Subaru Impreza WRX

subaru_team

Wow - what a list! You don't have to worry about moving it to the suggestions board. I've cut/pasted the information over on the list we have for Product Planning. I've been hearing everyone about the STi wagon. I haven't received much of a reaction to my sending that message - loud and clear, but we'll see. I guess anything can happen.

Now the big question - what would you be willing to pay for all of the "features" (not the design stuff) in a Subaru?

Thanks for the post. I can tell you really wanted to get all of your thoughts out there and they are appreciated.

Patti

c_hunter

I wonder if something needs to be lubricated? I had a 93 Honda Civic that would make grinding noises when the wheel was first turned in cold weather. It was kind of a gravely sound/feel with some scratching noises and an occasional muted squeak. Typically, the noise would go away after a few minutes of driving (ie, after some turns). I finally figured out that the steering column shaft needed to be lubricated. Put some grease in the right place, and the problem went away. My parents Accord had the same problem, again related to colder weather.

So, I'd say you should research the lubrication angle. Could be the column shaft, or somewhere else in the steering mechanism.

Craig

merrycynic

Patti,
     Thank you! Gee, I hadn't thought of an itemized price structure or anything. With all due respect, I think Subaru's basic cars are incredible values, but, the after market stuff is way over priced. If we're talking about a package on an STi wagon, off the top of my head, perhaps $2-3K extra.

merrycynic

Guess what, I forgot a couple of ideas. How about having the little center sun visor attached with a rotating swivel that had a mirror on one side to monitor the little ones in the back. How about replacing the flimsy cargo cover with one that retracted into the floor well so it wouldn't be in the way when not in use, and ran along side rails, so it would be easier to engage when closed? Sorry, I'm sure more thought will come. Thanks again.

hypov

<<How about replacing the flimsy cargo cover with one that retracted into the floor well so it wouldn't be in the way when not in use, and ran along side rails, so it would be easier to engage when closed?>>

That would be nice if the wheel well isn't in the way.

-Dave

paisan

Where do you get your crack? And can I get some!!!!!

The Saab will be a 5-door.

-mike

bluesubie

Hey, don't put those features on a Japanese performance economy car! Keep it under 25k! Hello? ;-) Yeah, go for the 9-2.

BTW, the cargo cover does fit under the floor when not in use. Check out the recessed spot under there.

-Dennis

merrycynic

Dennis,
 Thanks, I hadn't tried that. I was thinking that it would be nice if the roof rack cross bars could fit into pre-measured holes in the rack and could be mounted with wing nuts or dials so that one wouldn't have to measure and use a second tool. BTW, my cross bars came delivered spaced differently than suggested in the owners manual. I'd also like to see some kind of boot over the windshield wiper mounts, I have a hard time keeping leaf debris from getting clogged in there. My suggestions were made with the premise that they could be offered as a an optional package. It was not my intention to unnecessarily squeeze people out from a price point.

rickrover

I've had my STi for about 5 months now and love it. I came from a modified 02 VW GTI, three things I wish the STi had are 1- better interior lighting. The Germans have interior lighting down, both rear passengers have reading lights, all switches and controls are backlit, everything is adjustable to light when the doors are opened or not. 2- the doors sound way too tinny when they're shut. I'm thinking of adding a little dynamat to them for a more solid sound. 3-slightly better interior material quality would be nice - I'd have gladly paid a few extra hundred for these features.

I still don't have a sound system in mine and I'm not it a hurry to put one in - it's like driving a video game anyway - all the entertainment I need is already there :-)

ateixeira

Careful, all that stuff adds weight. Never mind cost.

Look at Mitsubishi - they did the opposite, and came out with the EVO RS. They deleted sound insulation and vanity lights to save weight!

Perhaps you could have two models, a lighter sport-oriented model, and a luxurious one. But yeah, I agree, that's what the Saab 9-2 should be.

-juice

merrycynic

I'd like the gas cap to be on the drivers side.

c_hunter

I put small (10"x10") sections of dynamat on the sheetmetal behind the door speakers in my WRX, and it made a difference in the sound of the door shutting. You might not need to do the whole door to get rid of the tinny sound.

Craig

subaru_team

it's time to move this stuff over to the suggestions board. I can do a cut/paste as a one time thing, but, unfortunately, I don't have time to keep doing it!

Thanks!

Patti

rickrover

I'm not familiar with where the suggestions area is - could you provide a link?

As far as the weight of my suggestions goes for the lighting etc - I wonder how many pounds the 3 things I mentioned would weigh - I wouldn't think more than two or three pounds for some extra lighting hardware, that's probably a high estimate.

hunter - thanks for the dynamat placement advice.

merrycynic

Sorry, I'm having the same problem as rickrover.

bluesubie

Subaru Crew-Suggestions.

