Subaru Impreza WRX Wagon

rsholland

the EVO forums are rather quiet. Hee hee...

Bob

epp1

...want it. Want it in a wagon. Want it without the garish spoiler and scoop. Then again, this is the "hardcore" JDM-ed STi version, so shouldn't it be a little off the beaten path?

Anywho. My plan is to add some better "breathing" via Vishnu or Godspeed and get my blue Rex wagon close to, but not quite, the STi in terms of performance (I hope). Would like to hear from someone that has knowledge, or better yet, experience, with both.

Looking at either the Godspeed kit with new uppipe, downpipe, catback and Blitz SBC-id OR the Vishnu Stage 0. Both get to about the same performance, but the GS kit attains it without chipping the car and w/o the lightweight pulleys. The Vishu lacks the nice cat back but requires less total overall modification of the car from stock. An I missing a ton here?

Love the bug eyes and it looks fine with my 17" P1s in silver. The gold is a bit much to take.

Glad to see Subaru step up and deliver the "real" version of their wicked performance car.

Thanks in advance,

Sean

rsholland

You need to talk to Stephen about that. He had it in his WRX, and it never ran right after it was installed. In fact, he just unloaded it, because he was so disappointed. He just posted a bunch within the last day or so, I believe in either the Cafe of Members forums.

Bob

rsholland

barresa62 "Subaru Crew - Meet The Members II" Jan 7, 2003 3:53pm

kens

It would most certainly be nice if Subaru offered a STi wagon, but I somehow doubt it would happen. Even the plain-Jane JDM WRX is not offered in wagon form, remember?

Well, one thing for sure is that the STi is going to make some folks think twice about dropping lots of money on stock WRXs for powertrain upgrades (assuming the STi price is reasonable). All that power and performance with a factory warranty. Can't beat that.

Ken

hunter001

I secretly suspected that Stephen was getting rid of his WRX, due to the lack of any posts from him over the past several weeks. Basically, he has come around to the policy I always follow - absolutely no powertrain mods under any circumstance whatsoever. Our cars are too complex to mess with the powertrain.

I would go for mods with some kind of factory engineering or factory backed engineering behind it. Which was why I stuck to better tires/wheels and Subaru STi Wagon Suspension pieces (to sharpen handling) and nothing else.

I will drive this car into the ground before thinking of replacing it. It is too good to be replaced with lesser vehicles. JMHO.

Later...AH

paisan

I think the problem wasn't with the mods but the botched install. Installation is key when doing aftermarket parts, especially on a turbo. We just did a Lude-speed kit on an RS and it took 2 full days to put in the turbo and IC, and those were 12-15hr days. We also preped the car before over the course of several weekends (oil lines, guages, electronics). I wouldn't necessarily say that you shouldn't mod your vehicles, but be very careful in the install.

I can't wait to get $4000 so I can put in a turbo kit on the SVX.

-mike

corkfish

I always said that these aftermarket enhancements were a bad idea. Live and learn.

paisan

Just that they take skill and $$$$ to do properly. You can't put on a $100 part for $20 and expect it to do wonders.

-mike

rsholland

<< Basically, he has come around to the policy I always follow - absolutely no powertrain mods under any circumstance whatsoever. Our cars are too complex to mess with the powertrain. >>

I couldn't agree more, unless you *really* know what you're doing. I'd never do it.

Bob

bluesubie

I wish folks would say "more powerful than the standard JDM STi".

Don't want folks to think we have the most powerful STi in the world. Close though. :-) I think we might win in the torque department.

http://www.rsportscars.com/eng/cars/impreza_s202sti.asp

-Dennis

nowakj66

Any idea when we can see one of these at a Subaru dealer? March? I am interested in straight WRX. Have not decided on wagon or sedan yet.

kens

I believe the Subaru press release mentioned March for the new WRXs and June/July for the STi.

Ken

nowakj66

Any idea when we can see one of these at a Subaru dealer? March? I am interested in straight WRX. Have not decided on wagon or sedan yet.

nowakj66

Thanks for the eta!

tkevinblanc

The WRX is a little small for me... I'd love to see the Legacy GT get the 2.0L turbo... is that rumor out there anywhere?

I know it wouldn't be a WRX, but it would be nice to have the power in a bigger platform, and I'll bet the trannies are the same...

paisan

Most likely it will get either an H6 or 2.5lTurbo in it in '04 and definitely in '05 Model years.

