USAToday reviews the 2004 WRX STi (1 Viewer)

[Philip_G]

you running a MBC jared? I had a dawes on before I went to accessECU and I swear the MBC was lightyears faster. At least according to the buttdyno.

You're lucky with the clutch, in the tranny forum on nasioc there's a clutch poll, the average appears to be in the low 20k range. Mine slips in 3rd from 3k to 5k when at peak boost (15.5) here's to hoping for a warranty replacement.

I just got back from the post office, still have a huge grin on my face from the drive home

My biggest problem up here is the craptastic gas I get. the 91 up here must be half water, I ping like crazy at full boost. But if I buy 91 in fargo, just south she purrrrs. Using BP gasoline at both locations

 

[Shane Martin]

And 10k miles later you will be wondering why you bought the broken down Ford

While I nice jab, I had a friend who hasn't had any trouble at all with his 2002 Lightning. The new version they are coming out with has an experimental yet now tested supercharger that uses a freon substance(or so I've read) so for the first few years It might not be the best choice but I have a tendancy to trust them.

WRX owners,
Any issues with reliability at all with Subaru? Just curious is all.

 

[Philip_G]

Any issues with reliability at all with Subaru? Just curious is all.

not really. As long as you don't mod it to hell or abuse it
IIRC subaru is #5 or #6 in the reliability rankings for last year.

 

[Charles J P]

Yeah, I know people who have had catestrophic failure with nearly every major auto maker out there and I know people who will swear by every auto maker out there, which is why I dont trust antecdotal evidence like my friend had a car that... I trust the independant magazines and consumer advocacy type groups that rank cars on acutal numbers and types of problems. In 2002, Subaru was ranked the third most reliable namplate behind (of course) Honda and Toyota. Ford and Chrysler have not scored well in these rankings in years. I find that american car owners tend to ignore the little problems they have with their cars that japanese cars do not have. My wife and I have japanese cars, but I travel 50%+ for work and I always end up with American rental cars. I wouldnt take an american car if someone paid me to. They are always rattleboxes even with just a few thousand miles on it. Doors and trunks dont shut correctly, the stereos are crummy and interior and exterior materials are generally poor quality. But... I suspect I have opened a can of worms.

EDIT: Oops, Philip beat me to it, maybe they were number 3 in 2001.

 

[Jared_B]

Yeah, I have the BoostValve MBC set at around 15.1 PSI. Thinking about cranking it up to 15.5 soon. Made a world of difference. If I end up keeping the car, I'll probably go with one of TurboXS's packages.

I've had no problems with gas here (92 octane).

Any issues with reliability at all with Subaru? Just curious is all.

Bought new, 15k miles on it, and no dealer visits. The only issue I have is some difficulty going into first gear unless the car is completely stopped. This would be covered under warranty, but I procrastinate.

 

[Philip_G]

EDIT: Oops, Philip beat me to it, maybe they were number 3 in 2001.

could be. Could be I'm running on old data also.

 

[John Gates]

Hey guys, new to this discussion.

I just bought my silver EVO about three weeks ago. It is, by far, the most incredible car I've ever driven.

I have driven the stock WRX on several occasions but (obviously) have never driven the STi, so I can't offer a direct comparison. Personally, I love them both, but I'd rather have the handling of the EVO than the extra 30 HP of the STi. I'd be extremely happy with either one, tho.

I'll say that the EVO ride is VERY rigid. You feel every pebble. If you had to drive daily around a bunch of potholes, I'd say get yourself another daily driver. The stock WRX is a much more civilized and comfortable "every day" ride.

The EVO is very mundane and easy to drive below 3K rpms, though. Good and tame for daily commuting. It slingshots above 3K though, and acceleration in incredible.

Beyond acceleration, however, is the handling of this car. It is unbelievable. It's extremely difficult to take a corner TOO FAST in the EVO. The car just goes where you point it. PERIOD. If you slide a bit, the car virtually corrects itself if you let up on the gas a bit.

It looks MUCH better in person, and the car gets attention wherever I go. At the grocery store, at the gas station, etc, there are always gawkers and folks coming up to ask about the car. The crowd of teenage videogamers who are familiar with it are very enthusiastic about asking questions, wanting rides, and generally drooling.

I can't imagine anything handling/cornering better than the EVO.

If anyone's interested in an EVO, better buy one quick. FAst and Furious 2 is coming out in June, and a yellow EVO is planned for the Hero Car. I assume demand will spike up after the movie.

Enjoy your wheels,

John G

 

[Bill Griffith]

Yeah I frequented Nasioc sight quite a bit, not so much anymore.

high-drag aerodynamics - it's doubtfull that anyone really cares about the negligable amount of drag the scoop provides.

At say interstate speeds of 80 to 90 mph I care about the way the air flows over my car. Over say an evo its very linear, not much is sticking out like a parachute. On the WRX and STI you have this huge, agrresive scoop sticking right up in the path of the passing air and forcing the air to turn 90 degrees. I also Asked my friend that installed the FMIC on his car (This was before he upgraded the Turbo) He was still pulling the same amount of boost, he had an MBC and had it set at 16psi. It kind of makes since since the trubo will produce more pressure than you need and your actually have to control the boost down to a normal level, how does having a FMIC reduce boost by 1 or 2 psi (I realize there is more volume to take up, but this might increase Lag, not reduce the overall boost). I've just never heard about this, or witnessed it from those that have an FMIC.