Just display All Subaru Discussion and you'll find it.

-Dennis

pat

Here is a direct link to the discussion folks are talking about: Subaru Crew: Suggestions for Subaru.

You ought to check out the list of discussions in your Owners Club (where that one resides). An easy way to get to the Owners Club is follow the link in the header of this discussion.

pat

Or what Dennis said.

bluesubie

nyyace

Hi Everyone. This may sound crazy but I have an 04 WRX with 7,000 miles and a REALLY squeaky seat. It seems to be a spring somewhere in the back portion of the seat. Any ideas on how to fix this? Any type of movement in my seat and there is a big squeak, it is driving me crazy!
Should I bring it back to the dealer? Thanks

kevin111

I was just reading through the messages (including my own) with regards to LackofDave.

With his nits, and the comment:

"Match those with the price and I'm really surprised the car is as popular as it is. "

- he would have been run out of other boards on this website. Instead he just leaves in a huss because we all do not agree with him that the 6 is a superior car to the WRX!

I thought the people gave intelligent and rational responses to his issues, and to the reasoning as to why we purchased a WRX over other cars.

I would say the reason the majority bought a WRX over other vehicles in its price range is due to the superior drivetrain of the WRX.

One last comment, there are car company reps that frequent these boards, and post on these boards (including Mazda). I wonder if Lackofdave was one of them? His responses and line of questioning would fit this mold.

pat

Hey folks, let's just talk about the cars and not each other. Different strokes for different folks, you know, and there is no requirement that only unqualified accolades be posted here.

Opinions vary and we can all be grateful we have so many choices available. And we can all be thrilled that we have chosen the right vehicle for ourselves, right?

Thanks.

jmgregory5

Hey nyyace, try adjusting the seat down. I had a similar problem and it was that the seat was too far up for my weight. Once I lowered it, the problem disappeared.

John

wayde

Just curious if this is a regional thing, but here in the Minneapolis area there are no white WRX's in stock nor have I ever seen one on the road (I did see 1 white STi).
If white is a color option then why not have it in stock?
Call me just curious. Why? I'm looking at the WRX again (maybe this means something, that I keep coming back to this car) and the two colors I would go for are WR Blue and White (of which there are none). Black is too hard to clean. Silver - too many. Red - I like it but is it too "flashy"?
I'm going to test drive one in the next week - I've only driven an auto version (about a year ago) and wasn't too impressed. The addition of the prem pkg (htd seats,mirrors, sunroof) addressed the lack of features I really wanted
Curious what gas mileage is for you all - about 50/50 driving? (I did search mpg, but it hasn't been discussed for awhile so thought I'd ask.)
I want the WRX+prem.pkg. and no other options... unless there is one (or more) that you guys think are a "must". ??
Thanks for reading this long msg
Wayde

subarusaleshou

The armrest extension is highly desirable. It adds extra storage but more importantly puts the armrest high enough to be usable and comfortable while driving.

bluesubie

wayde- White is not a popular color, that may be why it's hard to find. Go to subaru.com and you can search dealer inventories for your area.

While the armrest is definitely a plus for extra storage, I rarely use it for resting my arm. I usually keep both hands on the wheel. :-)

Love the auto-dimming mirror, mainly for it's compass.

-Dennis

wayde

Hey Bluesubie -
Thanks for the advice, but I have searched every subie dealers within 400 miles of me.
Oh well, blue is my 2nd choice.

Feedback on the short throw shifter? pros/cons?

c_hunter

If you have long arms and a manual-trans WRX with the short throw shifter, pass on the armrest -- it gets in the way of shifting. I took mine out after a few weeks of awkward shifts.

White looks excellent in a WRX, but is more rare. I saw a white STi with silver rims and it was hot.

Craig

c_hunter

I like the short throw shifter a lot, it's worth the couple hundred extra $$. This is actually an SPT/STi part, so it's cool you can get it as an installed option.

If you add the momo knob, you can shorten the shifter length even more and get the throws even shorter.

http://members.cox.net/craig.hunter/shifter.jpg

And if you like tinkering, you can buy Kartboy bushings for about $30 and crawl under the car for 10-15 minutes to install them. It really improves shifter feel.

Craig

rickrover

I've seen quite a few white WRX's in my area - STi's seem to be rare in white. I live in Florida - white is a popular color here due to the heat.

White/ Gold was my #1 choice when I got my STi, I ended up with Blue/ Gold - I'm happy with it.

subarusaleshou

We have several of every color on hand in WRX. In STi we have white and black with silver wheels and blue with gold wheels at the moment.

