Newage Spec C or RA for me.

The WRX is a compromise aimed towards daily driving and being able to live with, even if it is quite enjoyable, but isn't wired like some of the other models.

Blasphemous though it may be, an Evo would also scratch the "fun" itch for many.

 

And there's the rub, having run one of the best if not the best "Drivers" Imprezas, (V3 Type R) I have to say as a daily drive the Blob WRX is where it's at with the older models, I'd wager the 330S is a serious contender too.

I would also love a go in your Cosworth 400, if money were no object and I could afford to not care about it like I do my Wagon I recon it would be perfect.

 

Find an early Type-R, they are ballistic to say the least! It's the fastest accelerating car I have ever driven, and I've owned everything from tuned Cossies to tuned GTi-R's.

 

Very well said. I love how you get folk talking of big figures and how much quicker they're car is, but when it comes to proper ***** out blasting on (private) b roads they just don't have the minerals.

 

Exactly.

Subarus are drivers cars but as standard they are far from perfect, if you set it up properly with a few choice mods, based on sound knowledge and experience with moderate power, they truly are a force to be reckoned with on the road "in the real world". It's why things like Clio's with half the power can give a 300+ bhp Subaru problems at places like Cadwell park and some newbs come on here complaining that their mate in a Fiesta ST was all over the back of their Type R with over 300bhp.

My experience has taught me that it's not all about what's under the bonnet or written down on paper, what's behind the wheel also has a significant role to play, if more people spent a few hundred quid on driver training then they would save a small fortune in mods.

Just to add: I don't think it's so much minerals, it's more poorly set up cars and lack of experience. I have said it time and time again, Driving is a learned skill based upon experience we all start out the same, time behind the wheel pushing the boundaries is the only real difference for the vast majority.

 

The Cosworth is great if you drive it outrageously quickly, if you potter about in it is is quite WRX-y in the way that it seems to pull with little revs on the throttle and is quite compliant even on poor surfaces.

I would love a go in your V3 Type R to be honest, for fun factor those things are awesome.

I had a choice of quite a few Newage Spec C cars, I was very tempted by a 2005 Spec C RA but plumped for the S202 because of that very raw feel the bugs have.

As someone said above, "fun" is a subjective thing. I'm in an Alfa Romeo Guiletta at the moment while the Cosworth's in and it's one of the best regular cars I've driven in ages, a hoot round town between 20-30mph.

 

Totally.

On the roads, driven sensibly, even a 15 year old Turbo 2000 can be a rapid B-road weapon with a relatively modest outlay.

There is not a single Impreza model out there that can't be improved in some way, from any era.

That's not to say every car should be turned into a Gobstopper, but even a few simple mods can vastly improve even the best cars Subaru have offered us over the years.

 

The Type R is great as a "fun drive" but it's not daily material, I know this because I used it as my daily for about a year or more, and to be honest it's a bit much when you just want to go to the shops or do the school run.

I did the fully forged 330bhp and a few other mods with it but in the end took it back to near standard because it was kind of perfect out of the box for what it was intended to do.

I've had it for 9yrs now so it's had several incarnations in that time. When I do eventually get it back on the road it will be 2.1 and around the same 330bhp with standard suspension etc, only thing I will change is to put my AP 4 pots on the front and Newage WRX rear brakes with full poly bushes, anything else and it's too skittish for road use. I know most folks bang on about big power but it's really not needed unless you want to enter Time Attack.

All in all I love the way it tries to kill you if you don't drive it in a certain way, which does take a bit of getting used too, you need to keep your right foot in all the time and balance the throttle, very involving drive and quite similar to riding a sports bike or a half decent crazy horse on a hunt or cross country course (which is my personal favorite for pure gona die thrills)

I got into this Subaru thing by accident / fate but for me they really are the perfect car in all their various incarnations, I truly believe they all have their place and no one is "better" than any other, it just depends what you want it for.

 

Now this is why I joined this forum. All replies are much appreciated!! I am hearing a lot of issues from the german counterpart that is concerning as much car is a daily driver.

So..question remains what do I do....continue modifying the wrx (it sounds like it can be quite a wolf in sheeps clothing done the right way) or go the STI route??

