Anyone here had experence with Subaru WRX? (No Ferrari content)

They go like stink and best BFYB around.. mate had an STi (2004 model) which we rallied in East Coast Targa.

Plenty of power upgrades and quality aftermarket industry for them such as:
http://www.airpowersystems.com/
http://mrtperformance.com.au/

Beware weaker security late 90's models.. check insurance with way better protection for later models.

 

I celebrated 10years with my WRX last month

It's all the car I need till I upgrade to a Ferrari...

 

My mate had no issues as DD for couple years.. he regularly turned over vehicles so didn't dispose of because any "issues". I don't recall any particular gripes consumption, servicing, parts.. all in the normal expected range with no nasty surprises I heard about.

He lived other side of mountains so pretty ordinary surfaces at times so beware stiffer setup of STi.

Also check out http://www.datadotdna.com/australia/ to see what insurance does if have that applied.

My mate (was) exec there and they did good job bringing rates down with both aftermarket and OEM for brands with dots on them.

 

I used to own a WRX (2004 model though) which I modified a fair bit, definately an impressive and capable car. Hard to beat in that price bracket.

Insurance was expensive and it uses alot of fuel. Servicing costs aren't too bad really.

Then I bought an Evo and realised they were 10x better.

 

I just have the regular WRX. I had a MY99 then changed to a MY00

The difference between a 99 and 00 was different rims, colour coded mirrors/door handles, intermittent wipers and remote door locking.

The STi was another 20-30k more at the time and they limited them to only 400 odd.

The only warranty issue was a burst radiator pipe(common fault). Else she has been running perfect.

Upto MY98 model they didn't have any decent security so Subaru Australia gave 99 onwards immobilisers.

The turbo is different in the MY98 to MY99/00. Officially it was a 5kw increase. The body kit is a tad different and the MY99 got 4pot brakes.

Petrol wise I'd use to get 400km driving to the city in peak hr daily. It can do 600km when I drive down to Canberra. When Optimax arrived I got another 50km/tank. So now I usually do 450km a tank. That includes some spirited driving

Unless the car has been heavily modified you wont find much wrong with them. The engine is pretty solid.

The big services are every 100k which cost $1k~ and O2 sensor needs to be replaced.

If driven properly the clutches last forever. You hear randoms say that the gearboxes aren't strong but this isn't the case unless you plan on doing 7k launches every day

I'd go for the STi model. The V5 was the 2door and the V6 is the 4door. The V6 has the gold MY00 rims and came in gunmetal.

Other option is look for the Club Spec Evo versions. They were the only models that came with factory sunroof(b4 bugeye model). The EVO4 was the ugly primrose yellow colour.

There is a limited edition black MY99 which came with leather seats but the seats were the basic impreza seats in leather.


That's all I remember on the top of my head

Here is my fav pic of my car
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My mate went from the STi to Typhoon.. now that REALLY sucked juice when on boost..

You could almost see the needle drop when planted it.. pity.. was very addictive, he lent it to me for a few weeks while OS and had good run in it.

I can't recall the figures but my impression from reading somewhere of latest EVO X was surprisingly thirsty even for it's category when used hard? As in approaching single digit??

 

I like the CS 9 circa 2006 as "best buy" for that range.. leather and sunroof but with blue collar performance so good businessman's express or "poor mans Audi" whichever way you want to look at it lol.

About $30K odd with modest mileage.. lot of car for the $ and styling one of Subaru's better periods (gee does the styling change over time! Pick your years wisely coz they good-bad-good like a yo-yo!)

 

Yeah insurance can be expensive.... I got mine when I was under 25, shannons refused to give me a quote

Because a WRX is compared to a regular GSR which they stopped selling here Compare apples with apples the STI and EVO are similar



Actually James you should look at a EVO 6.5 Tommi Makinen Edition which is still considered the best EVO ever made. They came out around 99-00~.

 

I drove the Tommi Makinen edition around Oran park one year (as invited driver for owner) giving hot laps for charity fundraiser and quick for sure, surprisingly light and delicate gearshift too.

Somewhat low rent generic interior and plastics though.. even compared to the Subaru.

 

Ok found some pics from a fchat meet to katoomba
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Evo still wins, responds better to simple mods (exhaust, tune etc) and is just a better handling car (i.e. doesn't understeer as much). Most people will be quicker in an Evo, the electronics helping alot obviously.

I owned a 6.5 TME for a short time, very quick car, looked the goods and more involving to drive than the later model 8MR I had.

 

Good. I like you more

Yes that's true. Subaru Australia is very picky with which cars come here. I recall the CEO was against the idea of bringing in the STi forester model.

Actually if you can find a Prodrive RB5 or a Prodrive P1 they are considered the best models for the MY99/00 era. They only sold the cars in the UK but if a few made it to NZ you should look out for them


Actually I checked with wackypedia, the other thing was the map light
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subaru_Impreza_WRX

 

LALALALALALA.... hahaha. I know the EVO is quicker


I recall the 8MR but I don't recall the 6.5... Do you have some pics?

 

Back in their WRC dominating days they were the getway car of choice amongst the ram-raiders and such. Because they were targeted in this manner the insurance guys had all manner of special conditions.
Probably much less a special case these days.

 

Better security was the key (pardon the pun).

the 2004 STi had a PIN had to enter on keypad when started.. very annoying.. but they had to stop the ram-raiding thing by making harder to steal in the first place.

They made the V8 pursuit cars look silly.. as they would.

 

Yeah I mentioned that from 99 onwards they installed the immobilisers I still have the letter somewhere from Subaru. It was actually a free upgrade for the 99/00 models.

Actually they used crappy commodores to do the ram-raiding then leave with the WRX. I recall one dude would toy with the cops by slowing down for them... hahaha. I don't think they ever got that guy. He did a few ram raids.



Also the NSW Police in Sydney used my model WRX as a police car. Tho the speeding tix they issued ended up all being refunded due to bad calibration with the 4WD system.

 

One attached. Only owned it for a little while.

Drove it from Adelaide to Perth over a weekend (after Ash collected it for me). Good fun car - modified with bigger turbo etc.
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My friend in Hamilton has a non-STi one. We had lots of fun one weekend in Auckland taking both types out for test drives. Everyone tried to drag us off at the lights in South Auckland ..lol. She bought it because someone wrote off her AW11 by smacking into it.

I went with her to the national Megameet for the WRX Club at Taupo Race Track. The people in that club were a mixture of ages. Lots of people in their 20's and 30's.

Only thing is that it is one of the most stolen cars in the mid to upper North Island.

 

STi in OZ has 6 vs 5 speed, more power (lookup how much for which year), upgraded suspension and Brembos as the main big ticket items over standard.

 

remind me to tell you how I used to regularly overtake all the souped up WRXs with my 355.