Subaru Impreza WRX

paisan

Well lets see.... As long as we are going to base it on old info like 10 year old hondas and toyotas...

'88 Subaru XT6 sold 1.5years ago at 110K miles, no major repairs except the air suspension.
'91 Subaru XT6 sold 1.2years ago 125k miles, no major repairs except clutch/flywheel at 100K, air suspension.
'97 Subaru Legacy L 4EAT, 95K miles, no major repairs, running well, routine maintenance
'97 Subaru Outback 4EAT, 92K miles, never maintained except for oil changes every 9K miles, head gasket at 90K miles
'92 Subaru SVX, 101K miles, no major repairs, exhaust replaced due to corrosion.
'96 Subaru Impreza L, 155K miles, no major repairs, car now is used as a track car running flat out for 2-3hrs and pushed very hard, AC even works!

-mike

tnisace86

I know on the turbo-charged models of the Saabs, there is a whine when the turbo is warming up. Scared the hell out of me. Does WRX's turbo unit do that too?

bluesubie

barriostkd

I have an '04 WRX sedan and wanted to purchase sways bars to improve the handling and reduce body roll. Can any of you advise if I should get both front and rear, or just the rear? Also, can you guys recommend what brands are good and any additional info that I should know about? Size, material, price, etc. Thanks in advance!

On another note, it saddens me to say that I'm going to "retire" my other Subaru. It's a 1995 5-speed Impreza Outback that has over 185,000 miles on it. I've had it since August of '94. I relocated to SF from NJ a few months ago and I was still planning to have the car shipped, but recently Subaru Service told me that I finally needed a new clutch since it still has the original one (cost is close to $1k) and that I needed a new transmission (around $3k+). Plus, because of the extremely cold weather, a stone chip on my windshield turned into a long crack! So now I'm thinking I'll just donate it for a tax break since the resale/trade-in value of the car doesn't amount to much and I'm not sure I'm willing to spend $4,000 - $5,000 to have everything repaired on a 10 year old car.

James B.

c_hunter

Most people start with the rear on 04 sedans (it has a thinner bar than the 02-03 models).

Also, you might want to consider 17" wheels and tires if you don't have them already. I think that has an equal (perhaps greater) impact on handling.

Craig

paisan

Let me know about your OBS. I would take it off your hands for you. I could use it for a parts car for my '96 L that I use for racing.

-mike

barriostkd

Thanks for the advice. I'm actually planning to get the 17" Rota Tarmacs once my current tires wear out a bit. I just can't justify it right now that I still have a lot of tread left in the stock tires.

How thin are the stock sway bars on the '04 and what size would you recommend that i upgrade to? And would you recommend a particular brand over another?

Thanks again!

James B.

andmoon

James,
The rears on post mid 03's are 17mm. Before that they were 20mm. If you like the balance of the car now, then you should change both front and rear. Changing just the rear will make the car understeer less/ oversteer more.
Don

prayerfor

... ditto what Don said ...

If you like the mild-understeer balance of the car now, switching both bars together will reduce body roll.

If you'd like to dial in a bit more oversteer tendency, then switching just the rear bar will give you that, and the improved body roll too.

The latter is what I did on my wagon, and I'm quite pleased with the setup.

c_hunter

I think most people are dialing in the 04 to behave more like the 02-03, and you can do that by just stiffening up the rear bar. However, Don and Dave make an excellent point -- try to use the existing handling characteristics as a baseline for what you want to improve.

Craig

paisan

Fix the Nut Behind the Wheel before doing much

-mike

andmoon

I sometimes play around with the tire pressures but was wondering if that had an affect on the awd. Do the fronts have to have higher pressure to offset the extra weight or are the changes in tire rotation so small it doesn't matter?

kevin111

"Do the fronts have to have higher pressure to offset the extra weight "

- Yes per the insert on the B-pillar when you open your door. 32 lbs. front, 29 lbs. rear.

hypov

I believe not, unless 1 or 2 of the tires at odd corners were seriously over/under inflated.

I've had always followed the recommended psi + 3lbs. From my butt gauge, 35lbs front and 32lbs rear is the max I can handle without rattling anything and everything in my body. At 33+ lbs for the rear, it'll start hopping like a bunny over bumps and dips. Not my cup of tea when the rear starts hopping its end out on turns.

-Dave

c_hunter

Having the rears at lower pressure than the fronts will reduce oversteer. If you want to make the car more tail happy, you can add some air to the rear tires.