Keeping in mind whichever car will be my DD. Aside from a few niggly issues like drop links and clunky brakes (anti rattle kit missing) my wrx is in pretty good condition at 61k miles and previous owners all being older gentlemen that didnt know how to drive it properly, this to me sounds like a stable base to work on

Looking at options, if I keep the wrx what would be the recommended route to take that would really open the car up BUT maintain strong reliability (I can handle a clutch going but not a bottom end)

 

What power are you running atm ? If standard 225 etc at least get it mapped and an exhaust to get it up near ppp levels ,,, if bog standard still they really arent the scooby experience

 

All depends how far you want to go and how much money you want to spend.

If you want to get some idea of what they are like with a little more power, PPP is a very cheap option these days and can be done for circa £200 maybe cheaper, picking the parts up off here.

It has it's detractors, but I'd wager 90% of them have never driven a WRX with PPP and ups the power to circa 260bhp with a healthy torque curve / mid range, don't get me wrong it's no rocket ship at that but it is plenty for the road and more importantly a very safe map.

My advice would be if your into modding cars and want to go over 300/320 you may as well jump ship now and get an STI as it will be cheaper in the long run.

 

buy the beemer, much better quality and drive.

 

standard at the moment, bought it that way so I knew it hadn't been wrecked by someone figure chasing

 

i have looked into PPP, subaru in Halesworth nearby want £1600 to fit the kit. I don't want a 700bhp monster, insurance would be a killer and for the road I just can't justify it. I would be more than happy at 300bhp with similar torque, IMO that is more than enough for daily driving with the odd spirited drive, weighing it up I think it might be cheaper to mod the WRX than putting a few thousand away for an STI

 

please don't tell me this is just an "anti-WRX" comment.... would you swap an STI for a 335i??

 

jesus just because i think another car is better than the mighty impreza its now an anti wrx comment...


yes i would

 

Lose 100kg and get spec a turbo to get you around 370/350. Trust me, at that power in a Newage WRX it'll be the equivalent of 460bhp in an STI.

 

no just double checking as mentioned on your 'poll' thread I have been on the receiving end of your anti wrx comments before, no offense intended just checking.

I agree I got out of the bmw and into the wrx and it just felt really really cheap, I wouldnt modify the bmw primarily as it would invalidate any warranty purchased to cover any gremlins that popped up modifying the wrx would surely bring it near to 335 power levels

 

Genuine question....where the hell do I lose 100kg from the wrx lol I've got a brand new td05-16g sat on the back seat ready to be fitted

 

My niece recently bought an E90 318i. It was okay for a month or two then it went **** up! Poor lass has spent the best part of a grand on faults. One thing after another, bag of **** is how I'd describe it.

 

Air con and ancillaries
Front bumper bar
spare wheel
jack & tools
5kg Bucket seats
Lightweight battery
Under brace
Leightweight wheels & Nuts
Plus many more farty bits like grab handles, leveling boot floor, green brackets of death and sound deadening....

Should mean your WRX drops to 1290kg (STI is 1480kg)

TD05 in a WRX should see you running mid to low 12's with the weight saving.

Compare a 12.2 - 12.6sec run with these cars times.

http://www.autosnout.com/Quarter-Mile-Car-List.php

 

This is my RS4 rivalling 12 second run in a WRX done with wet mud in my tyres and just 300lbs of torque.


The WRX is an extremely efficient 4x4 that doesn't need as much power as an EVO or STI to ******* fly.

The WRX doesn't like torque, but imo & experience going over 350lbft just means wheel spin until you get into the rpm range where BHP takes hold. I've left STI's pushing 700lbft just because they spin like crazy in the lower gears.

Map a WRX for bhp and not torque and we are talking serious machine.

 

I had an M3 previous to my Scooby. you're comparing apples to oranges. One is a premium quality German product, the other is a Subaru You can tell that as soon as you close the doors...

My M3 cost over twice as much as my Scooby when new, and that's including 4 years of inflation. It was fast, refined, comfortable, well built and the engine was a thing of beauty. However, you had to drive it 8/10s to get any excitement as it was so capable. Which means you're either driving like a loon & endangering yourself and everyone around you or are well into licence-losing speeds.

The beauty of the Scoob is that the performance is so accessible on all roads and in all conditions. Being turbocharged helps but also the traction from the 4WD. Also, you don't have to be going fast to feel fast or exciting. The opposite of the M3.

