IWOC Listserver Classics - Members Reviews of the New Age WRX

With members all over the world we have often reviewed cars before they even become available in other markets. The New Age Impreza WRX was one such car.


Year - 2000

Subject: [iwoc] Boring bits about the new WRX. From: Tim Hardisty
Date: Wed, 6 Dec 2000 16:14:45 -0000

I drove both a 5 door and a 4 door MY01 WRX last week. I won't repeat what has been said about the drive/performance other than to say it is, to me, a much better overall package.

Some "boring bits" for anyone considering a WRX for everyday motoring - note that I currently drive an unmodified (apart from FAQ suspension settings) MY98 5 door UK turbo so everything is in relation to that: -

It has a dash mounted cupholder. Just what I've always wanted
The semi-automatic climate control seemed to work a treat.
It is very quiet on the motorway, except the 5 door had some wind noise at the top of the drivers door. Dealer suspects misaligned door on that example rather than generic problem.
The stereo is much much better. Not as good as many will want, but quite good enough for me.
The 5 door's rear speakers are door mounted as expected and I'm pretty sure the 4 door's were too.
The 5 door has a natty "umbrella holder" in the boot - basically a hollow behind the rear seat with a lift up flap.
The 4 door's seats do not fold down, although there's a ski flap.
5 door has split folding rear seats, but couldn't judge the "roller blind" as it was missing.
The useful storage thingy by the driver's right knee is filled up with a keypad for the alarm.
The headlights are a marked improvement (no, not in looks - in light output ;-), but are not staggering. Probably still needs driving light conversion, but a definite improvement.
There's an outside temperature readout in the dash.
WR Blue Mica looks excellent. DBM looked boring to me. No other colours seen.
The spoiler is a bit of an afterthought and, IMHO, doesn't do much for it.
The wider arches on the 4 door, however, make all the difference compared to the 5 door.
5 door's sports seats looked the part but were a bit tight on my gradually spreading behind.
4 door's seats look fine, and more comfortable for me and for SWMBO; and they seemed to hold me in when driving around the twisties.

OK, I can't resist some comment on the drive:

Steering is lighter, but once you get used to it, it is communicative.
Very very smooth engine and, yes, missing the 3000rpm-ish whoosh. But the speedo still climbs very rapidly. Initially disappointing, but once you settle in to it the overall package is so much better you begin to forgive it.
The brakes are phenomenal compared to my MY98. I really thought the brakes on the MY98 had completely died when I got back into it after a 60 mile drive in the 5 door!
Handling and road holding at least as good - it feels very sophisticated compared to MY98.

Verdict? Well, I think I probably am right in Subaru's target market sector
- I really enjoy the handling and power, but I also want some creature comforts. I have to drive the family around at weekends, and I use it for business and take customers out in it. My MY98 is great when I'm in it by myself, but is a real pain on the motorway if you want to have a conversation (remember it's a 5 door). And, yes, the looks do grow on you. I keep looking at other cars on the road these days and think they look just as cr*p - have you looked objectively at a Clio's headlights for example? And I think the 206 looks like someone's stamped on the bonnet and squished the headlights out sideways. Don't agree? Well - everyone has their own opinion and that's just fine by me. And, as has been said, when you're in a WRX, you can't see it anyway!

I've ordered a WR Blue Mica 4 door; delivery due January.

Thank you for listening, hope it's of interest!

Tim Hardisty
MY98 5 door UK turbo - for sale if you want it otherwise the dealer gets it for 10,500 UKP.


Subject: [iwoc] WRX (my2001) test drive - LONG!
From: Steven Breen
Date: Sat, 18 Nov 2000 23:22:07 +0000

Fellow IWOCer Colin Carter and I were able to take the WRX saloon, which I had photographed on Wednesday during its PDI, out on a test drive yesterday (being Quenbys demonstrator). I also got some more photos, including some better interior shots, which have been put up onto the website. my2001.html

First impressions.

The WRX does not come (yet) with bucket style seats but to be honest from getting into the car and out again I did not really notice. They are quite supportive and easy to get on with, unlike the seats in the 97-2000 cars which can be a bit painfull if you do not sit in them correctly.

The dashboard layout seems strange and big compared to the smaller one in the previous car and tells you things like outside temperature and the like. As reported before the "bright" switch is now located to the indicator switch. I found for optimum steering wheel position I lost the top of the speedo. The metallic surround on the centre console looked the part and I would think the walnut trim accesory pack might look a bit odd.

Pedal position was ideal/no different? Yes those blue drilled metal pedals had now turned silver in colour (i.e. no blue plastic "onion skin" protective covering).

