Subaru Impreza WRX

wrc555sti · June 2004

Kevin- I was comparing the smoothness of the BMW drive train and shifting action in general to my WRX. Anyway, after this factory ECU reflash, it now feels effortless to drive the WRX smoothly. It feels like a Lexus to me. LOL

wrc555sti · June 2004

I think getting the Cobb Tuning Access Port is a good idea if the CEL keeps coming back after the 5yr warranty is up. Dealer receipt said $104 for clearing the CEL light...did not have to pay this time though.
On a side note, a guy with a Land Rover was sitting next to me in the dealer waiting room. When he heard he will be charged $140 for clearing his CEL, he promptly refused and drove off with half a dozen still lit warning lights on his instrument panel.

kevin111 · June 2004

Does SoA acutally do reflashes if you request? Some sort of recall or TSB?

bluesubie · July 2004

It was due to a specific ECM problem with the first WRX allocation in 2001.
I'll search the nabisco archives, and see if I can find a link without linking nabisco.

I think it was a TSB.
Aaron - Can you check your receipt for the Check Engine code number?

-Dennis

kevin111 · July 2004

I assume this did not apply to the later allocations of the '02s? The reason I ask is that I have an '02 that I bought in mid-02. It seems fine to me, but just checking.

BTW, when are you changing your handle? Thought you were no longer driving a blue subie???

philwang66 · July 2004

FYI,

My ECU was sent to SoA for a reflash after CE lights in 4/02 and 4/03 (both cases were code P1443). Took delivery of my WRX wagon in 5/2001. No noticeable difference in drivability after the reflash.

Hope this helps,
Phil

kevin111 · July 2004

It looks like you were one of the first owners of the WRX in America. I never received a CEL, even though I have over 45K miles on my car.

bluesubie · July 2004

Ah, the old Evaporative emission control system vent control function problem.

http://www.oakos.com/wrx/obdiicodes.htm

I haven't owned a blue subie since I gave up my OBS in 2002. The name kinda stuck and people call me that at meets, so I just kept it. :-) Besides, it not necessarily a good thing for people to know too much about your car (car theft victim paranoia talking).

-Dennis

philwang66 · July 2004

Yes, I was an early adopter. I haven't had another CEL since the reflash. Just under 30K miles in a little over 3 years.

Other than the lurching and occassional clutch judder, I've had no issues with the car at all. Dealers have not been able to duplicate the judder...

- Phil

bluesubie · July 2004

Wait for cooler weather to return and leave it at the dealer overnight for them to drive in the a.m. There's a TSB on that.

-Dennis

kevin111 · July 2004

After taking my car to the dealer, I told them about the TSB, and they took car of the clutch replacement.

philwang66 · July 2004

Thanks for the suggestions... Already been to two dealers and left car overnight in relatively cold weather. Couldn't duplicate judder in both cases. I've mentioned the TSB to the dealer, but they couldn't replace the clutch unless they duplicate the problem. It's not severe and I'm dealing with it - although it makes me look like a dork to my passengers when it occurs.

saintviper · July 2004

I get it too, but only when I have people with me.

wrc555sti · July 2004

Don't have receipt with me now. It was an emission related code.
Frankly, I think lousy California 91 octane gas and high output turbo-charged cars don't mix well.

dop50 · July 2004

I took mine to the dealership a few weeks ago, they said they could check the clutch, they ordered the parts and replaced all the parts this past Monday.

I got the impression that they didn't have to drive it, they actually put it up on the rack to check it.

I seen the old parts, there were definite high spots on the flywheel, they replaced everything, flywheel, and all clutch parts. They said they aren't allowed to re-surface the flywheel, it had to be replaced.

Done a great job! I'm very pleased with the result.

Ken

legacy191 · July 2004

Folks, I'm new to this forum and I need to know something, is there someplace where I can check to see 1/4 times for various cars on sale today?

thanks,

Tony T
legacy191

kevin111 · July 2004

Or go to any of the automobile mag sites. They all should have them.

This site has plenty of 1/4 mile stats.

The WRX does it between 14.1 up to 14.9 depending on the mag and test.

The STi does it under 14.

kevin111 · July 2004

since it is for a WRX. What are good 17" tires out of this group? Looking for ride quality and noise with handling vs. all-out handling (upgrading to 17" should improve handling anyway).

Tires I am looking at are the
Yokohama ES100s as well as
Hankook Ventus Sport K104,
Nitto NT NeoGen ZR,
Kumho Ecsta ASX, and
Falken Azenis ST115

Any knowledge regarding these tires? Thanks

c_hunter · July 2004

I did a lot of research to find a quiet 17" summer tire, and ended up with Bridgestone RE-750 tires. The Yoko ES100 tires were on my short list along with Toyo T1-S. None of the others you list are known to be quiet based on my research.

Craig

barriostkd · July 2004

I just bought the Toyo Proxes 4 (all seasons) a little over a week ago. Drove down from SF to LA last weekend and I'm pretty happy w/ the tires.

kevin111 · July 2004

Just ordered the Yokos. If the Yokos are on the same list as the RE-750s and the Toyo T1-S, then I feel pretty confident getting them.

