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Subaru Impreza WRX Wagon
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Comments
That's fair, the dealer employees have to feed their families.
-juice
Ed
If you try zooming around corners in a Forester the same way you do a WRX, you are going to think the Forester is no fun at all and also miss what the Forester has to offer. It likes to steam straight ahead, very solid and composed, and when you do go around corners, there's more body roll but you like the way the springs tighten up to steady the ride the harder you push it. (The Forester won a major design award for it's unique suspension a few years back for this reason--better than any SUV, IMO. I'm pretty sure the turbo Forester is set up this way also.)
That's completely unlike the WRX, which reminds you more of an early classic Porsche 911 in its precise driving feel and the great way you can devour winding roads and fling it around corners (although like the 911, the back end will eventually come loose if you overdo it!)
Both cars are excellent in their own way, but you have to be sensitive to their differences and not try to drive them the same way. The only real solution to the dilemma is to buy one of each!
Ed
Any thoughts from WRX owners what the best time of year to buy is? The '04 model showed up here (Vancouver, BC) in May.
I was at a local dealer a couple of weeks ago - they were just wrapping up a promotion on all '03 models for 0% financing and price markdowns. I don't know if they actually had '03 WRX's left over to sell at 0%, but I had seen 2 or 3 on the lot not long before, so these may have been sold on reduced terms along with the remaining '03 stock.
So I'm thinking the best time for WRX shopping is spring (unless you want the next year model). I don't particularly want to wait 8-9 months to buy, but I'm in no hurry either.
I have also read that there will be a new Saab-bodied and badged WRX in April, 2004. This will have a Saab hatchback body mounted on a WRX chassis and drivetrain. Saab cars are not to everybody's taste, but they are known for comfort and good design. I'm curious to know what their version of a WRX will look like - if it will have more pizzazz than the Subaru's sport wagon design. Saab will probably price this model higher than the WRX, but if I still haven't bought by next spring, I'll be checking it out.
I think the Saab 9-2 will be widely considered to be GM's "red-headed stepchild" by WRX owners and Saab lovers alike. It might be a fine car but to my way of thinking it's a glaring example of what's wrong at GM and marks the beginning (or middle?) of the end for Saab.
-jim
$200 over invoice is a good enough deal, I guess. Now I have to decide what to with my '01 Prelude...
For me, it the WRX, for you...
jim_loves_cars "Subaru Forester XT vs. WRX Wagon" Jul 18, 2003 1:02pm
-jim
-juice
WRX and XT are identical from 0-30 (off the line)
The XT is faster from 30-60.
THE TEST DRIVER MISSES A SHIFT WITH THE WRX AFTER 60!
- To go from .3 seconds difference from 0-50 to over 1 second from 0-60 means someone screwed up on the shifting!
-Colin
No, that won't screw up the break-in... but it screws up you restraint. Now that you know how it feels you want some more ;-)
There's an installfest today over in Buckingham, PA.
Drop by if you can. lark6, paisan, and myself that I know of will be there
Directions:
PA Installfest July 20th 2003
-Dave
Go drive one, seriously, at half throttle it's quicker than 80% of the cars on the road. It's hard to drive slowly, perhaps due to the way the throttle-by-wire is mapped.
-juice
It only took me a day to sell my '01 Prelude after I listed it, but the guy can't take delivery and provide payment in full until mid-September.
-juice
Then again, I'm colorblind, so what do I know? I can say that the San Remo Red passes the Wife Test far better than the Sedona Red Pearl did.
Ken
would appreciate your advice. It's our first turbo ever.
I would pamper it for the first 1K.
-juice
An excellent break-in technique is to take a highway trip for a few hundred miles, and slowly accelerate from 50 on up to 85 and back down to 50, repeating this the whole way as much as safely possible. Makes for a beautiful break-in on the entire car. If you can't get away, try to avoid stop-and-go city driving as much as possible during that first crucial 500 miles.
-juice
Nothing special. Just drive it the way you would normally drive but keep in under 4000rpms. Occasional spurts of WOT is fine.
Here's what I did-
Start the routine with city stop and go to warm up and set in my acceleration style.
Hit the highway when the engine is warmed up good.
On the highway, I didn't bother with varying the speed.
I just get on the entry ramp, accelerate to speed and cruise until the next exit then get off and off to the next entry ramp and so on. That gives the car a good [city/highway] variation of upshifts and downshifts, and speed.
note:
(a) This break-in diet isn't ideal during rush hour/getting to work or when you're late going somewhere ;-)
(b) If the exits by where you are are more than 2 miles apart then vary your speed.
