The Myth

Hello all,

well ive had my first scooby a couple of wks now(02 plate wrx) and just dont seem to be getting the wow factor i kind of expected.
Maybe i am driving it wrong been new to all this turbo hyped car,i tend to drive upto around 3500-4000 max before shifting up,at these revs the engine does sound as though i need to shift up(has a five inch stainless exhaust which is quite loud).
I dont doubt the car in general,1 owner with full history and is well looked after,am i driving it wrong as i would love to fall in love with the performance you all talk about.
thank you
alan.

Mark'sWRX

A standard WRX doesn't really blow your socks off, its just a nicely quick way of travelling.

It is deceptive too, because it is pretty calm accelerating, unlike most hot hatches where the steering wheel tugs all over the place when you boot them.

To get a buzz from a WRX, you need to remap and a few simple mods. This will bring more torque in the rev range you're talking about, so will feel much quicker.

TOMMY_TURBO

iTrader: (5)

changing gear at 3500/4000 max

SPEN555

Are you having a laugh?

It's not a diesel! You need to be taking it upto 6,500rpm. The turbo only begins to start going at 4,000rpm!

nick172sport

iTrader: (6)

to be honest i think the same had mine a year now its my first scoob if i had known i would have bought a sti gotta keep it another 2 years then its sti blob for me or a rb320 in my dreams

stevie1982

iTrader: (16)

had two wrx one being a 01 uk wrx and in standard form they are not imo that impressive. felt sluggish and bulky to me. if i were you i would decat pop in a pannel filter and get it remaped and you will not believe the difference it will make, it will be much more responsive and pull soo much better through the gears.

mik

Whilst a std WRX won't set your pants on fire, it is certainly rapid enough to dispatch 99% of the traffic.

You're changing up too early, so you're only using a fraction of the available performance.

Read THIS

The rpm at which peak power is achieved represents the engine speed where the optimum combination of torque, and the ability to maximise your gearing advantage. If you don't hit this engine speed you're not getting the most from the car.

The Dogs B******s

I Love my WRX(not man love though)

IMPORTPETE

yep changing up far to early i have a wrx all be it a classic import wich does feel a bit more raw than the new age but i changed exhaust filter and fitted a polar chip equivalent and it does feel a lot better but it was 260ps to start with so had a bit more grunt than uk spec to start with get the ppp on there and it will certainly bring it to life a bit more.

360ste

iTrader: (1)

A few things to consider, as you got the car second hand how was it looked after and driven. If the fuel used wasthe cheapest pump fuel avaliable then chances are the injectors are gummed up. So add a bottle of STP injector cleaner (have had very good experiences with this even on a blind test on my dad). Run it round normally for a week to clean the injectors. Along with the injectors gumming up there could be a reasonable bit of carbon build up due to the turbo not being used. Changing at 3500 to 4000k is not using the engine fully. So progressively build the revs up to clean things out, say in 500 rpm stages to allow you to get used to the car. I notice if I have been driving "miss Daisey" for a few days that on the first run beyond 5000rpm I get a load of crud from the exhaust. I usually try to get at least one full throttle upto redline gear change each journey if it is possible, just to clean things out.


Hope you soon feel the buzz and enjoy yor Scooby. Steve

The Myth

thank you all for the quick replys,
maybe im being a bit to easy on it,i worry about causing harm to engine or turbo hence changing up at 3500/4000.are these cars and turbos sturdy enough to boot at higher revs,as i stated in this post the engine does sound high enough at these revs.
thanks
alan.

the_big_1

iTrader: (1)

Hi,

what are the sweet spots of rpm in each gear? I have a 2.5 sti and would love to know

360ste

iTrader: (1)

To find the "sweet spot" figures you would need to use a rolling road to get the rpm range for your particular car. I know mine will pull to the redline and even in 6th from 3000rpm will upset a merc driver. One tried showing off to his son 'oops' the road was dry, straight and empty so the minute he got off my bumper and started to pull out I progressively put my foot down. He was getting alongside till the turbo kicked in then he went backwards. A bit further on had top slow right down for a tractor so when I over took redline in all gears. The DI(£ sill sat on my bumper even at daft speeds. I even touched the brakes to get him to back off the ignourANUS still sat there. Yes looking back it was a daft thing to do but people like that hiss me off so a face rub is worth it. After the set of lights I let him shoot off, I was only two cars behind at the next major junction

the_big_1

iTrader: (1)

Yeah I get that a lot! What is the adverage best shift point on a standard 2.5?

