Deano1983

What should I get?

What is the WR1 like compared to the STI?!?!
Cheers

paul2070

I don't know about the WR1 mate(although i do like the look of it),but if it is an E46 M3 you were interested in,i had a 53 Plate one in March,but sold it after 6 weeks as i thought it was the most over-rated car i had ever owned.

It never felt upto all the performance claims(i.e Fast!!),although it was good for the maximum(restricted)speed .

I think TBH it is just too refined for a supposedly performance car,so if that's what you like,you may love it,but if you like a car to feel as fast as it is,you may be better looking elsewhere..................when i sold mine,one of the cars i replaced it with was an Ariel Atom(but only briefly ).

MattW

Similar as an 05 Sti PPP with 18" PFF7 wheels. WR1 has 320ps against 305PS though, and exclusive colour.

The WR1 arguably holds its value better and it cheaper to insure as the power upgrade is deemed as factory fit.

You will probably find a later car for the same cost as an older WR1.

GazTheHat

Wr1 would be the same as a STi TSL333 car performance-wise. So is it really worth paying that extra, when you can get an 05 STi for around £15 and TSL333 for £1500.

Mind you, the WR1 should hold it's value better.

PCM

Sorry but the MY05 is a better car in my opinion.The handling on a wr1 is very poor if you ask me.

O yeh and the M3 is sh#t

PCM

RUDDY

well will you be using this car all the time? ie. when its pissing down with rain!
if so WR1 would be better. Infact id have the WR1 no matter what! the best looking subaru thats been made for a long time
they look better with silver wheels though and the pff7s are hard to get rid of! tell ya what drop me an email and il take um off ya hands free of charge! lol!!

The Chief

Although the M3 pushes out 343bhp (ish) it has a relativly low torque figure - 270lbs, everyone i have spoke to who have drove one says you have to rev the knackers off them to make decent progress. A WR1 pushes out more than this as do most turbocharged units. with a little bit of modding you would see a WR1 jump to 350-360 bhp and the same in torque. and as a point to point car - a miles faster and better proposition to an M3.

Just my opinion

The Chief

However if you want the ultimate - get a secondhand Type 25

vava voom

iTrader: (6)

HAD A 04 M3 Con......and all i can say is no!
Cool car for the summer but performance was crap compared to my P1, px'ed it ib within 12 months and got a range rover sport

AFRIKANZ

SUBARU

paul2070

I hope you lost bucketloads of money on yours aswell mate.................i done £3500 in 6 weeks

A pile of over hyped bavarian s**t,but i'm not bitter!!

D1CCY

Let a mate with an M3 convertible drive my 03STiPPP (now remapped, god knows what he'd think now). He was gobsmaked by the mid range grunt and kept overrevving it because he didn't expect to change up so soon on every gear. I drove his M3 and struggled to keep it on the boil and it felt slow.

chippy17

at this level M3 every time, you have to rev them that is part of the charm yes they may not be ultimately faster but speed is not everything, and don't buy a convertible you bunch of hairdressers!

Nevetas

Keep saving and then get a M3 CSL. Best 30ish k you'll ever spend.

chippy17

don't know what the price is but I have heard the CS model is an excellent compromise

sti-04!!

I own an M3 Cab on a 54. To be honest i have only owned it for about 2 months & driven it for the first month seeing as i broke a couple of bones in my foot.
It is a nice car but personally it just misses something, going to wait until feb / march time & go for a 996 Turbo prices should be within my budget then.

In answer to the thread posters original question i would go for an MY05 STi with the TSL treatment. IMHO

paul2070

And to top it off,it's(CS) got the worst gearbox i have ever experienced............f**king SMG!!!

However,the CSL is supposed to be the "Ultimate" M3,some of the"BEST" CS BITS,plus some of the best M3 Bits.............is that really praise though

chippy17

you can get the CS in manual if you wish, it is the CSL that only came with SMG

ac427

i'm gonna order a gt3 and rip up the road!

