Got boost?

When the WRX was first released 2 years ago, all I could think about was having one in my garage. Due to HEFTY dealer mark ups, I was unable to realize this dream until just recently. And it certainly is a dream come true.

I purchased my 2003 WRX sedan in February of 2003 brand new. I chose Sonic Yellow (only 1500 were made in this color), 5spd, and only one option - rear spoiler. Below are my thoughts on the car at this point in time, 8400 miles later.

Acceleration (engine), Braking and Handling:

The engine in this vehicle is a turbo charged, boxer style, 2 liter, 4 cylinder pushing 227hp and 217lb ft of torque at the flywheel. The engine is called a "boxer" because of how it is opposed in the engine bay. Most four cylinders are inline, meaning the cylinders are all lined up in order, and the pistons fire up and down. In the boxer engine, the pistons fire horizontally - two forward, two backward. This configuration is currently found in all Subaru models and all Porsche models (except for the new Cayenne SUV).

The boxer configuration provides the vehicle with a lower center of gravity, due to the ability to place the engine lower in the vehicle, as well as a smoother ride and less vibration. It is also a very reliable set up.

The turbo charged 2 liter engine in the WRX provides this vehicle with amazing acceleration off the line, and excellent acceleration from a roll. This car is capable of 0-60 times in 5.8 seconds, however the methods by which these times are achieved are not recommended. A more realistic 0-60 time in this vehicle is likely 6.2 - 6.4 seconds, which is still very remarkable.

The engine thus far has proved very reliable, having not a single problem at 8400 miles. The engine is very smooth, and very quiet, providing most of the noise to the people outside of the vehicle as opposed to inside. As a driver or passenger, you will often hear a slight whine, but this is normal as it is the sound made by the spooling turbo. This noise is mostly only present when the engine and turbo are under heavy load (like when you're beating the pants off of someone at a stop light).

Once you get going, the WRX is also a very easy and safe vehicle to bring to a stop. I've had a few emergency situations where heavy braking was required and the car performed wonderfully.

This excellent braking, however, is only consistent occasionally. When driving the vehicle hard, like on a nice twisty canyon road, the brakes can get a bit mushy. This is called fade, and can be a very dangerous experience. Brake fade is caused by accumulated heat, as in when you're accelerating hard, stomping on the brakes, turning, accelerating hard, stomping on the brakes, etc. After a few turns, the brakes can be a bit soft, and will require that you brake a bit earlier. While this isn't an issue for most drivers, and while the fade is much less than in many other "sporty" vehicles I've driven, it has become an issue once or twice for me.

The handling in this vehicle is also excellent. It's performance is only hindered by one component, which comes stock but is easily (and will have to be at some point) replaceable. This component is the tires. The stock Potenza RE-92 tires provide absolutely pitiful performance in the cornering department. They break loose way too soon, squeal like crazy (making it hard to speed discreetly, and also making you sound like an SUV when you're in a parking garage) and can also roll a bit when pushed hard. Once the tires are replaced (which mine have yet to be), I've been told the vehicle handles much better - almost a night and day difference.

Past the tires, the suspension provides a very comfortable ride, even though it is sport tuned and much more stiff than many vehicles. The car apsorbs most bumps with ease making it a very good chariot for your cross state, or cross town drives alike. And on these drives, when the road gets curvy, the WRX does get going. It has minimal body roll, allowing a driver to take hard corners well. The one downfall though comes from the All Wheel Drive (AWD) system and weight bias, and that downfall is under steer. In tight, slow corners, pushing the car causes it to plow in stead of turn or rotate, which will greatly slow you down. Again, not something the average driver is plagued with, but something that I am. I will say that this problem is partially solved by the installation of better tires and can be almost completely solved by upgrading and tuning the suspension.

Safety

This is an area where I have to completely rely on the stats as opposed to personal experience (thankfully). The WRX comes standard with dual front and side air bags, crumple zones and upgraded frame. If you sit inside the WRX, you can see a line going across the car in the headliner, which is a roll bar adding crash and frame rigidity. Contrary to popular belief about the car being too narrow, this is the reason the vehicle does not come equipped with a sunroof. I say this because the '04 model shares the same dimensions as the '03, but does offer a sunroof as an option. I haven't been in one, but I imagine this bar is moved or removed altogether.

While I can't personally comment on the ability of the WRX to handle an accident, I can comment on it's ability to avoid one. As stated before, the vehicle accelerates, brakes and handles wonderfully. These characteristics alone allow a driver to avoid many on or off road obstacles, including pot holes, items dropped from vehicles (like a couch for instance) or other drivers who have made poor decisions and are heading right for you. A quick flip of the wheel gets the car out of the way, and due to it's tendency to understeer (bad on the track or in the twisties, good when dodging people), the car is much less likely to rotate on you causing you to spin out of control.

In rain or snow, or even dry weather and my favorite, dirt, the AWD system keeps the car going the way you point it. Full throttle acceleration in the rain is a possibility, and a joy you won't likely have in too many front or rear drive cars without the tires spinning like crazy. The AWD gives excellent control in the snow (I've been told, no personal experience here yet) and also in the dirt. Until driving this car hard in the dirt, you will never notice so many construction zones as after you've had that taste.

Interior

In many articles I've read on this car, I've seen comments indicating that the interior is cheap. I fully disagree with this. Certainly the car isn't dressed in plush leather and oak trim, but then again you didn't pay $60,000 for it either. The cloth seats are comfortable, supportive and easy to keep clean. They breathe well in the summer making the drive a bit cooler and much more comfortable. The adjustments are good, which include recline, forward/back slide and manual height adjustment. Like others, I too feel the drivers seat should be power adjustable, but I can live with the fact that it doesn't.

