drove a near new WRX wagon...

[mbtoloczko]

No offense to those who have WRXes, but I was not impressed. Turbo lag is substantial, and even when the turbo does spool up, the car does not feel like it can do 0-60 in 5.8 seconds. And the motor is not nearly as smooth as our 6 cylinder SVX motors. Handling is good, but I don't think its any better than my SVX. In fact, I'd say it doesn't handle as well. That might be in part because of the 17" rims and stiffer springs on my SVX though.

i'll agree w/ you on that one. the stock wrx isn't much. a few of my friends have them. a little money in mods however, and it's a sweet car. and the STI, just nuts. we ran into one they were testing, flagged the guy down, and got a ride. yeah, i'ts nice

[svxxx26]

Originally posted by mbtoloczko
No offense to those who have WRXes, but I was not impressed. Turbo lag is substantial, and even when the turbo does spool up, the car does not feel like it can do 0-60 in 5.8 seconds. And the motor is not nearly as smooth as our 6 cylinder SVX motors. Handling is good, but I don't think its any better than my SVX. In fact, I'd say it doesn't handle as well. That might be in part because of the 17" rims and stiffer springs on my SVX though.

*shrugs*

Having "lived" with both, they are clearly two different animals. I really can't disagree with any of your points, except to say I love each car! But you know, kind of like comparing apples to oranges.

[mbtoloczko]

Originally posted by svxxx26


*shrugs*

Having "lived" with both, they are clearly two different animals. I really can't disagree with any of your points, except to say I love each car! But you know, kind of like comparing apples to oranges.

I don't think its that much of an apples/oranges comparison. Both cars are meant to handle day-to-day duties as well as sport driving duties. They do have their niches though. The SVX is definitely more at home on the highway, and I can see that the WRX might be a better around-town car. But beyond that, I was just surprised at the mild performance of the WRX. Its been so heavily hyped.

WRX is a pretty cool car, but all three times i've driven the piss out of one, i've been happy to get back into my svx..

-adam

[svxxx26]

Originally posted by mbtoloczko

But beyond that, I was just surprised at the mild performance of the WRX.

Doesn't take much to entertain me!

[SVXphile]

<Doesn't take much to entertain me! >

Don't worry Jerry.

I'll drive up your way some weekend, and let you blow the doors off my SVT Focus.

You'll feel a lot better.

Don

[svxxx26]

Originally posted by SVXphile
<Doesn't take much to entertain me! >

Don't worry Jerry.

I'll drive up your way some weekend, and let you blow the doors off my SVT Focus.

You'll feel a lot better.

Don

Hey Don......you're always welcome here at the Subaru Ranch!

(even if you are driving a F O R D )

[SVXphile]

SVT did the engine, tranny, suspension, wheels, brakes, interior (with SVT gauges), exterior mods....

....all the rest is regular Focus.

Don

[Tim]

Now that I think about it I didnt really enjoy driving the WRX as much as my SVX> My two rear Bostons blew the entire "WRX Premium audio system" away. It lacked a lot of low end grunt and you had to push the gas harder to spool the turbo otherwise you have no power. But the turboguage was fun to watch

[newsvx]

Hey, Guys.

Jerry is correct. This IS like comparing oranges and apples. The WRX is NOT that comfortable a road car, but it DOES handle much better than the SVX (the weight and power to weight ratio is the major factor). At autocross, one of the stock WRX's regularly runs the course a full second faster than me in the SVX. That's the reason that under SCCA rules and classification, the WRX is in D Stock and the SVX is in G Stock. Interestingly, the WRX (when it first came out) was placed mistakenly in G Stock with the SVX. It did not take the SCCA long to figure out that they made a big mistake - an almost 2 second difference in 0 - 60 mph times should have been an indicator, but .... BTW, D Stock is higher by two classes than the "regular" V8 Mustangs and Firebirds run, which is F Stock.