-mike

cptplt

Its still available

http://www.subaru.co.jp/impreza/sportswagon/07/07_04.html

kens

The March availability was mentioned in the MSN website:

The STi will be a 2004 model, incorporating new front styling that&#146;s debuting in showrooms by March on &#147;regular&#148; 2004 Subaru Impreza WRX models.

http://autoshow.msn.com/autoshow2003/article.aspx?type=oem&xml=Subaru

Ken

locke2c

It's very, very difficult to make a modified engine run like stock.

Usually, they become fickle unreliable beasts who need a lot of attention from qualified professionals. Few owners are qualified... same goes for many "professionals".

-Colin

jaserb

Has anyone else noticed that Subaru is now including ALL Imprezas in their new round of incentives? Low financing and $500 dealer cash. Is this a sign of the times? Any bets on whether the incentives will get better on '03s when the '04s come out? It's enough to make me wish my Alfa would break something extremely expensive so I could rationalize a new car. Here's a link:

http://www.edmunds.com/new/2003/subaru/impreza/100161063/incentives.html?tid=edmunds.n.prices.leftsidenav..3.Subaru*

-Jason

ateixeira

$500 isn't a very high incentive, last model year some models got $750, and then leftover 2002s went as high as $1200 when the 2003s started arriving. That was the Legacy, but still.

-juice

bkaiser1

I noticed a small blurb in the WSJ today (1/15) regarding the WRX (who typically owns it, why, how much, etc) and found it interesting that Reno, NV (my home) is where the car sells best. Subarus in general sell really well here, but it seems that the WRX may even outsell the Outback here! They are literally everywhere you look.

Two years ago when I bought my Outback, the WRX was just a few months away from release and my dealer was confident that they would not see more than a few hundred WRX's sold here (and expected the price to be close to $30K). In driving past the dealer a few days ago, they must have had over 50 2003 WRX sedans and wagons sitting on the lot. Amazing. I wish I would have waited those 2 months!

Brian

jaserb

Juice, my point is that this is the first time there have been ANY incentives on the WRX, at least to my knowledge. Even the 0.9 1.9 2.9 3.9 financing has always excluded the WRX up to now.

-Jason

ateixeira

Gotcha. It's been out for a couple of years now and people have seen the face-lift, so I guess it's an outgoing model for now.

-juice

corkfish

Wow, WSJ article states average WRX driver age is 46. That surprises me.

locke2c

that surprises me as well. the cost isn't too bad and certainly here on the web it seems the average owner is much younger than that...

heck, there's a kid on nasioc who just turned 16 and is on his second WRX. (yep, totaled the first one.)

-Colin

kens

46 -- no kidding! Wow, that is a little older than I would have imagined.

Then again, I have noticed that for every teenager/college student on a WRX in my area, I've seen almost an equal number of, ahem, mature drivers (as defined as 30+) behind the wheel.

I think our perception is skewed by the relatively young crowd over at NAISOC.

Sheez, a SECOND WRX? Didn't the parents learn the first time?

Ken

mgreene1

if you exclude dop50, the average age would probably be around 19.

rsholland

the average age will be over 50!

Bob

nine51

It's funny, I notice a lot of "older" drivers in WRX's too. Saw one older lady that looked 70 in a silver wagon. Salespeople must be doing a great job selling to older people??

Hey, what the heck...I've got my share of grey hair too (49) and I love my WRX wagon. All except for the crappy clutch. 29K miles and climbing fast.

pbaldy

Hey Brian,

I'm also in Reno. I bought a WRX in September, and one of the reasons I got it in Ca. was that Lithia never had a 5 speed I could test drive. They were going out the door as fast as they arrived. If they have 50 sitting around now, sales must have really dropped off. I also got a much better deal than they were willing to offer.

Paul

paisan

My aunt just sold me her '92 SVX when she turned 70. She used to race whippersnappers in their camaros on the highway

-mike

bkaiser1

They were not much on dickering when I went in there, either. I briefly entertained the idea of trading in my Outback last year for a WRX (since I blew it and didn't buy one in 2001 instead of the Outback!) and they were totally inflexible on the price. I'm not a fan of that dealer and would most likely not buy from them again. They remind me of the "bad old days" of car sales...