Of course i'll keep the wrx for the wet :-)

abc

Had a play with a 55 M3 recently (I own 05 WRX PPP) and he was check-braking into bends, carrying less speed through them and was slower out of them. I'm no driving God and we didn't do anything silly but I was surprised to be so underwhelmed by the M3's performance. So if that experience is any use, go for the WR1.

A

PCM

Spec c every day of the week

paul2070

I knew it was one way round or the other ,but the SMG is still awful

I think what any of them need is a supercharger and some decent brakes,then it may be closer to all the hype,and "The ultimate driving machine",as the handling was great(with the traction control on)for a 343bhp RWD car.

chippy17

it's called 'the thrill of driving' using skill to extract speed...

sti-04!!

I personally think the SMG is a cracking box. No problems here.

You just know how to handle the box.

chippy17

also the CSL uses SMG111 (heard this is a lot better) whereas the M3 uses SMG11

brakes, I am with you on that one, if you add a supercharger/turbo you ruin the whole point which is crispness of throttle response against fuzzy turbo lag, there are pluses and minuses to both, I love the turbo grunt of a scooby but I miss the crispness of my old M3...

scoobyboy1

iTrader: (16)

Heard a lot of people say that about the M3, I think your the 3rd person that ive read about on ScoobyNet that have got rid of there M3 after a short time!

Ive been a passenger in a M3 never driven one, and even though it was a nice looking car with all the gadgets that a scooby or evo cant give you, I still thought it didnt feel as quick as I thought it would be, and to be honest it didnt excite me as much as I thought either, shame really as it was one of my favourite cars before I got a ride in one.

AllyJ

I have an 05STI TSL 333 well its about 345ish actually but anyway, I had a play with a 55 m3 a few week back, sheer performance wise on our roads the scooby by a country mile. BUT....its horses for courses, the M3 is a quieter more luxury car whilst still having awesome power, yeah it doenst have the chuckability of a scoob and the go kart thrills at times, but it is much more comfortable and less in your face as my scoob is.

As with everything it is personaly preference, like someone said earlier the refinement of the m3 you wont feel like you are going that fast (even tho you are) you will though get a huge rush doing the same in a scoob, and of course you wont brown your pants when you go round corners in a scoob

scoobyboy1

iTrader: (16)

Oh and back to the original question which was asked, M3 or WR1?

Easy WR1!

To many E46 M3's an the road today, dont come across many WR1's, and with the new M3 coming out in the next year or so, then expect it to hit depreciation pretty bad! where as the WR1 is a limited edition so there is more of a demand for them in the 2nd hand market, so they hold there price a bit better!

chippy17

it doesn't feel as quick because it's power delivery is linear as opposed to the boost feeling you get, I know I am defending M3s but i love both cars and if I were on a BMW forum I would be defending the Scoob! I have owned both.

The thing I have against Impreza's is they are too easy to drive, the challenge is not there, in other words they are almost too fast round b roads that sometimes I wish for RWD to keep the speed in check, whilst having more fun!

They are just so easy to get to know, I test drove a new 'hawk eye' yesterday and within 30mins I was bored, in four years of owning an M3 I was still getting to know the car...

paul2070

It,as always is personnel preference.................i have come to the (expensive)conclusion this year that torque suits my driving style and preference,and that is something that the M3 lacks,i also don't like to "have"to thrash cars to get the best from them.

The more i spend on a car,the more i (rightly?)expect from it,and for the amount i paid for mine,it never met my expectations................don't get me wrong,i still think BMW make some cracking cars(and i have owned 9),but i think the M3 misses the point,and in some areas,by quite some margin...............they have just made it too comfy when it should be raw(like a modern day E30 M3).

And i am sorry,but while there are very few cars without some flaws,on a high end,top of the range performance car,should the brakes be a "flaw"?
It is not hard to get a decent braking setup on a car as standard,and for less money...............the (standard) brakes i had on my Focus RS never once felt like they would fail me through fade despite my very best efforts!!

I also think that when a lot of owners buy cars like the M3,they don't want to admit that the car is flawed after spending all that money.

As i say,each to their own