Turn on the ignition and start up the engine. Mmm very quiet. Into first, the clutch seemed lighter and away we go. Pulling away it felt so smooth and boy was that engine quiet. In fact I commented to Colin that it must be electric! It was very impressive the way the engine pulled from low down as we went down Baldock High Street, definately non turbo. Moving through the traffic the first application of the brakes was surprising. They are the same 4 pots up front as found on my P1 and the normal MY99/2000 turbos but they cetainly felt better. The reassuring intercooler hump told you that it was an Impreza but the wierd eyeball wings told you that it was not. In fact that bonnet line looked well strange.

On the straight and narrow (and curves).

On getting out of the town and onto a country road it was full steam ahead....but immediate disapointment. Imagine a straight line power "curve" and you can imagine how the new WRX performs. No drama, no kick in the pants...it just gets faster.

Approach the first bend and apply those brakes. Wow they are good. No doubt they'd smoke after a few hefty stops like the previous versions but the feel is excellent. (I never looked inside the engne bay to see if all Subaru had done was beef up the mounting bracket/fit a MRT support ;-).

Feel through the steering was a disapointment. Too much assistance? Even with 17in wheels fitted you could not feel what was going on. The ride was good, maybe too soft and luxurious compared to my P1! The car cornered well which was surprising concidering my previous quote on the soft ride. Apply throttle and....nothing. OK so it does get faster, and a fare rate of knots...but not like what I'm used to. OK so I am a P1 owner but it had no kick whatso ever.

Trying a bit of spirited driving, the car works well. Keep the revs up (oops sorry guys;-) and you are flying. BUT brake for a bend, slow down, let the revs drop and accelerate it seems an age. OK the car had not done many miles and we were not silly in it as I do have some sense of mechanical sympathy but the mid range torque was disapointing.

Half way through the drive we swapped over and I became passenger to Colin. He is going to do a write up from his driving point of view but here is mine from the passenger seat. First noticeable thing was that soft ride. Very soft in fact (I let Colin have a drive in my P1 afterwards and was shocked how hard the thing is!). OK so I don't travel well, but I might have got car sick on a long journey.

On the return towards Baldock we were into the sun and the little sun visor between the two main sunvisors came into action. IMHO its about half the size it should be to be of any use. Colin thought anything was better than nothing but I thought why goto the expense of supplying something thats too small? Scoobysport upgrade please?

Playing with the radio we came to the conclusion that it was pretty naff...then again it might have worked better with the aerial up. Still no electric aerial Subaru, tut tut. Switch gear on the dash was a step up although the fog light switch isn't aparently as its the same one as fitted previously (didn't notice myself).

Conclusions

Handling is very good out of the box but I preferred a harder ride (with the P1 I've got one!). The feel through the steering should have been a lot better though.

If Subaru had built the new Impreza with a 3 litre normally aspirated lump in the engine bay then this is how it would have driven I would think. As a piece of automotive engineering they should be commended as it has now made the car civilised for Joe Average who does not want a huge rush of turbo mid corner. For us enthusiasts having a turbo will allow relatively cheap modification and tuning and I'm sure that a tweek of the mapping will satisfy all of us on IWOC ;-)

Regards

Steve

ps pictures will be up onto the site soon...including the one where we managed to get the car air born over a hump backed bridge (only kidding Donald/Nick ;-)


Subject: [iwoc] WRX Test Drive with Steve Breen.
From: "leocolin"
Date: Sun, 26 Nov 2000 16:21:27 -0000

This is a comparison with my own MY97:-

Had a test drive, with Steve Breen, in our local dealers' demo WRX and I have to agree, it does look better in the metal than in a picture.

This one is on 17" wheels and 215 section tyres and on these it rides well. The suspension is more supple but without sacrificing too much increase in roll. The turn-in is sharper (17" inch wheels!!) and the brakes feel like the next generation compared to mine. Road noise is better suppressed and wind noise not obtrusive at the speeds I was able to attain on B roads.

I found the steering to be overly light and lacking in feel which spoils the pleasure of being able to "read the road" through the superb Momo steering wheel. The clutch is also lighter than mine, no complaints there, and the gearbox is slicker, though why this should be I don't know as it is supposed to be the same unit.

As has been well mentioned before, the most noticeable differance in driving is in the power delivery. Where mine gives a noticeable kick in the back at around 3000rpm, this engine does not really feel like a turbo, more like a larger capacity normally aspirated one, plenty of 'oomph' but lacking that sudden rush of power that I find so adictive. So, would I want one? The answer has to be I could happily live with this new model but I won't be changing my current one for it until I have too.

As a post script, after the the test drive, I drove Steve's P1 home through the leafy back roads of north Hertfordshire, now that is a car I just might consider swopping to! But Steve makes a very nervous passenger in his own car with his "mind my wheels, look out there's a car coming" etc. etc. Very off-putting when you are enjoying yourself.

Colin.