The lateral support in the seats is very good for a stock seat, but it can be a bit lacking for bigger people. I am 6'3 235lbs and sometimes the seat doesn't do that great a job of holding me in place. I fit fine between the sides, I'm just heavy and the support just isn't there.

Driver and front passenger leg room is excellent, providing enough room to stretch out and back. One complaint with the drivers side is that the steering wheel doesn't telescope, which can make it hard to find that perfect position if you have long arms and shorter legs, or vice versa. The rear seat has adequate room, but I couldn't see wanting to sit back there on long drives. It's perfect for kids, and good for small or mid sized adults on shorter drives (~ 1hour) but much past that and you'll probably be hearing complaints. Being the owner, I don't sit back there too often, but my 5'7" friend doesn't mind it at all.

The steering wheel and shifter are leather wrapped, the wheel being produced by after market company Momo. The wheel and shifter have an excellent feel, although I wish the shifter was placed a bit higher. The instrument cluster contains all the important stuff - easy to read tach, speedo (with digital, dual trip odometer), fuel gauge and temp. A boost gauge is optional, but in my opinion, spend the same money on an after market gauge and you'll be better off.

The interior has more than enough storage space, with a great glove box, small center console (big enough for my portable mp3 player and head phones), door storage (front only) and a good sized trunk (more than enough for your luggage or other fun stuff..LOTS of grocery bags capacity). The interior is also very quiet and muted from outside noises, however some do make there way through. I would say to just drown them out with the stereo, but the sound is a bit lacking. Driving with the windows down leaves you wanting more volume, and turning it up much past 16 starts to flatten out the sound. Again, nothing an after market unit can't fix and I'm happy with it for now.

The one storage blemish is with the cup holders. There are two, one that slides out above the radio and one behind the gear shifter. The cup holder behind the gear shifter is more of a change holder (or a cell phone holder), because it can only accommodate a can about the size of a red bull. It's not even big enough to handle a 20 oz. bottle like you would buy at a gas station. The cup holder that slides out above the radio is bigger, but still a bit lacking. One thing I've read about in other vehicles is that it doesn't slide out all the way as part of it's spring mechanism and you have to pull it out the extra centimeter or two. Not a big deal to me, but it does aggravate some (like my girlfriend and friends..maybe I'm blinded by my love of the car?). This larger cup holder will hold most large cups at fast food places (although at the rate that those cups are growing, don't count on it for long), but don't plan on turning too hard or you'll be drying soda up off your floor. Been there, done that.

Service

This is the one big, black mark about this car. Don't let me turn you away - there are some dealers out there that provide wonderful service. I understand carlsen Subaru in CA has an excellent service department. Unfortunately, my experience with my service department has been less than good. The one minor issue I had with my car was a loose seat. The driver seat would move a bit during acceleration and braking and would make a popping noise. It was easy to move the seat with your hands (the seat would move front to back diagonally, from left to right (driver - passenger) side). I took the car in to the dealer for service and they promptly turned me away indicating the movement was normal. Even with my friend and I demonstrating the movement and comparing it to the passenger seat, which didn't move, they would only agree to talk with Subaru and call me back in two days. Well, that was 8 weeks ago, and still no call. Luckily, I had a screw driver and metric socket set. Taking the shroud off the drivers side of the seat, and sliding it back on the tracks, I immediately identified a loose bolt. A few turns and minutes later, the problem was solved.

My experience only echoes, and unfortunately for some, pales in comparison to what has happened. Subaru dealers have been quick in many instances to write off legitimate warranty issues as owner abuse, which I hear has recently spurred a class action law suit (this is a rumor I heard on a subaru community forum).

I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you buy a WRX, you may have a bad experience if something goes wrong, but if you're a vocal person who knows what they want, you shouldn't have a problem. I'm positive I could have had the dealer repair my seat, and had I not fixed it myself I would have been in the dealer having a nice talk with the service manager about why he needed to repair my vehicle. I'm sure it would have been taken care of, but the need wasn't there :)

Livability

So the car handles great, drives great and is comfortable to be in, but can you live with it on a daily basis?

Yes.

The car carries the performance to satisfy an enthusiast like myself, and also the utility to satisfy a home owner. The car carries all my groceries (usually about 10 - 12 bags), my luggage or anything else I've been able to throw at it. My main complaint on this is that the rear seats do not fold down (although they do in the wagon) although a pass through is offered in the arm rest as standard equipment. On my daily commute of about 20 miles (each way), the car handles the traffic well, allowing me to easily blast by most drivers and still stop in time to not ram the person ahead of me. It's a ton of fun on the on and off ramps, from stop lights or on two lane highways, getting you around other vehicles as quick as possible, limiting your exposure in the way of on-coming traffic.

Overall, the car is great. It's a blast to drive and makes your life easier because of all the things it can do. The car has beat many much more expensive BMWs in magazine comparo's and could easily sell for $30,000 . Luckily for you and me, it doesn't, and is in fact VERY affordable. For what you get in terms of performance, fit and finish and reliability, I can't even imagine purchasing another car for less than $30,000.

Community

Once you purchase your Subaru, there are many on-line communities to provide you support and friendship simply for the love of your vehicle. This isn't limited to the WRX, but inclues everyone from outback wagons to legacy sedans. Almost every WRX driver I pass waves or flashes their lights - we regularly meet up for drives or evening talks and all are very helpful with anything you may need.

Try: www.nasioc.com or www.i-club.com

My car: http://www.freedombound.com/matt/subaru.htm

Good luck with your purchase - I hope this review helps make your decision a bit easier.