Bob

rsholland

Dave's the man to talk to, since he owns a WRX automatic. My experience has been with 5-speeds.

Bob

duff8

Bob, I meant that when it's in drive, the shift from lst to 2nd is too fast to keep the rpm's up high enough for some decent torque. I LOVE the way this car handles curves. It's great on those winding back roads. But feel pretty misled by the fast acceleration times I read about. I really didn't want to drive a manual. I think they're a pain when you're in a lot of heavy traffic, which I am. But I'm thinking I made a pretty bad choice here.....

kevin111

From what I have heard, the Subaru's auto is a learning system. Since you really have not driven it hard, it does not accelerate like a bat out of hell. Once the break-in period is over, and you drive it more agressively, you will notice the car start to "wake-up". From talking with people with Auto-WRXs, they have been happy with them.

Just ask Dave!

bluesubie

Yeah, it will take a little bit of agressive driving (after the break-in) for the ECU to learn your habits.

I read on another forum that there is something mentioned in the service manual about brake stands/torque launches or whatever you call them. Doing it for more than 5 seconds is very bad for the transmission.

Was there a post deleted? I see Susan asking a question about clear bras, then Bob talks about turbo lag. ???

-Dennis

duff8

Latest issue of Motortrend listed 0 to 60 speeds and the WRX (and not the STi) was listed at 4.9. In other words, a bat out of hell. I knew the auto would be a little slower but am really disappointed. It's kind of hard to do a decent test drive on a car that needs l000 miles of breaking in. Wish they had a used model for test drives. It would have been helpful. I will say this, though. The brakes are awesome. I was going 60 around a pretty decent curve and someone backed out of their driveway without looking. I was amazed (and releived) at how well the brakes worked. The traction on this car is the best I have ever experienced on wet or dry roads.

bluesubie

I don't think I would buy a car that I couldn't test drive. I strongly considered the auto (knee problems), but went with the manual after about 6 test drives in an auto and 2 in a manual. :-)

There are ways to help the turbo lag, it just depends if you want to get into modifying your car. One is a turbo-back exhaust and the other is replacing the up-pipe with a catless one.

-Dennis

robmarch

That 4.9 must have been for the STi. That was the time they got when they did the comparison test between the Evo and STi. The standard WRX is around 5.4-5.7 at the minimum, depending on whose publication you prefer.

but...those gaudy numbers were achieved with high rpm launches, which is as bad(if not worse) for the car as the brake-torque launches in an auto that others here are recommending you to avoid. I'd say the manual is around mid 6's with a reasonable take off. The auto might be 1/2 second back from that or so.

ateixeira

Let it break in, then start driving more aggressively. The tranny is adaptive and will learn to hold a lower gear longer. I bet it'll feel a lot quicker.

The engine is also very green, give it time.

-juice

outback_97

I don't have a WRX, but we do have two automatic Subarus, an OB and a TS. Both 4EAT's will rev to higher RPM's before shifting if you press the gas more aggressively.

In other words, if you gradually press on the gas to speed up, it'll shift at say 3000 RPM. If you stomp on it and hold it, it won't shift until say 5500 RPM. These are just examples, not exact numbers, but the difference in power is noticeable.

Pretty sure this is in the owners manual, but I can't remember what they call this feature. It's not so much adaptive over time, but available at your right foot at any time. OTOH, what others have said is true, the car "learns" how you drive.

Also, as others have said, wait until the breakin passes before pushing it hard.

utahsteve

rsholland

I still contend that the 2.0 WRX, with a 4-speed auto, isn't a great set up. Granted, I'm speaking from sitting in the bleachers, with no first-hand experience with this engine/tranny combo.

Turbo lag will always be problem, to some degree, with the way the WRX is tuned. More gears (with the SportShift feature) help alleviate that problem. That's why I mentioned the 5EAT/SportShift that the all-new Legacy is getting would be ideal. Maybe in a couple of years, we'll see this 5EAT in the WRX...

Bob

outback_97

I just wanted to point out something that hadn't been mentioned yet, about the "power mode" of the 4EAT. I think it's actually called that, and in my experience, it does work, and it's responsive to the rate at which you step on it. Nearly irrelevant during breakin period, though.

I'm not arguing for or against the 2.0 Turbo / 4EAT pairing. Auto was necessary for us, and turbo was not. Note that my garage houses two NA 2.5's with the 4EAT

utahsteve

1hokie

I recently went from a '97 bmw 5 series (2.8l, 5spd) to an '03 wrx, 4EAT. I have been very happy with the car (the awd is amazing - could have used it this past east coast winter!). My only complaint is the turbo lag from a standstill. Once you're moving, and you want to accelerate - no problem, nail the gas pedal and you're off. But if I nail the gas from a standstill I get nothing - literally nothing. The car just sits there - it actually accelerates slower than if I were to hit the gas 50%. Once the revs get up (2-3 seconds later) the car takes off to 7,000 rpm in first - but getting to 3,000 takes forever. I'm used to people in the car knowing when I'm flooring it from a standstill. Now I have to tell people, as they complain about the rapidly approaching traffic I pulled out in front of.

I hope to fix this problem with upgrades (chip, exhausted, up-pipe, etc) - but I wish I didn't have to.

Otherwise the car is great. I got it in wagon format and it has lots of practicality (my rear sets are usually down for more cargo room - trips to Home Depot, etc). It's a blast to drive in the twisties (like my old 5-series was), though the ride is a bit harsh (I can only imagine the STi's ride!).