I want an STi and lean toward blue/gold, white/silver or silver/silver. The blue is the color it should be but with Houston heat the lighter colors have appeal. Now if I'd just win that lotto....

merrycynic

I think I've seen every combination except, blue w/silver wheels. Of course for me it'd probably be that or all silver.

paisan

A friend just got one. He had ordered blue/gold, but the dealer messed it up.

-mike

sonya4

wouldn't work for me. I'm short and when I got into an '03 with the extension, just to see what it would be like, I thought, I would never get this. Really gets in the way for me, whether I want to rest my arm or shift.

I love my black and it's not "hard to clean," dirt is just more visible on it! Saw a white one once. Most of the ones on the street are blue or silver. Haven't seen red that often either.

Come to think of it, have seen only one STi on the street so far, and it was blue and gold.

--sonya

merrycynic

Paisan,
  Any chance of posting a photo?

paisan

Should have them up shortly. We actually had 2 STi at the shop last night Silver/Silver and Blue/Silver.

-mike

merrycynic

Paisan,
 Thanks.

cinosweive

CR just reviewed sporty cars. Subaru has 2 in the top 4 : )

ateixeira

Who else will notice the LATCH and ISOFIX anchors and standard side air bags?

-juice

kevin111

The STi was rated second in this segment(behind the SVT Focus, must be a value, room, ride thing). The WRX was tied with the Mazda RX8.

The Latch system was poor in most of the sporty vehicles tested. The STi had complaints for the rear-head restraints/rests not being able to protect the head in an accident.

Also, the 350Z received negative points for not being able to manually turn off the side air-bag if a child is sitting in the passenger seat.

:-) It takes CR to notice these, I sure would not!

merrycynic

I sure notice these things. The Latch, seat belt, baby seat/booster seat situation is a damn shame. Subaru should not be singled out for this, though, it's an industry wide debacle.

ateixeira

Hey, they still rated it "excellent" overall and stamped it with their recommended seal.

-juice

kevin111

"The Latch, seat belt, baby seat/booster seat situation is a damn shame. Subaru should not be singled out for this, though, it's an industry wide debacle. "

- Nope, virtually all the cars rated (of the STi, Evo, RX8, 350Z, and Crossfire ) were criticised in this area.

ateixeira

I was actually kidding, but that's hilarious. Haven't read the whole article yet.

-juice

subarusaleshou

They are good to a degree, at least from presumed neutrality of opinions, however in many things their lack of expertise leads to less than valid conclusions. Several years ago when I was a very serious bicyclist I read their review of bikes. Several of their comments of why A was better than B were 180 degrees from reality. Anyone who knew what they were talking about knew the conclusion was invalid and exactly the opposite to a real world outcome. There's no telling why an inferior SVT was chosen over the STi, other than possibly another case of CR foolishness.

kevin111

It seems the way CR approaches things, which are different than automags, is they look into things like price, gas mileage, child safety, ride quality... et., some of the practical factors. The Auto mags generally look at things related to the driving experience and performance, with much less weight on the other factors.

Also, with car mags, it is who is giving them the most money to promote which.

merrycynic

I have to agree with Subarusaleshou. CR's credibility with regard to anything that verges on an enthusiasts market usually comes up quite short. That said, the valuable reliability stats and customer satisfaction surveys are topics that the usual enthusiasts reports rarely touch upon. Perhaps the potential for lost advertising dollars discourages them. CR has come along way from their "just don't get it" past when they criticized roadsters for their stiff ride and lack of cargo space. IMHO, the current automobile evaluators are doing a creditable job, especially considering the scope of their audience. Much better than their predecessors. As far as the Focus getting top honors, keep in mind that due to it the Focus' reliability issues, CR does NOT recommend it.

ateixeira

Take them FWIW, but they are the only source that tells you about stuff like turning circles, seat belt pretensioners, # of suitcases that fit in the trunk, biggest cargo box, etc.

I read them for practical information.

And I do agree, now at least they have begun to understand sports cars, and many are highly rated. The STi is "excellent" and is their top recommendation for its class.

Years ago they would have whined about the stiff ride, summer tires, view-blocking spoiler, yada yada yada.

-juice

subarusaleshou

I don't want to give the impression I think they are terrible because they do provide much more real world information than any of the car magazines do. The car mags would do well to study CR and implement some of their techniques.

The important thing is to read between the lines also because no matter what they say one big factor to them is price. There's no way an SVT would come out ahead of a WRX otherwise.

I like CR and read it every now and then. I appreciate the breadth of information they provide and value a lot of their data and statistics more then the stuff in the car mags. I do like knowing performance info as well but I need to know about the real world since my time is spent there, not unfortunately on the track and having fun all the time.

cptplt

C & D and many other "serious" car mags love the Focus. Its actually a very fun car to drive (esp back and forth to the Ford dealer to get fixed!!):-)