The problem with getting the Toyos, is that my tire dealer does not carry them.

barriostkd · July 2004

That's usually the case and I learned it the hard way. I got my Toyo Proxes 4 two Saturdays ago and 6 days later I got a puncture on the sidewall. I was heading down from SF to LA so I had to get the tire fixed. Turns out it was irreparable and America's Tire Co. where I got the tires from took an hour or so to find a dealer that carries Toyos. I had to drive across the bay to pickup the tire and bring it back to have them mounted. Wasted my whole day, but at least I got it done.

So far I'm quite happy w/ the tires, but anybody buying these should keep in the back of their minds that these are not easily available.

kevin111 · July 2004

Huh. Live and learn. That is down here in SoCal too!

barriostkd · July 2004

Kevin, America's Tire Co. doesn't normally sell Toyos. I had them order it for me since that is what I wanted.

sensei1 · July 2004

for tire questions
michaell "Ask Connor at The Tire Rack" Jun 9, 2004 6:06pm

legacy191 · July 2004

Thanks for the help...

Tony T

legacy191 · July 2004

Way back when, we did the same thing to our 02 WRX and we found that the Falken ST115 was the best all-around perfomer of the short list you have.

Tony T

bluesubie · July 2004

Thanks from me too. :-)

-Dennis

kevin111 · July 2004

Nm

naitove · July 2004

I've read that there is a Subaru dealer who sells discount extended warranties (mine is a 2002 with 32000 mi.) at subaruwarranty.com. However, this url doesn't work any more. Anyone know of dealers who offer big discounts?

cptplt · July 2004

try subaruwrxparts.com or subaru-warranty.com

dgman · July 2004

Does anyone else have this problem. This is my first summer with my WRX but the A/C doesn't seem to be able to keep up. I garage it most of the day but if I park in a parking lot and get back in, the A/C seems to never catch up. I'm using the setting that blows out the dash and using recirculate as well. Cold air is coming out but not cold enough to cool down the car when it is 95 and very sunny. I intend on getting my windows tinted which should help some but I would think the A/C should be able to cool down the car in a reasonably short period. Also, when the A/C is on, the power on take off is terrible. I really need to gas it up in order to not kill the engine. Is this stuff typical with the WRX or should I make a warranty appointment to have this stuff checked out?

c_hunter · July 2004

My AC works just fine in the heat of tidewater Virginia (85-95F in summer and humid as steam). I do notice that it robs some power, but it's not nearly as bad as some cars I have driven. So I would not call it out of the ordinary in the case of my car.

My WRX is red and the windows are not tinted.

Actually, I'll be getting in the car in a few minutes to go home. It's sitting in the sun and the temp is about 90F today. I'll let you know how it feels!

Craig

ateixeira · July 2004

You can insulate the A/C lines under the hood. They run along the driver's side, I believe.

But... no problems with my Forester. With the fan on 4 I get icycles on my nose.

-juice

kevin111 · July 2004

The AC is weaker than I have experience on other cars, but is generally sufficient if the car thoroughly warmed up.

The AC does rob power, and the first year I owned the car, it tended to bog it down, and I stalled often. Since the first two summers, the car has become much better. Seems much tougher to bog down the car. This might be my adjustment to the AC, or the car settling in with the A/C motor or working with the ECU to adjust. Who knows?

Nothing you have mentioned is out of the norm though.

c_hunter · July 2004

90F, hot car with windows up. I cracked the windows for the first minute, and had the fan on 4 and vent on recirc. About ten minutes into the drive, dropped the fan to 3, and then went between 2 and 3 for the rest of the 35 min drive home. The AC did a great job, and this is coming from someone who breaks a sweat when peeling an orange if I am warm! I should note that the auto climate control system in my LL Bean Outback generally runs the fan at between 2 and 4 for the ride home when I set the temp to 74 on a hot day, so the WRX seems to be inline with the Bean.

I also don't notice too much of an effect on power, though I agree that you can bog down if you're not slick with the clutch and throttle. But yeah, I was having a good time driving home with plenty of power so I would not say that the AC has much of a negative impact at all.

BTW, the AC clutch in the WRX will cut in and out depending on how much power you demand from the engine (based on throttle). SO it's possible your throttle foot does not have the right magic in first gear starts.

Craig

ateixeira · July 2004

FWIW, the ECU will disable the AC compressor when you're demanding a lot from the engine. Pretty neat, actually.

-juice

bkaiser1 · July 2004

I don't think it's so much the AC robbing power as it is the extremely hot outside temps. More than any other car I've owned, my WRX seems to lose all its power when it's hot outside. Yesterday I was driving in 95 degree heat and the car would barely get out of its own way in traffic. I resorted to turning off the AC for a while to see if there was much difference and there wasn't...the hot air outside just smothers the engine's performance. It's not a new phenomenon, as the car did it last summer when it was new (it now has over 20k on it).

Incidentally, I have dark tinted windows and it makes a big difference on the AC's ability to cool the cabin. Worth every penny in my book.