Mikkel

A lot of people think all Imprezas are fast as standard. They are not. Especially the quite lardy newage cars. The STi is the quick car that people tend to associate with the name Impreza. You need to tweak a WRX a bit to make it into a performance car.

With regards to the 2.5ltr engine, I rarely rev my engine over 6k rpm as it makes max torque at around 4k rpm and max power at around 5k rpm.

G-Man1982

iTrader: (7)

its coz it aint a classic!!

bioforger

iTrader: (1)

Newage STi's aren't particularly quick either until tweaked a bit. 6th gear is really poor for example. A decat n remap sorts that out though. Only standard classic STI's have decent performance.

Forester sti

If you are concerned about your engine/turbo
Give her the best chance,
Oil and filters change (use a good 15/50 synthetic oil) use the injector cleaner mentioned above,
Use good petrol like Vpower or tesco99
And then give her a good roasting, drive her to the redline in every gear for a few miles, blow away any build ups
You'll find your sweet spot, best torque would be around 4000rpm and best bhp would be around 7000rpm so I'd rev her to just shy of 7000,
On the 2.5 between 3000 and 6000,
Have fun
Dan

rob84

iTrader: (5)

My 2.5 sti hits peak torque of 403 ft/lbs by 3800 rpm and nicely levels off to the rev limit, but im my opinion theres no point going past 5.5k to change gear

mik

Where is peak power Rob?

If you're not hitting that RPM then your 4rse dyno is fooling you.

rob84

iTrader: (5)

peak power 380bhp 6013 rpm
peak torque 403 ft/lbs 3731 rpm

mik

Sounds like you're feeling the torque bleeding away and therefore want to change up. You'll definately be faster taking it to the peak power point, and may even be faster taking it to the redline ~ i say "may" as this depends how much of a gearing drop there is when you select the next ratio.

This is relatively easy to demonstrate if you have a dyno readout - and you know your gear ratios. Then you can plot a "change point" chart.

Multiply your engine torque readings x gear ratio x final drive ratio to get the torque available at the wheels in each gear. One line per gear.

Only example I could find at short notice was one from a Lotus 111 ~ a bit grainy but you get the idea. (Ignore the numbers on the verticle scale - the author has factored in wheel size to get the force acting at the tyre contact point - this overcomplicates things and I can't be 4rsed workign out if this fuigure is in newtons, lbs or wtf). Horizontal scale is road speed.



Torque curve is pretty spikey, and the torque drops away significantly as you approach the redline.

Despite this - you are best to use the full rev range in first - at no point in second gear is there more torque available at the wheels. The available figure at peak engine rpm is about 260 ~ changing into 2nd at this road speed drops that figure to just over 200.

Same situation in second - you should wring the car out to the redline.

This isn't true for every gear change - you are looking for the point at which the lines cross over. Look at 3rd gear - as you approach max rpm the line from 4th gear crosses it ~ so you are better changing up at (guessing from the graph) around 98mph - ie ahead of the redline.

Lines for 4th and 5th also cross, so no point taking it to the redline in those gears either. The graph tells you what road speed to change at.

dunx

iTrader: (3)

IMHO

Get rid of the stupidly loud exhaust, you are just annoying people, then you can enjoy your car properly....

Mine (STI) pulls like a train to 7500 rpm, but rarely needs to.

dunx

bioforger

iTrader: (1)

er dunx yours isnt exactly standard is it

dunx

iTrader: (3)

Quite right, if the O.P. wants 290 bhp it's easy enough.....

My pal "KojaK" has a std. WRX (bug-eye) and it's no slouch, you do need to pedal one right to get the most from it, IMHO

dunx

his-n-her-scoobs

iTrader: (5)

+1

Brought a 53 plate WRX last year. Found it too lardy. Sold it and went back to the classic. Prodrived it, now in heaven.

By the way, rev it harder, the turbo is barely turning at 3000 revs.

Bealescooby

iTrader: (36)

a m8 of mine had the same thoughts of his bugey wrx

spent a little less than a grand ( fitted vf30 turbo , decat upipe, inner wing air filter 550 injectors & Remap ) He's now runnin around the 330bhp mark and is extremely happy

Mark T2000

My first scoob was a 01 WRX in standard trim. I was dissapointed too. Spent a few quid putting full decat, air filter and ECUTEK remap, but still wasn't happy.

After a year off of cars, i bought a 98 classic turbo 2000 a few weeks ago. What a difference! It has a full decat, headers, air filter, fuel pump, boost controler, and is twice as fast as the WRX. It handles and feels much better too.

IMO, sell the WRX before spending to much, and get a tidy (& tuned) classic if its 'wow' factor your looking for