For the money this was a great purchase. I wanted the 5-speed, but wasn't "allowed" to get it (those who are married might understand).

Now I just read about the new '05 Legacy Turbo Wagon with 280hp - hmm - time to trade in the wife's car! :oP

ateixeira

The WRX auto does have VTD AWD, that's one advantage. With a 5 speed Sportshift it would really be a class-leading powertrain, I'm including Audis in that statement.

-juice

hypov

Susan & 1hokie-

Have y'all noticed on the 4EAT that when you depress the pedal lightly you see the rpm building but the car isn't moving? More prominent when up hill [hey, it's a 2.0l engine ;-) ].
If you can find the spot without moving the car and hold it there then, without letting off, stab the pedal and watch the car jump. It's sort of a mild torque launch.

-Dave

duff8

I've driven the l000 break in miles and the turbo lag is still hideous. I now have a love/hate relationship with my new car. That is its ONLY problem, but it's a monster problem with fast approaching traffic. I also have learned that it is better not to mash the gas pedal. It just SITS there....literally doesn't move... Weirdest thing I've ever experienced...then takes off like a rocket. I'm pretty satisfied with pulling out if I just press it half way down. Pulls out pretty fast and seems to be getting better with time. But I actually feel that I am going to be forced into some upgrades. It's actually dangerous trying to pull out in busy fast traffic. I talked to the manager of the dealership about this. I told the salesman several times that pulling out quickly was important where I live and he reassured me that I would have no problem after the break in period. Manager said that if I wanted torque I should have bought a vette. ha

rsholland

The sales manager sounds like an unsympathetic jerk. I still think the Forester XT would have been the ticket.

I know that doesn't help you now...

Bob

kevin111

Had the same experience in an auto Prelude - '98. Stomped on the gas, and just sat there at the light while the engine was spooling up. Had people behind me honking!

Would recommend going half-throttle first to get the car going, then full-throttle. Should see a much bigger difference.

mws1672002

Has anyone replaced the factory radio with a new head unit? If so how hard is the new one to install.

c_hunter

I just want to echo the posts about the "power mode". Even though my WRX is a 5-spd, my Outback and my wife's Forester are autos. Regardless of the learning curve, etc... the auto trans has a "power mode" that is engaged by pushing the pedal down more rapidly. When driven casually, the cars upshift 1-2 real early (sometimes too early). If you mash the pedal, power mode is engaged and the 1-2 shift (and subsequent shifts) hold out to much higher RPMs (near redline if you want). This is equivalent to the "sport" mode on other vehicles with autos.

I have zero experience in an auto WRX, but I never heard of those cars bogging down off the line. In fact, you're likely to get smoother initial starts in an auto than a manual in my opinion. Turbo lag is more apparent in an auto, but it shouldn't bog down off the line.

Let me ask a simple (obvious?) question: is the AC on? Does the problem go away if the AC is off? The WRX AC will cycle in and out as power needs dictate. I could see this getting in the way when you mash the pedal, yet it would be less obtrusive if you ease onto the throttle. Turn off the AC and see if that's it.

Craig

duff8

Craig, I don't run the AC. Has to be over l00 outside before I use it. Hate AC. I now only have l000 miles of experience with an auto WRX and if you "mash the pedal" nothing happens. Nothing....you just sit there. I am starting to experience a much better performance off the line now, though, if I drive casually. I am feeling a lot more positive about it. I think I just have to have more experience with a turbo. Have to learn how to drive one.

hypov

Susan-
Thinking over what you'd said, and 1hokie earlier, it occured to me. When you mash the pedal the engine will rev and nothing will happen [no motion] momentarily and then it squirts forward.
All Subaru does it because of the AWD, and I think it is more prominent with the ATs. I don't have the know-how to explain why...[paging Colin paging Colin]... just that it's practically impossible to burn rubber with a Subaru.

Could that be what you've encountered?

-Dave

bluesubie

I think a little of it has to do with the torque converter (needs a little time for the fluid to get going), and Subaru transmissions in general. A synthetic ATF might help, but time and break-in should help as well.

When my wife first got her auto Outback, she could accelerate it quicker than I could. I would stomp the gas too and just bog it. A smooth gradual acceleration will help. You *really* have to wait for it to break in though.

If it makes you feel better, the auto-WRX (along with the VDC) has the most advanced AWD system of all Subaru's (where's AH? :-)). It's actually more closely related to the STi and World Rally car's tranny than the manual is.

The STi has a planetary manually controlled planetary center differential and the auto WRX has an automatically controlled planetary center differential.

-Dennis

ateixeira

If the torque converter is not locked up, it'll slip (normal design). That gets the ATF flowing, and then the drivetrain sort of has to catch up. Once it does it'll lock up and you'll have more immediate response.

Another thing is the turbo will be in vacuum mode and has to build boost, that's what they mean by turbo lag.

What you might have is a combination of both. You floor it, that makes the torque converter slip. But when you add gradual throttle, it locks up earlier on, and reponse is better.

You could add a 3rd thing - VTD is distributing power 44/55, so you have 5 drive shafts to get moving. There's a lot of inertia to overcome at first.

As for the turbo, when the torque converter locks up you have more of a load. Turbos need a load to spool up. Again, that might happen sooner if you apply the throttle gradually.

At least that's my theory. I imagine you'll quickly learn how to get the best response out of it.

-juice