Totally agree. Some people make me laugh when they say it's 'slow'. Try driving a 1.0l Saxo!

Good news that the box will take higher. Cheers MT.

I have no plans to get rid of my WRX. I've had it three years and I still think it's quality. Damn fine car that has huge potential, plus you can pick them up for what, £6.5k?

 

Had my Bug Wagon '02 for a few years now and love it still. Running 320/320 (VF34 turbo) and still reliable and useable. Dogs in the back and subtle styling - love it. The beauty being that when it begins to feel slow you can tweek it a bit fairly cheeply. Mind you, it can be a slippery slope . . .
When boggo it actually went on a rolling road and it was putting out 180bhp, result of crap mods and ****e fuel. Buy carefully and mod well.

 

Why not go JDM? I test drove a UK Bug WRX wagon and it was not particularly quick at all (217bhp). The standard JDM WRX Bug saloon (247bhp) that I subsequently bought was much more like it.

You get the Active Valve Control System (AVCS) that's lacking on UK cars of that age for free. You can still modify the JDM for more performance, but you have the advantage of starting off from a higher initial power output for no purchase price premium over a UK car.

I believe later UK cars narrowed this power gap.

 

I'm running 310bhp in my bugeye wagon (uprated brakes and ARB/droplinks along with the engine mods) - been like that for around 2 years now, has 93k on the clock and still running with the original clutch. Only thing that has gone wrong is a blown exhaust gasket and needed to replace the recirculating dump valve (£20 second hand).

 

Subarus look like performance car bargains, good reliability with modest mods, sensible service intervals and the wagon is relatively low profile all things I am looking for. Nice to hear from wagon owners with cars running similar power to my target figure (270 ish), just need to take the wife for a test drive as she will probably end up driving it more than me!

 

You haven't taken your wife for a test drive yet?

Fortunately my lass likes the Scoob. Yay for Aussie lasses!

 

I used to run an 03 WRX with PPP and never had any trouble keeping with or leaving behind many higher spec/power cars. Some decent suspension mods allied with a good driver makes them a very competent and fast road car. Eibach/Prodrive springs with Whiteline ARB's, solid links and a good geo set-up, maybe with minor brake upgrades (pads, lines & fluid) makes the WRX very good indeed. I also fitted AST coilovers and those took me to a different level. I always fancied moving up to an STi, but whenever I drove one I thought the ratio's were too small on the 6sp 'box considering the extra power, making gear changes frantic, and often necessitating a change mid-bend. I also found that whenever I drove a car with more than around 330bhp that it becomes a battle to reign in the power and keep things controlled. This highlighted itself when I tested the Litchfield Type 25 back-to-back with the Type 20. Despite the better suspension products, the T25's brutal power was harder to keep in check. I concluded that the 320bhp T20 was the better everyday road car, being controlled, composed, and having just enough grunt for its awesome handling capabilities. Power is nothing without control, and I've learned that for me, a car with reasonable power but stunning handling will always outperform a big power monster except perhaps on track.

 

Good going on the clutch, Im just coming up to 70k on my first clutch on the Bug, having been told at the 60k service that it wasn't long for this world. Still going well, although the bite is quite high up the pedal travel. The car is unmolested apart from one cat being removed. I have had it two years, and still love it, although it could do with a bit of molesting.......hmmmm, we will see.

 

I will have to settle for more modest mods than yours corradoboy. One of the reasons for asking if WRX's are fast enough is that when you find yourself in the company of average cars driven on the limit, I often drop back so I am no where near if they stuff it, 270 bhp means you can more easily pull clear if you want to.

 

Mine was on 60k when I sold it. Original clutch and showing no signs of wear with the PPP's 260 (or so) bhp. In 3 years it only needed 2x exhaust sensors and a wheel bearing, and that was my fault for running RE070 tyres.

 

Apart from the AST's, my car was very modestly mod'd IMHO. Stronger ARB's to reduce roll and retain better tyre/road alignment under cornering load and minor brake upgrades are hardly extreme mods. I did recommend the Eibach/Prodrive springs as a more modest route than coilovers though. What I was really trying to say was that YES, WRX's are fast enough, when you dial out their weaknesses. I actually preferred mine to many of the STi's I drove over the years, apart from the Type 20.