Subject: [iwoc] Driven new car in UK
From: "Stewart, John"
Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2000 17:56:47 -0000

Hi all,

Just to say I got the chance to drive the new WRX this afternoon in Scotland, on some good roads. It's not all bad news, as the car is actually very good to drive. Not quite as focussed as the old one, but it goes along A and B roads just as quickly, and soaks up the bumps a lot better. Drivetrain is a lot smoother, and the feel of the brakes has improved a lot. The engine in particular is much quieter and smoother.

Switches etc have a very nice feel to them, and whilst still not up to German standards, the quality of the interior is an improvement over the previous models.

Considerably quieter than the old model at Motorway speeds, so ideal for those who spend most of their driving on this type of roads, and easier to drive at city stop/start speeds as well.

It does "feel" slightly slower at speeds above 60mph, but look at the speedo confirms the car is still very fast. If you hadn't come from the previous Impreza, you would be *very* impressed by the new car. It doesn't have the kick in the back of the old model either, but as the power comes in a bit earlier, the whole power delivery is a lot smoother, so it actually feels slower than it is.

The looks of the car are still an acquired taste, especially the headlamps. It does look a lot better in the flesh, but you can't see any of this from inside ;-)

Overall, I think if people can live with the looks, the car will sell in large numbers, and appeal to a wider (dare I say slightly more mature) audience than the previous car. Once Prodrive work their magic on the engine side of things, I have no doubt that performance will be better than the outgoing model. Given that most Imprezas are only driven hard for less than 10% of the time they are on the roads, I reckon the new car will be better for 90% of the owners for 90% of the time, and the remaining 10% are those who would probably modify their cars anyway to make them faster and louder anyway, and I guess it won't be long before some of the tuning firms have the necessary goods to keep this type of customer happy.

John


Subject: [iwoc] Test drive of STI VII (long)
From: "Tom Sakai"
Date: Sun, 29 Oct 2000 22:08:26 +0900

I was able to have a test drive in a STI VII this weekend.

I thought you all might be interested in some impressions. I own a Jap-spec non-STI MY97, so a lot of the impressions I made are in comparision to my car.

Exterior

Those huge gold Brembos look cool! Looks like a lot of folks with 17 inchers on their current WRXs may not be able to use their old wheels, though. As reported, the STI is fitted with 225/47-17 tyres, but it looks like 235s might fit on the rear.

The intercooler duct is taller than the WRX NB, due to a larger intercooler. Blue mica, silver, black and white body colors will be available. For the RA, only white is available. The roof-mounted air intake is available only on the RA.

Interior

The instrumentation has a shift indicator. Set the rpms to whatever you want, and when the revs go over your setting, a lamp in the tachometer lights up, together with a buzz that sounds like an alarm clock. :-) The car comes with a set of aluminum pedals as standard.

Mechanicals

The engine has been redesigned, with a new "semi-closed deck" design. Most of the engine internals, such as cams and pistions are STI-only components. The turbo and intercooler have been enlarged.

A Suretrac limited slip differential is now available as an option for the front wheels. The RA version comes with a mechanical limited-slip on the rear and the driver-controlled center diff. The driver-controlled center diff is *not* available on the standard STI.

Driving impressions

I was only able to take the STI out for a 10 minute ride in the rain with very few curves, so I can't comment on the handling.

The clutch feels lighter and the stroke seems shorter than my Jap-spec MY97 WRX. The six-speed is a work of art! None of the stiffness when shifting from neutral to first, and the shift throw is nice and short. The transmission has a very solid, precise feel to it. According to the dealer, the first five gear ratios are the same as the previous STI RA. I really enjoyed shifting that transmisson!

Acceleration and turbo response felt very similar to my WRX, perhaps with a little bit more power all around. It definitely feels more faster than the WRX NB, with more power around 5000rpm.

I was surpised at the lack of noise (quieter than my WRX) and the overall ride quality (comparable to my car with 215/45 tyres). This was the first time for me in a STI, and I expected more noise and ride harshness. According to the brochure, the RA model does have more stiffer shocks. As expected, the brakes felt like a major improvement from the stock brakes on my WRX. No sponginess at all, the Brembos were similar to the transmission in that they have a solid, precise feel to them.

I expect that a lot of existing WRX owners here in Japan will choose the STI over the NB, as the STI feels more like the direct successor to the old model. A lot of the problems that plagued the old series like brakes and the notorious transmission have been addressed. The only problem I see with the new STI (not commenting on the controversial looks :-) ) is the price, which is now comparable to an Evo 6.

Good points:

Bad points:

Cheers,
Tom

[ Back to Reviews Sub Menu ]
[ Back to Classics Menu ]
[ IWOC Home ]

Page last updated 18th March 2001

Copyright © of photographs and email content remain with source, used here by permission.
Copyright © of page 1996/7/8/9/2000 Steve Breen