As for toys, sure they are nice but just more things to go wrong. And they will annoy you when they stop working. And what do you really NEED? The only things that I would insist on are electric windows and aircon. Everything else is just tinsel.

I have no doubt that the 335i is a very nice, comfortable, well spec'd and fast car. Is it as fun & accessible as a Scooby? I doubt it. If I had £8k+ to spend on a thrilling car, there are many, many that I would consider before a 335i.

I bought a WRX Wagon too, as it's cheap, practical and discreet. As much as I would have liked an STi, it's far too "shouty" for my preference. I'll take it upto 300bhp and see what it's like. Might have to do some man-maths and consider an STi engine swap. Mind you, it's on 125k already and I'm doing 600miles a week, so that decision may be made for me sooner than I think

To add, my car is PPP (well, it has the intercooler pipework, exhaust and certificate, although I couldn't see anything written on ECU) and felt like 260bhp+ when I first had it. A couple of months down the line and it doesn't feel nearly as quick. So either I'm used to it or it's broken However, it the chassis feels plenty capable of running 300bhp+ and I think that it could be a really fun real-world daily with a few mods.

 

I've done the TLG, drag races in the flesh and watching online so many times that I can hand on heart say a partially lightened Newage WRX is way better than a similar powered STI and a very close match for the classics in regards to launching to 400m.

Basically with 300bhp:

Classic 12.5
WRX 12.9
STI 13.3

 

Forget the local garage for PPP, all you need is a Silicone intercooler Y pipe £30 ish tops. Centre de-cat £60 ish and a Prodrive back box, which is optional really, then go into the Mapping section and ask one of the lads to flash the PPP map for you, takes literally 5/10 mins, and jobs a good un.

My PPP map for a 54 plate blob is in the mapping section, just start a couple of wanted threads.

 

Cheers for the replies people, keep them coming. Even you fat-thomas

Just to clarify, I'm not looking at an M3, cannot justify the cost...I test drove an e46 M3 (just for curiosity) and, I'm probably going to be shot for this, I was not impressed...my standard wrx felt quicker

The wrx currently has an afterburner cat back and I have an sti up pipe, prodrive sports cat with 3rd cat delete and a td05 16g in the boot to be fitted, few more bits and I think I may be able to hit the 300 mark which is similar to the 335i (306bhp).

I agree with an earlier comment, the more gadgets the more that can go wrong, I think I will upgrade the cd player to a double din touchscreen to make the interior a bit more 'modern'

How much more do I need to spend, I'm talking whole package... remaining engine items AND brakes, etc I havent got a set budget as I can buy each part piece by piece but I don't want to be putting thousands into a 12 year old car

 

The S52/54 engine is basically a detuned race engine. You need to get it spinning up above 6k and towards the 8k redline. The WRX will feel quicker (as said) as you have the boost spooling up from low revs and torque through to 6k. So a lot easier to drive. An STi and even my WRX would probably be quicker upto 70ish, especially from a standing start. Any speed/gear above that and the M3 would drive away.

I'm thinking of a budget of around £2k if you go for 2nd hand and OEM parts. Decat/exhaust, fuel pump, STi I/C, pink injectors, Cossie filter, remap, Brembo brakes or similar, disc/pads etc, refresh/upgrade suspension, maybe alloy arms, bushes, alignment. Could be more or less depending what you go for and whether you can do any of the work yourself.

 

That gives the 335i 190bhp/per metric tonne. You'd need 272bhp in your WRX to have the equivalent power to weight, to put performance in perspective

 

At the end of the day, the choice is yours!
Personally I wouldn't mod a standard WRX as you will have a little bit before you even get level with an Sti. If you want to go lightweight, start looking at the type RA.

What are you going to use it for? Just you, the odd weekend blast or everyday use? You want something to suit your needs.

What would your total budget be including the cash from the WRX sale or by using it as a part ex?

What about Audi RS (not sure or price differences though)? Skyline, Supra and so many more good base cars to choose from out there. Find some and test drive them. After all, you wont know unless you try!

Think about what your doing and remember your asking people on a Subaru forum, so you will get a biased opinion

 

Wise words. Although from my experience of second hand performance cars, it's very often better the devil you know if you want to avoid big bills. Good advice to try some different cars. I'd also suggest trying to get a ride in a WRX modded similar to your plans.