Subaru Impreza Wrx

[adamskill]

thanks for the imput guys!

perhaps i didnt make myself clear enough in my first post tho, my bad, but alot of you seemed to miss the point completley.

its not an "evo vs sti" debate, the car is for my missus, as a daily driver. its a 4 door, and safer in the wet than a rwd car, nice breaks and suspension in stock trim, insurance premiums arent too bad, plus you can pick up a relatively clean 96-00 model wrx for under 10k. there is no way you can get an evo in the same condition for sub $10k.

[CONRAD]

Just face it - buy a standard rex for your missus and you'll always be wondering what its like to spend an extra few thou on a car that can demolish corners reliably, for her not you:p

I've owned an archetypal 00 blue with gold wheels wrx and both sklylines gtst and gtr - and my current ride the evo is the pick - especially standard. Oh hang on you just want a decent high millage wrx. Good luck with that. Enjoy being as common as commadores and having nothing after any sort of launch (of which your gear box and clutch will haunt you).

Did I mention that having to punch in that stupid security code every time you hop out of the car was farking excrutiating? - no realy take heed!

For 10k - get her a chaser, and try to convince her that toyotas are pretty.

[adamskill]

Just face it - buy a standard rex for your missus and you'll always be wondering what its like to spend an extra few thou on a car that can demolish corners reliably, for her not you:p

I've owned an archetypal 00 blue with gold wheels wrx and both sklylines gtst and gtr - and my current ride the evo is the pick - especially standard. Oh hang on you just want a decent high millage wrx. Good luck with that. Enjoy being as common as commadores and having nothing after any sort of launch (of which your gear box and clutch will haunt you).

Did I mention that having to punch in that stupid security code every time you hop out of the car was farking excrutiating? - no realy take heed!

For 10k - get her a chaser, and try to convince her that toyotas are pretty.

cool story bro

[CONRAD]

Oh ok.. then buy a wrx

Why are you even asking?

[Tony de Wonderful]

Bullshit...having driven and owned both, i can tell you the evo is a much much much better car all round Evo 6s and 7s are becomming quite cheap these days.

I went through about 4 afms in 8 months and that was normal boring driving in the wrx. Clutch went and gearbox was dying. Also the motors fail as stated above. Reliability and performance the evo absolutely beats a wrx or STI hands down.

Classic WRX's are not unreliable at all. They are just not strong enough to take much power increase on the OEM internals and gear-box....not strong like say an RB25 is strong, plus you have the AWD which is very unforgiving of brutal launches and hooliganism.

The AFM's only go if people start putting POD filters on or messing with stuff.

The EVO's are stronger but I wouldn't say they are more reliable per se. Don't forget they are more complex, have more trick electric stuff, I know people who have had to replace loads of stuff and it costs $$$$'s.

I've got a classic STI and it's a really good car. It handles decent and is very responsive. The boxer engine will rev to 8k just need to hit 4k to get decent torque so it's very different to an RB25.

I'll probably sell it soon though. I'm not a huge fan of the 2.0L rally types car, just the way they feel. I much prefer the RWD coupes. I wouldn't get an EVO...to much electronic trickery.

[CONRAD]

Granted. but this dude is talking about stard wrx's .. of which I've experienced problems with. Sure an sti is another beast but we are talking the same money to buy a better car.

[CONRAD]

And just one thing.. if you are jaded by 2L cars then please contact chef and just try a modern day evo just once. It will pull from the lights quicker than most and then scare your friends with the amount of speed you'll be able to carry through the hills or similar. GTR's have brambos but Evo's have BREMBOS - such a balanced car. And SR's around town town make 250kw so dont just right off 2L's because you need to spend 15k at the rigoli's to make similar!

[Tony de Wonderful]

And just one thing.. if you are jaded by 2L cars then please contact chef and just try a modern day evo just once. It will pull from the lights quicker than most and then scare your friends with the amount of speed you'll be able to carry through the hills or similar. GTR's have brambos but Evo's have BREMBOS - such a balanced car. And SR's around town town make 250kw so dont just right off 2L's because you need to spend 15k at the rigoli's to make similar!

You are right I have not driven a recent EVO, but I tend to dislike trick electronic diffs and all the stability trickery.

[sneakey pete]

Classic WRX's are not unreliable at all. They are just not strong enough to take much power increase on the OEM internals and gear-box....not strong like say an RB25 is strong, plus you have the AWD which is very unforgiving of brutal launches and hooliganism.

The AFM's only go if people start putting POD filters on or messing with stuff.

This! (like I said before on the last page too). Its a bit of a cop out to say the WRX is unreliable. Its not unreiable, its not strong and not good for modifications. Bone stock and not driven like a tool a WRX will be fine (well, as good as any other period car. you can get lemons and there's always stuff taht starts to break)

Expect the gearbox problems when you try doing drivetrain or engine modifications. Its like r32's and oiling problems. Not an issue unless you go all out on the car and driving it. Just because a r32 rb's going to have oil issues doing hard cornering on a track doesn't mean the engines going to explode on your daily commute from the same oil issues.