(c) The AT will downshift to engine brake when you hit the brakes. When the downshift occurs, the brake pedal will sink so don't be alarmed.
(d) To stop me from flooring the juice pedal, I adjusted the seat a few clicks back from where I would normally sit.
-Dave
Then drive back across the country. :-)
-juice
Read the complete story here. For future reference, you'll find a direct link to this road test on the left side of this page (Helpful Links). Hope you enjoy! ;-)
Revka
Host
Hatchbacks & Wagons Boards
(Warning: rant terrritory ahead)
Gotta say, tho, I'm getting really, really, REALLY impatient with those that insist on dissing the styling on the 02-03.
IMO, the bug-eye's looks are more distinctive and appealing than the 04 and they've even run a poll on nasioc.com with most people agreeing with that statement. Not that the 04 looks bad by any means, the stylists did a good job with it, but personally, if given the choice, I would take a bug-eye anyday.
Just because a car looks more conventional and main-stream does not make it a better design.
The bug-eye has both a loveable charm to it and, at the same time, a tough-little-street-fighter look that no other car can duplicate. Just my humble, honest, and sincere opinion.
(Ok, end of rant, it's OK to come out again :-D)
'04 Wagon with (looks like) 17" wheels timed at 6.7 sec.
'02 Wagon Auto on R&T was timed at 6.7 secs.
What gives? Understand that a Wagon is usually 0.2 secs. less than the Sedan due to weight.
I put my deposit down on my red '04 yesterday. Good to see I've picked a winner!
The only way to tell how much slower the wagon is to the sedan is to outfit them the same way, and have the same driver take each down the track within the same reasonable time frame (ie, not one in the morning and one in the afternoon).
Their 5-60 times are more consistent, i.e. no clutch slipping and no tire spin.
-juice
rexaroo: The 02-03 is not a bad design at all, but the poll in NASIOC is very biased. How many of the people participating in the poll own 02-03s and are defending their choices?
Ken
Ken
Not trying to be mean-spirited here or make 04 owners feel bad--it's just that, IMO, the bug-eye has taken a lot of unwarranted criticism since it first came out. It's really a cool design and I think will still look good years from now.
I have heard surveys that say people like the '03 better than the '04 in terms of looks.
Both are great cars, so to each his own.
If the '04 still had the '03 styling, it wouldn't have kept me from ordering one.
Brian
I do prefer the '04 look, however.
-Colin
I find that I'm generally snubbed by fellow WRX drivers when I'm driving my '04 "wedge-eye" and they are driving "bug-eyes." I had read here about how some or most WRX drivers like to acknowledge one another on the road when they pass. Not so when us wedgies pass those bug-eyes.
I'm developing the feeling that bug-eye drivers hold my car's wedgie visage in contempt when I drive by. Like I'm a traitor. It's kind of disappointing because before I got my car, I was always excited whenever I saw a WRX on the road and vowed one day to join the ranks of the lucky few. Now that I have I'm mostly snubbed for choosing the upgraded amentites of the '04.
You bug-eyed types can rest assured that when the WRX is a "classic car" in 20 years, it's gonna be the bug-eye WRX's that are the most highly valued. So in the meantime, why not accept us wedgies for who we are - fellow WRX drivers!!
I'll now step down and let someone else use the soap box.
-jim
Subaru is bringing lots of first-time customers into the fold.
-juice
It's still all the same vehicle (pretty much) underneath it all.
Ken
But it's all in the eye of the beholder, isn't it?
As for the variation in 0-60 numbers, I think the point is moot. Who in their right mind accelerates their car to the limit like that on a regular basis? It's hard for a non-professional driver to equal the stated 0-60 benchmark in real-world conditions (i.e. on city streets, sharing the road with other traffic), not to mention hard on the drivetrain, your driving record, fuel economy and the nerves of those we share the road with. The occasional speed run aside, why would you make a habit of driving that hard, unless you want to buy yourself a new clutch after a year or two? The fact that the WRX reliably makes 60 in roughly 6 secs or less is good enough for me.
I view 0-60 stats as a theoretical measure of maximum acceleration. Useful to know for comparison purposes, but of little relevance to the real world. How many of you drive with a stopwatch in hand, anyway?
Ken
Jim, next time I see an 04 coming my way, I'm going to make a point of winking my lights, just for grins. After all, we're all enjoying one of the best cars out there for the money!
Side note, I met a guy in town with an 04 in WR blue and we parked his and my 03 WR blue side by side to see which we liked the best. No surprise here, we each prefered our own car!
Bob