Craig

andmoon

Less traction in the rear causes oversteer. Less pressure in the rear may or may not cause this. In a straight line, lower pressure may give more traction but for sideloads, I was under the impression that there is an 'ideal' range which tends to be quite high.
Maybe some of our autocrossing friends can shed some light on this.
Don

hypov

Don-
here's an interesting site http://www.sentra.net/tech/garage/suspension.php

-Dave

dnestr

Has anyone heard something about coolant/radiator leaks on newer WRX? It becomes the common breakage ( 6 cases - during the last month), if to believe what people wrote on www.subaru.ru. There's a rumour the dealer says that the radiators suffer from the anti-frozen road reagent. But it sounds false a little and I suppose all this concerns just a defective batch. Any thoughts?

andmoon

Dave,
Thanks for the link.
Craig,
Didn't want to contradict you, Just wanted to make sure my butt G meter was correct.
dnestr,
My 03 has 14k miles...no leaks.
A friend has one with close to 40k...no leaks.
My intercooler hose leaked but seems fine after reclamping.
Don

chilmark

does anyone know if subaru is ever going to offer leather seats in the WRX? if not has anyone had any experience with after-market leather seats?
cost, quality, durability? thanks.

kevin111

Works great and feels great! Over a year no problems.

Usually the aftermarket groups provide higher quality leather than what you can get as an option. Similiar price too!

paisan

As the "luxury" version is the Saab 9-2

-mike

andmoon

How does the aftermarket leather and side airbag work?

kevin111

Thought most of the aftermarket suppliers include side-airbag support, but not 100% possitive. I am sure that any of the Subi dealers can answer this better than me. That is where I first saw the aftermarket leather coverings.

bkaiser1

Most reputable seat covers are compatible with the side airbags, whether cloth seat covers (like Wet Okole) or leather covers (like Katzkins).

FWIW, my parents have aftermarket Katzkins leather in their car and it looks and feels great...certainly as nice (if not nicer) than most factory leather. I think they paid about $1000 for a complete leather interior installed.

Brian

merrycynic

These Bridgestones RE92s are terrible. I've had 4 punctures in 18 months and less than 36,000 miles! I only had two punctures on my last car that went through 2 sets of Goodyears and 1 set of Dunlop for a total of over 140,000 miles. Those miles were mostly on NYC pot hole ridden streets. These Bridgestones have seen mostly Highway and suburban miles with limited city driving. The punctures never happen in the city. What gives? Are mine defective?

merrycynic

BTW, I check the tire pressure at least once a week and keep the fronts between 32 & 33 Lbs. PSI and the rears between 29 & 30 Lbs. PSI.

andmoon

merrycynic,
I agree the tires suck but getting flats may be more of a luck issue.
I got a nail in mine with less than 1000 miles.
Don

ateixeira

My wife has had one flat in 2 years, not too bad. It was a rusty nail, I plugged it myself.

She's always had bad luck, had a couple on each car she's owned. In fact once she borrowed my old Datsun for one day and managed to get a flat!

-juice

saintviper

I put 65,000 miles on mine before replacing them. Never had a flat. Just luck and driving conditions.

FWIW, a full size wheel and tire will fit in the tire well if you remove the cargo tray below the trunk floor.

c_hunter

While RE-92 is not the best tire for performance, it's decent as an all-season tire. I don't think there's anything about the RE-92 that would make it more susceptible to flats than other tires. I've had RE-92s on 3-4 cars at this point, and don't think they're any different than other tires.

On the performance front, yes, they're not the best. Switching to 17" RE-750 tires made a huge difference in my WRX. The RE-750 is a dedicated high-performance summer tire, while the RE-92 is an all-season performance tire.

Craig

rsholland

and a point often over looked by many -- the RE92s are all-season tires, which means they are a *compromise* tire, OK at many things, but not great in any one area.

Bob

kevin111

I am impressed! Was able to get about half that before replacing them. The RE92s have a wear rating of 180 (per Tire Rack, Dec, 2002) which makes this even more impressive (unless this number changed recently).

The tires I have on now seem to be wearing down like a rock, so hopefully, I will not have to worry about replacing them in a while.

BTW, my breaks at 37K miles are still fine. Will have them checked around 45K-50K miles.

hunter001

I believe the treadwear rating of the RE92 is 160 - not 180.

Later...AH

ateixeira

It may depend on the size application.

They come in H, V, and even Z ratings, IIRC.

My wife has 205/60HR15 size, RE92s. I'm sure they are higher than 160, possibly even higher than 180 now that I think about it.