Brian

c_hunter · July 2004

Excellent point; I have noticed the opposite -- namely, that my WRX is a rocket in cold weather (this must be a psychological thing as to which extreme you notice). It's all about the air density! The turbo/intercooler is way more effective with cold air coming in.

Craig

bkaiser1 · July 2004

The fact that these engines are dramatically affected by air temps makes the choice of H6 or 2.5T in the new Outbacks a bit narrower for me -- I think I'd rather have the consistent power of the H6 engine, unless the 2.5T motor isn't as affected by temps as the WRX's 2.0 motor.

As I was driving past the Subie dealer yesterday (frustrated with my car's lack of grunt) I almost stopped in to drive a new Outback XT to see if it, too, suffered in hot weather...but I was afraid that if its performance didn't suffer, I might fall in love with it and walk out with a new car.

Brian
(trying to resist another new car...)

kevin111 · July 2004

My car performs pretty well when it is warm. It has gotten over 100F out here and it drives fine. Still accelerates briskly. When the AC is on, I just need to shift a little later and it is fine. Still performs like a rocket.

volkov · July 2004

Hotter conditions are known to reduce the performance of any vehicle but I thought turbos were less affected. The primary difference with hot air is that it will be lower density. Turbos are known for doing better in thin air than n/a engines because the boost runs to a target pressure. If the air is less dense, the turbo can potentially cram more of it into the engine if it's at full boost.
WRX boost in 1st is minimal and there's not much before 3.5k so maybe you're just seeing the already poor off-boost performance get even worse. Do you guys find it responding badly with the AC off and running 4-5k rpm? I can't speak much from personal experience because it never gets REALLY hot here. Our summer days are mid-high 70's F. My Rex is running great!!
Nicholas

bkaiser1 · July 2004

I think the hot-weather performance once the turbo gets spooled up is okay, but the lag is so much more pronounced in hot weather that it just feels like a dog in traffic. Once the car manages to get past 4k rpms, it's fine, but it seems to take forever to get there...and I don't tend to drive the car that hard on a regular basis anyway.

My informal timing (one thousand one, one thousand two...) today had it taking over 5 seconds to get past 4k rpms from a stop. That feels like an eternity when overloaded minivans in the next lane are dusting me through the intersection.

Anyways, I didn't mean to go on and on about it...just wanted to chime in...

B

volkov · July 2004

Sounds like you need a cat-less up-pipe!! Sounds like something isn't right if you are that slow. Going up-hill with the AC on when it's about 85F I do better than that.

andmoon · July 2004

I notice a slight reduction in power when it's hot but not so that I can count the seconds. 5 seconds from a stop I have gone thru all of first and halfway up second without abusing the clutch (close to a rolling start).

bkaiser1, I think your case is unusual. What fuel are you using? Maybe your ecu senses knock and is retarding the timing waaay back.

Don

ateixeira · July 2004

Brian: any loss with hot temps is offset by (relative) gains at high altitudes with thin air.

If anything the turbo helps overcome changing climates. How appropriate for Subaru, if you think about it.

-juice

bkaiser1 · July 2004

I always use 91 octane, the highest available here in CA. Interesting you mentioned knock -- I heard the engine knocking yesterday for the first time. I was passing on the highway in 3rd gear, and right before I shifted at around 5500rpms I heard the unmistakable knocking sound. I'm hoping it was an anamoly.

Brian

andmoon · July 2004

Brian,
You might want to check into knocking a bit more.
Low rpm high load knock is common but if you are knocking at high rpm and your ecu is not able to retard timing....? you might try lugging your engine (careful YMMV..etc.) to verify you are experiencing knock.

I had knocking problems with a Volvo turbo that was solved by octane booster check (knocking went away), carbon deposits was the diagnosis and mystery oil & steam the cure.

Hope you get your power back soon.

Don

twrx · July 2004

I went out to Colorado last month in the wrx. Everything was fine at 75 to 80 on the interstate. I got home and about a week later the car shook like crazy when I got up to 75 passing a car. so I took it to a local tire store and had the wheels balanced. I took it up to 80 today to test it out and sure enough it still shook. It's ok up to 70 and with 65 as the Indiana speed limit I'm ok but I gotta get to the bottom of this. I don't feel any pull so I think my alignment is ok. I have 16,000 on it. The wheels and tires are stock (Potenza re 92) Any ideas?

c_hunter · July 2004

Is the steering wheel vibrating or the car (or both)? If it's a problem with a front wheel, chances are the steering wheel will shake. If it's a problem with a rear wheel, chances are the whole car will shake (the passenger seat may be vibrating like crazy). You can rotate the tires until the steering wheel shakes to narrow down which wheel may be problematic (one of the two fronts), and then do one more rotation/swap to figure out which front may be the problem. Sounds like a lot of work, but I was able to find a problem wheel in just one iteration when I had a similar situation. Actually, I had an extra wheel/tire at the time, and just started swapping that in until the shakes went away and I had found the culprit. I was already certain it was a rear tire because the steering wheel was not vibrating, the whole car was. I got lucky in that I swapped out the problem wheel on the first try.

If you find a problem wheel/tire, bring it back to the tire place and have them take a real close look at it. They may need to work on it a little more.

Craig

Subaru Impreza WRX

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