Edited June 8, 2011 by sneakey pete

[warps]

The 99/00 Rexes were the sweetest of the lot (of that era). Enough performance to keep you happy (mid 5 sec 0-100, so I don't know where people get off saying they're slow). I think they had the 4 piston brakes (not 100% certain on that though), so while they're not ZOMG!!! Brembos they're still very useful. Might fade them on a race track, but I get the feeling your missus won't be doing that too often.

I'd be wary of one that age though, like any performance car. You just don't know how it's been treated, so you could be taking a risk. Even if it's bog stock (which I would absolutely insist on) there's no saying it hasn't been modified and then converted back to stock. At any rate, it WILL have been driven hard - of that there is no doubt.

I've never owned a WRX that old, so can't comment on their longevity. However, I've been driving new Suby turbos (WRX and Forester) for the last 9 years and they've all been more reliable than any of the other new cars I've owned in the last 15 years.

[zoidbergmerc]

You should buy my WRX

All the shit that people complain about breaking in mine has broken already

It's got a new Reconditioned gearbox, new clutch, new CVs, new radiator all that stuff. All less than 20,000kms old

Just got a pod filter, muffler and PowerFC, 179kw atw

[adamskill]

CONRAD- thanks for your imput mate, it is appreciated, but like i have said before, its not a "what is the better car" discussion. granted, this is an open forum and you are entitled to your say, but the car is for my missus. she drives it to work, to the gym, and supermarket (to buy things to make my sammich), and a general a to b car. i have absolutely no need to spend extra coin and buy her a evo. i KNOW evo's are great cars. i owned a 6.5 before my skyline. she likes wrx's, i quite like wrx's, and subarus in general, thats why we have decided to try and find a nice clean example under $10k.

WARPS- thanks mate, almost my thoughts exactly. my parents have been suby fans for a long time too. i am aware that alot of wrx have had a hard life, but because of the amount of them on the market owned by a very varied demographic, i know there are examples out there that are still in very good nick, and unmolested for the 10k mark.

Edited June 9, 2011 by adamskill

[warps]

Not sure on pricing, or what your feelings are, but I'd suspect that the MY02 should be good buying these days. Why? They were the beginning of Subaru's "ugly stick" phase, were relatively heavy and hence not as sharp and edgy as previous WRX's, hence didn't appeal as much to the hoons out there. They were still a very competent package (better handling and brakes than the previous models) but didn't have the same image. It might be easier to get hold of an un-molested one that hasn't been thrashed by P-platers. The MY01 I understand was basically the same car, but with taller gearing (they shortened the gearing to try and recapture some of the performance edge due to body weight)

Just get rid of that horrible immobiliser. That was the only thing that gave me trouble on the MY02, and it was a royal pain.

[(OO)SKYLINE(OO)]

CONRAD- thanks for your imput mate, it is appreciated, but like i have said before, its not a "what is the better car" discussion. granted, this is an open forum and you are entitled to your say, but the car is for my missus. she drives it to work, to the gym, and supermarket (to buy things to make my sammich), and a general a to b car. i have absolutely no need to spend extra coin and buy her a evo. i KNOW evo's are great cars. i owned a 6.5 before my skyline. she likes wrx's, i quite like wrx's, and subarus in general, thats why we have decided to try and find a nice clean example under $10k.

WARPS- thanks mate, almost my thoughts exactly. my parents have been suby fans for a long time too. i am aware that alot of wrx have had a hard life, but because of the amount of them on the market owned by a very varied demographic, i know there are examples out there that are still in very good nick, and unmolested for the 10k mark.

Seems like you both got your mind set on it.

Didn't need thread after all

[scathing]

Did I mention that having to punch in that stupid security code every time you hop out of the car was farking excrutiating? - no realy take heed!

It shouldn't be a problem by now. Those Brant alarms were so f**king unreliable, and a dealer fit accessory, so I'd have thought that most of them would have been binned by now and a better immobiliser fitted instead.

If not, budget it in with the purchase.

[Iron Chef]

Plenty of Legnums getting around locally for $10K - I'm not anti-Subaru, but they're a better car than a WRX in just about every way possible...

[drgtr7]

EVO, no doubt about it.

[adamskill]

Seems like you both got your mind set on it.

Didn't need thread after all

dude, seriously, i have clearly stated 3 times that we are buying a wrx, and im after any advice from people who have previously owned wxr's.

[Silvia GTR]

EVO! jks

Ive driven a 99' 00' and 04' model I would try and get one over 2000 imo under 10k and your asking for trouble... my mates used to all own them...

[Deano 1]

my mate has a 04 model wrx wagon... he put a sti turbo on it, sti injectors, 3 inch exhaust got it tuned...... and it spat a conrod out the side of the block.... made 175 kw.... than i spent 3 weeks finding him a new motor, pulling his old one out and changing all the bits over, he got a long motor from sydney and i changed everything over. all in all it cost him around 5k we put a new clutch in and some other bits. all up around 8k worth and he no only makes 180kw with the setup.... in other words wrx's are a peace of shit, i would never by one, they are just weak expensive crap.

one thing i did like about it was geting to the gearbox bolts when i pulled the motor... they super easy to get the motors out of. about 3hours if you have a car hoist and the right tools. very easy job. which is a good thing cause there motors are so piss ant weak, if you make any decent power you will need to be pulling it out alot.

my 2 cents