 

[Paul_Fisher]

I went to some street racing last weekend and one guy had a new WRX with a stage 4 turbo in it, it was FAST! I had never seen a car jump so fast off the line before, and man, the sound of the turbo was to die for!!

 

[Philip_G]

He also went through 3 transmissions (Not included in $10k cost).

I don't understand how one could go through THREE transmissions. If the first one chunks, there are aftermarket gear set options that are much stronger than the stock, or he could have had a full dogbox tranny built for what those cost him. Replacing a broken stock gearset with another stock (if that is indeed what he did) is just dumb.

 

[Jared_B]

I just bought my silver EVO about three weeks ago. It is, by far, the most incredible car I've ever driven.

Congrats on the new car, John. I would love to have either one.

I agree about the tranny, Philip. If mine does go "TU", I'll be buying an aftermarket gearset. They're way stronger, and also fix the gap between first and second, and I believe they also lower fourth a little too.

 

[Scott L]

Ok so that huge spoiler on the back actually is useful? Thought it was more like 90% looks, 10% functionality. Does it really create a huge amount of downforce like you say?

Philip has a point about the transmissions. Why on earth would you keep getting the same one if it kept failing on you? Did he take all his mods off and take it back to the dealer to take advantage of the warranty? He should have gone to levelten.com and got a reenforced rebuild.

 

[Jared_B]

Ok so that huge spoiler on the back actually is useful? Thought it was more like 90% looks, 10% functionality. Does it really create a huge amount of downforce like you say?

On any other car, yes - they usually are 90% looks. On these two cars, the spoilers are functional and provide some very helpful downforce at higher speeds. A spoiler of any type on a front-wheel-drive car however, is totally worthless. Actually causes more harm than good on those Hondas.

 

[Bill Griffith]

Jared -

Right nothing is sticking out of the HOOD, on the EVO. Which is what I was talking about. I never mentioned anything about the awfull looking wing on the EVO or the STI. And the WRX wing is very low profile and I can assure you it has little to no effect on down force.

Where did you get your figure of 90% effective. That seems pretty specific. I'd like to read the information on that.

And where in the definition of Downforce does it say it increases drag? Take a wing, very little drag on a wing, yet lots of lift is generated becasue of the shape. Isn't lift a form of downforce, just in the opposite direction. So take that same wing and invert it, and put it on the trunk of a car. The wing still has the same low drag, the car still has the same drag it had before, but now you got alot of downforce from the wing.

The slower a car goes, the bigger a wing it needs to create downforce. I'll grant you that the wing does something for the car but its not 90% effective.

As for my friend transmission, I asked him when He started increasing his power when he was going to change out the brakes and the Clutch/Gearing. He said it wasn't important to him. To each his own, I guess.

 

[Bill Griffith]

I shall now eat my words.

Just ran equations on Wing drag force as compared to down force.

And where in the definition of Downforce does it say it increases drag? Take a wing, very little drag on a wing, yet lots of lift is generated becasue of the shape. Isn't lift a form of downforce, just in the opposite direction. So take that same wing and invert it, and put it on the trunk of a car. The wing still has the same low drag, the car still has the same drag it had before, but now you got alot of downforce from the wing.

I am wrong. It appears that as you increase down force at constant speeds drage increases. Same is true if you increasae speed with a constant angle of attack.

I would still like to know where or how the 90% is figured into the effectivenes of our wings. Because I still can't figure that out.

 

[Jared_B]

Right nothing is sticking out of the HOOD, on the EVO. Which is what I was talking about.

Yes, the scoop on the STi does affect its drag. My whole point is, it wouldn't affect drag nearly as much as a 12" high wing on the back. The actuall performance deficit from having this scoop is most likely immeasurable. I've seen people add giant wings to their cars, and get no measurable decrease in 1/4 mile performance, so I highly doubt a hood scoop makes any real difference at all at those speeds. If you simply don't like the looks of the scoop, then that's another thing.

 

[Bill Griffith]

My bad must have meshed posts together. My minds a strange thing sometimes.

I do hate the looks of the new aggressive hood scoop. It just doesn't match the rest of the lines of the car. As for how much drag it produces, I wouldn't even no where to begin to calc that. I would love to see subarus wind tunnel tests for with and without the hood scoop, and with and without the Wing.

ON NASIOC someone removed the Hood scoop off the STI and it actually looked much better, IMO. If I were to get an STI I would get one with the WRX Wing (Its not available on the STI) and opt for no Hood scoop, and have them put in a FMIC. The foglights on the 2004 model look like my old lights I had on my 2.5RS, I hated those things, the big ones are much more pleasing so I wouldn't miss them

I wonder what the cupholders are going to be like on the STI? So far subaru has yet to get the cupholders right in either the WRX or the 2.5RS.

 

[Jared_B]

I wonder what the cupholders are going to be like on the STI? So far subaru has yet to get the cupholders right in either the WRX or the 2.5RS.

Totally agree! Unfortunately, I believe the STi (and all '04s) have the same interior as before, just spiced up slightly.