-juice

c_hunter

It depends on size and application. The RE-92s on my Outback have a TW rating north of 300, while the ones that came on the WRX were less than 200.

Craig

saintviper

Highway miles are easy on tires. They weren't worn down to the wear bars yet, but enough to make them unacceptable in snow. Had it been summer, I might have tried for another 5000 miles. I have a friend in LA who drives canyon roads every chance he gets. He wore his RE92's out within 16K miles. Too bad we don't have roads like that here in WI.

kevin111

"Highway miles are easy on tires."

- That would explain it. I mainly drive Highway miles, but in the L.A. area. With all the stop-and-go from the congestion there, this would definitely wear down the tires.

thickers

I remember you guys talking a month or so ago about 'changing the oil' in the shifter. Since my WRX is at 20K miles now and I haven't had the transmission fluid changed yet, I was thinking I'd have this changed early (spec is to change at 30K) -- and at the same time have the shifter lubrication changed too. I asked the service manager about this, and he said they don't do that, that in fact there isn't any oil in there to change. Is that right?

It makes sense to me that if there is any that it ought to be changed. He claims not. What's up with this?

c_hunter

There is nothing to lubricate in the shifter linkage; the ball/socket was greased on install and it should be good for life.

You may as well wait for 30K to do your transmission fluid. Just choose the right oil! Most people have the best luck sticking with non-synthetic 75w-90 (what the car came with).

Craig

msqcp

Not like there is a lot of room back there, but does anyone know if the pop-out cup holders that come out of the center console in the Forester can be installed in a WRX sedan? It looks like there is a removable panel in the center console the same size as the the one in the Forester. The dealer I talked to today wasn't interested in looking into the issue for me! (too lazy? I am going elsewhere to by my WRX...)This IS NOT going to prevent me from buying the car, but cup holders are always a plus!

c_hunter

The cup holder from an 02 Forester will fit. The Forester cup holder is a different shade of gray, however.

AllSubaru sells the cup holder painted to match the WRX interior:

http://secure.cartsvr.net/catalogs/catalog.asp?prodid=1656768&amp- ;description=cup&catid=13029

Craig

redscooby

Arne at Subietech.com can get hold of rear cupholders for the WRX (imported from the UK, perfect match on color). The rear cupholders will only hold 12oz cans/bottles - not big enough for sports bottles or fast-food drink cups.

-Chris

cptplt

I have the grey Forester cupholder in my WRX, it looks fine, no one even notices the mismatch unless I point it out!

bottgers

I saw a WRX today. This guy had some type of an aftermarket exhaust system that made this thing sound like some kind of mutated VW on steriods. I must say, it sounded very intimidating. I'm fairly intrigued with this car, and I'm tempted to take one for a test drive. The only problem I see is possibly getting hooked.

lilbluewgn02

That sound you hear is the famous Subie boxer growl; intimidating , yes, but a beautiful sound to us Subie folks, even nicer than listening to Mozart (well, maybe not that nice, but you get the idea). Welcome to the best online car board around. As an owner of a completely unmodified WRX wagon with 23,000 miles on it and still having that sweet low rumble from the stock exhaust, I can say to you in 3 simple words:

GO FOR IT !!!

ateixeira

You got bit. Now it's helpless. Go drive one. :-)

-juice

dop50

Hi, everyone! It's been a while since I last posted.
Just wanted to give an update on mileage. My WRX has about 23000 on it now, for the last 6 mo. or so I have only used Shell 93 octane fuel. My last trip to my sons house, we got 32+ over the trip of about 450 miles. Ran most of the trip a little over 70mph. That was the best I have ever gotten with this car. I was very pleased to say the least. I hadn't checked it in quite a while. It was cold outside so I guess that helped some.

Love this car more all the time! I have yet to have any major work done on this car in the 2 1/2 years I've owned it. The clutch still has a little of the jitter to it sometimes. But I plan to leave it be. It is by far the BEST vehicle I've owned as well as I can remember.

Congrats SUBARU on another award for the STi!

Have a great one!

Ken

c_hunter

32 mpg is awesome, nice job!

Craig

pheonixuno

He guys just bought a 2004 Blue WRX sedan w/ spoiler for invoice 23,319 w/ tax and title it came to about 25,000 OTD. This was in Connecticut at center Subaru. Heck I never even went to the dealership this was done over the phone and the guy is even bringing the car to me from Torrington to Prospect a 50 mile drive and we do all the paperwork at my house. Well suffice to say I'm happy.