And to attest to the potential of the WRX (to tuning), this same WRX that we run with has now tweaked the engine a bit (also moved him to "Street Prepared" class) with a new chip and runs 13.5 lb of tubo pressure. The guy FLIES! In fact, the Mustang Cobra SVT and this WRX vie for Fastest Time of the Day (FTD) at every autocross now.

So different cars for totally different roles. But would I like to have a WRX? You bet I would, but I would not trade my SVX for it
Harry

[Landshark]

i dunno what you drove, but our WRX is a freakin' rocket! the only mods i have are an AEM cold air intake, ground mod and the "3/16 mod". i will say, though, that the computer will adapt to driving style. after my wife drives it a while, i'll need to "wring it out" a little, and then its back to being a snarling little beastie. slight bit of lag, but then the acceleration is exponential!!! was the wagon you drove broken in correctly? ours just gets better and better as the miles add up. its damn close to being as quick as my 360hp 928 was. get a second opinion - drive another one.

[Kurt_W]

I personally don't think comparing a stock SVX to a stock WRX is a good comparison (as some others have mentioned.)

After driving my WRX for about 3 weeks and then getting back into the SVX, I found that I was rather happy to go back to the WRX. The WRX's seating position is better then the SVX and I think the seats are more comfortable as well. The extra headroom in the WRX lends a lot to the comfort IMO (I'm 6'2" and find the SVX a little tight on headroom.)

As for handling, I feel the WRX handles better. I would be even better if it had some good grippy tires on it. If my SVX had stiffer springs and new struts it would handle better, but you still can’t make the 500 pound difference in weight disappear. I do however think that putting a 5 speed into the SVX would go a long ways toward making it handle more on par with the WRX.

As for acceleration, yeah, the lag on the WRX is noticeable, but once it gets beyond about 3000 rpm it fades off rather quickly. Once you reach 4000 rpm the car feels like a much lighter car. I feel that my WRX wagon feels about like my old Civic and CRX Si’s did when its at 4000+ rpm; in other words, it feels light and nimble, and for a 3165 pound car, I find that very impressive. Again, put a 5 speed in the SVX and compare…

By the way, I’m partially bias toward Impreza’s, as I had a 95 LX prior to the SVX. Even after I bought the SVX I continued to drive the Impreza on a daily basis. I felt it handled better due to the considerable lesser weight and it was more comfortable then the SVX (see ‘headroom’.) I considered trading my SVX in on the WRX but couldn’t bring myself to do it because I like the SVX more then the LX, despite the fact I drove the LX more. I am however inclined to say that I like the WRX more then the SVX at this point but I like the SVX enough to keep it. I think I will like the SVX a lot more once I get around to cramming a 5 speed into it.

[GreenMarine]

Having never really driven one before I can't really vouch for how they drive.. But I did go to the dragon this year in Fontana Village, NC... I got launched up and down the mountians on WRX's that were stock, barely modded and heavely modded.... What a blast!!!! The car feels so neutral when ya get it into a 4 wheel drift!!!! It is amazing!!! Sure the american WRX only has about 227 hp stock..... But my dad's 1998 Version 5 WRX peobably has over 260hp, stock!!!! That little beast flies!!!!! What a thrill!!! I will agree though that the Turbo takes a long time to spool up though... Ya know why... Because there is a CAT right infront of the turbo!!!! That's really restrictive!!!! Get a full 3" exhaust on it and you can expect to gain a good 30+ hp just from that!!!! Then it spools up really fast!!!! WRX owners.... Did ya do the little MOD that allows ya to get the full 14psi in first gear???? Ya know that stock your engine is limited to only 8psi in first right??? amazing gow much faster the car is with that... Spools up even quickerr with this mod too!!! Want to know how??? PM me

Originally posted by GreenMarineSVX
Ya know that stock your engine is limited to only 8psi in first right??? amazing gow much faster the car is with that... Spools up even quickerr with this mod too!!! Want to know how??? PM me

is it by any chance the "Wastegate Removal" mod?

-adam