 

I fitted prodrive springs and a 22mm ARB on my bug WRX 3yrs ago (actually after discussing it with you). what a transformation.

Gather that the same mods work well on STi's? Would have though they'd be stiff enough though?

 

Cheers. Like Norman Dog I use Keith Micheals & I call Gary (Moley) direct for the best personalised quotes on 0208 6427868. All mods listed & covered.

Looking back I could have gone straight to where I am now & saved money but as the car was new I had to go the PPP route to hang on to the warranty.

Suspension wise I started with just the Prodrive springs, again warranty friendly. Then when a rear shock oil seal failed I bit the bullet & went for Leda units all round, alloy drop links front & rear & an adjustable rear ARB. This gave another level of improvement over just the springs alone coupled with an often overlooked geometry alignment.

Godspeed brakes, from one of the regular group buys on here, replaced the OE 4 pots which were easily sold on to a brake fading 2 pot Classic owner halving the cost to change.

Sti top mount is good for my sub 300bhp & again readily available from Front mount converters.

Like corradoboy I found the ratios on the 6 speed STi box a bit too "busy" for me. Interestingly the MY03 PPP WRX has been shown to give better 0-60 times than the similarly powered standard STi due to the extra gear change needed to reach 60 in the STi.

One other often overlooked thing is to not get too tied down with outright power (bhp) figures. These alone do not give a well mannered, driveable car. A good mapper will make sure that you have a good gob of torque that comes in reasonably low down & holds it's peak for a decent length of time before the next gear change. My map could do with a tweak to get the torque coming in a bit earlier.



Mind you when it looks like this out on the road "Who cares how fast it goes?"

 

A mate of mine has recently px'ed his 95 Wrx in for a Legnum Vr-4 plus some cash.

As above 280bhp, but through an auto box. He tried the Legacy TT first and didn't like it one bit. The legnum however he finds excellent all round. Like the smooth auto box, delivery of constant power from the 2 turbo's, the space, the handling for such a big car and the general ride too.

Worth considering, unless you were to remap a Wrx wagon.

I'd personally have the Scoob as I don't like Mitsu's.

 

lots of people are talking about the 280 mark here so just get a import sti wagon 276hp as standard upgrade the rear arb and the jobs a good un excellent car all round bar the fuel but then again if ur running any turbo car u shouldnt worry about mpg

 

CorrardoBoy - You've highlighted some good things there mate, well for me anyways. I always think about Part ex'ing the wrx in for an sti But as im going to play about with the handeling and stopping power before i bother with a powerupgrade im happy to read somebody else has found them to work really well before i go ou spent £££ and still lust for a sti.

 

I bought my WRX Bugeye after owning a Merc C200 sport, i liked the car but it had no performance whatsoever !
I wanted a car that had i bit of poke when i needed it but was civilised when your not in the mood to be "going for it".
The WRX fits the bill exactly,its only when you start reading forums like this you start to feel inadequate !
If i wanted a faster better handling car i'd have bought a STI, the WRX suits me and my driving style/lifestyle perfectly.
Its horses for courses but at least you have the potential to gradgually upgrade as money/inclination takes your fancy.
Great car and great for long term ownership because of the above reason.

 

I aint drove a standard wrx but when i got mine a few months ago the bloke told me he had up'd the boost ....... i took it to the rr to test it and it made 269.6bhp it hadnt even been remapped either and just had a de-cat, back box and green panel filter, goes real nice on the road!!

 

Please someone say id I'm wrong, but I dont think this car is long for the scrapheap, and 296 is rather impressive with no re-map, not to mention terminal for the engine?

 

269.5 had jgm come an have a look an everything seemed good also boost comes in correctly and holds till 6000rpm, afr ratio is a bit out but aint going to hurt https://www.scoobynet.com/general-te...fo-needed.html

 

Happy days, thats not bad at all. I havent been on here for a while, what is the current way of thinking concerning de-cat with no remap?

 

You don't normally get away with it. If you do it's more by luck than by judgement. If you upset the flow in & out of the engine you need to let the ECU know about it. You will get posts of "I de-cated without a remap & saved £s & it hasn't blown up yet."

At the very least you need a health check like Mr. WRX had from JGM & if given the all clear breath a sigh of relief & count your £s.

 

As I thought.