Brian

chanoot

In the link that cptplt posted it shows the WRX with the Sportshift AT - w/ shift controls on the wheel too. Does anybody know if this option is coming to the states? What about the 'semi-auto' climate control for the regular WRX? I heard that mentioned coming on the STI? Does anybody have any info on this?

thanks

bluesubie

There's no word yet on the Sportshift for the WRX. It's probably only a matter of time though. How much time is the question.

No word on the semi-auto a/c either. From the pics in the '04 brochure, it doesn't look like the standard WRX will get it. Just keeping costs down I suppose. Another one of those features that most other markets get.

-Dennis

ateixeira

Is 46 the average age, or median age? If it's the median age I'd be surprised, that would mean 50% of WRX owners are 46 of older.

If it's the average age, I'm not surpised. That's because ages range from 16 to maybe 100, and a few very old owners might sway the numbers.

Also, cars might be registered in daddy's name.

-juice

twrx

I'm 50.

lilbluewgn02

My brother said I was mentioned in the article...can anybody make me a copy?

nowakj66

I have not see too many pictures of the WRX 04 wagon on the web so when I went to the Detroit Auto show Thursday, I was sure to take some (along with the STi).

The interior seems much nicer than the 03 car. The show floor car had the moon roof and heated seat option installed. The moon roof was smaller than my '02 Outback but useable. About the same size as my 1992 Prelude.

The pictures are hosted at:

http://homepage.mac.com/nowakj/WRX_STi_04/PhotoAlbum31.html

Enjoy! -- Joe

celica115

The interior seems as same as 03 but the red MOMO logo has racer look ... nice!

luk

nowakj66

The interior is basically the same. The things I noticed were:
- the red momo logo on the wheel (03 is yellow)
- the integrated head rest
- 3 different cloth types on seat (gray and black not blue and black like 03)
- center mounted tachometer
- moon roof and heated seats available

mtngal

Those heated seats are another reason for me to hold off buying a new car until they are out. Would definitely like them, if possible.

kens

Nice pictures, Joe. Thanks for sharing.

Ken

nowakj66

I did have one additional photo I did not publish to the web -- my brother took a picture of me in front of the Sti. I jokingly was on my knees -- bowing to the Sti! My Father, brother and I were laughing pretty hard.

But it so impressed Vince - a Subaru staffer on hand - that he said, "we need to give you something special for being such a fan"! He went off to a secret room and came back with a full press kit for the WRX and WRX STi.

It had 4 glossy photos of the two cars plus 10 slides. It also contained the official press releases in an attractive WRX STi folder.

I guess sometimes it pays to make a bit of a fool of yourself! :-)

kens

That's a great story. I'll have to try that when the new WRX and STi roll around to the San Francisco auto show.

Ken

wrxsoon1

Those are great pics and an even better story. Thanks for sharing!

-Ian

jaserb

but I did see the STi at the Utah auto show, which surprised me since it wasn't mentioned in any of the show ads. An '04 wagon and sedan were there as well. Here's a snip from a post I sent to the WRX sedan board (sorry for the cross-post)

<snip>
The Subaru dude there actually seemed to know what he was talking about, so I asked him some questions.

1. Is the STi wing deletable? No way.

2. Do the wheels come in any other colors? YES, but the blue STi only gets the gold wheels. He said there would be 4 colors of STi and some would get silver wheels.

3. Will an STi wagon be available? Nope.

4. Is the sunroof available on the regular wagon? He wasn't sure, but he thought so. The '04 sedan (not STi) had one.

I realize this may all be bogus, but the guy seemed pretty sharp, so I thought I'd pass it along. I hadn't heard anything about STi colors, so it will be interesting to see if that pans out.
As far as the regular WRX changes, I think the center mounted tach and new seats with integrated headrests have been mentioned. I found the seats to be more comfortable than the rock hard Recaros in the Lancer Evo, and the interior was nicer to boot. The new headlights look sharp. The fog lights have gone from huge to tiny little 1" or so dots. That's about all I remember. Bottom line I like the '04 changes, and the STi was just plain scary looking.

-Jason
</snip>

nowakj66

Jason - thanks for the observations.

The 04 WRX Sedan I sat in at the show had the moon roof option installed and winter package (heated seats). The 04 Wagon did not have the roof option installed but I did not ask whether it could.

Let me consult the press release materials . . . .

nowakj66

The Press materials provided to me at the Detroit auto show differentiate between the wagon and sedan on a few points (wider track on sedan etc.)

The availability of moon roof and weather package is not an area it differentiates the two versions, so I would say that you will be able to get a wagon with moon roof and weather package.