My Favorite Car Ever

We traded our '99 Integra GS-R (AKA, the most expensive Honda Civic you can buy) for the WRX. We wanted 4 doors, more headroom, and AWD. My wife and I investigated the WRX when they came out in late 2001, but weren't inclined to pay a $4k dealer premium. The car was purchased as a compliment to my rig (a 2002 Chevy 2500HD crew cab 4x4 big-block) which has proven to be somewhat cumbersome for trips to the mall.

We got a white WRX with most of the common options - boost gauge, short throw shifter (no AT available - and shame on you for even thinking about it), wing, premium stereo, and armrest extension in January 2003. I was very impressed with the auto magazine reviews and comments and my wife finally relented.

Our test drive was on a dark and rainy night. At the dealer's request, my wife took the car to the end of a deserted road and accelerated hard to about 40 then slammed on the brakes. The car was totally stable during acceleration and stopped like it had an anchor on it. No tire squeal or dramatic changes in direction. I took my turn at more like 50+ and tried to swing the car out at the end - same results. The car always dug in and took off, stopped straight, and went where directed no matter what I did during the test drive. I was hooked and my wife was very pleased, although not so much with the prospect of me driving the car so aggressively.

The steerng, shifting, and clutch are all very well designed. The steering is communicative and doesn't require too much effort. Feedback increases at higher speeds/tighter corners, but not enough to send you to the gym. The clutch offers a lot of travel and very linear action. Pedal feel is a little stiff, at least compared to cars of similar size. The shifter is very good - not quite as good as the Integra, but very close. I believe shifting performance would suffer without the short-throw kit.

The seats are very good. Front buckets have fairly high bolsters and a high-traction surface which keep you planted. I am a little large (6'+, 225 lbs, 36" waist) and sometimes felt a little cramped in the bolsters. The rear seats are also very good, but didn't fit me well around the lumbar region. I noticed the smooth material on the sides of the seats looked a little flimsy, but we never suffered a rip, tear or any noticeable wear. The smooth areas are MAJOR fuzz/hair magnets, so stock up on lint brushes.

The interior controls all offer a light touch. Some controls were in awkward locations. There isn't the eerie similarity in throw/effort that you find on a Honda or Toyota (I never understood how they made every button feel exactly the same). I didn't like the placement of the hazard lights (center of dash) or the mirrors (center console). One weird thing is the lack of a cruise control indicator light on the dash. We actually mentioned the lack of a cruise control light to the dealer during the 30k service and they took the dash apart trying to find it. Turns out, it didn't have one. Oops. Regardless, the cruise control works great even in hilly terrain.

The rotary controls for the HVAC are fine and easy to use. The HVAC can fry you or freeze you in pretty short order. The A/C doesn't draw a big enough fraction of the available HP to leave you wishing for a bigger engine like many small cars.

We took the car on a number of 200-400 mile (each way)roadtrips and used it as a daily driver. We never suffered anything more than a flat tire. The car was totally reliable and reasonable to services (30k miles was around $400, including a pretty comprehensive brake service). The car always managed 24-26 MPG in combined driving, with the 24 MPG being during the A/C season. Premium gas is a requirement.

We purchased an extended warranty, again because I had pretty much desired to purchase the car to drive the hell out of it. We never had an issue with the car other than a minor trim item that the dealer fixed correctly the first time.

I loooved to drive this car. It always took off like a rocket and stopped on a dime. It really needs to spin up to around 3000+ RPM to build boost, but when it did it was amazing. At lower RPMs, the car is tractable, has a considerable amount of torque, and is as pleasant to drive as the regular Impreza. Most impressively, the car is an LEV, although the 3 catalysts on the exhaust probably have a lot to do with the turbo lag.

I drove the car over 100 MPH fairly regularly on rural highways and never had any issues whatsoever. I ran the car up to 140 on the speedo, but didn't check it against my GPS. I did verify the GPS and speedo up to 112 and they were spot-on. Yes, I recognize it is some pretty irresponsible driving - but we live out in the boonies and that car begs to be driven. I was always happier after running the WRX around for a while - it is too much fun to drive.

Lots of the "need for speed/2 fast 2 furious" wannabe crowd will roll up on you for a race, but resist temptation. There aren't many cars, modded or otherwise, that roam the streets that will beat the WRX. I didn't keep a list, but suffice to say that it wasn't fun dealing with the teenyboppers after a while. There are even fewer that cost within $10K of the WRX.

On the downside, the car has a few flaws. We never had any issues, but certain fixtures and materials feel flimsy and cheap. No more so than any other car in the class, and nothing broke in our car, but it is worth noting. The doors feel very light which is a little disconcerting. The car can be a little noisy on long hauls and if you don't like that, I'd suggest a little Dynamat on the footwells. A few more amenities would be nice - sunroof, leather, etc. but they would take away from the tremendous value the car offers. I wasn't a big fan of the stereo, even the premium package was a letdown, but my wife liked it. It has limited dynamic range and the cupholder interferes with the CD loading slot which is very annoying. Lastly, the driving lights are very vulnerable and should be provided with guards. They cost ~$150 each to replace and will be damaged at some point during the winter season by gravel.

We didn't have insurance troubles since I never got a ticket (Valentine 1 - the only radar detector as far as I am concerned). In fact, the GS-R was higher by 10-15%.

We originally sought to replace the WRX with a fancier variant like an Audi S4 or Mercedes C55. I drove the IS300 Lexus, S4 and a variety of other cars and not one of them made me want them more than the WRX. The S4 is very good - kind of like a WRX that has been sent to an expensive Ivy League prep school. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't see spending $50k on the S4 - the same value wasn't there. Eventually, we bought a 2005 Pathfinder LE 4x4, which we love.

I seriously considered keeping the WRX as a daily driver and benching my crew cab, but found an older Maxima was probably a better choice for my driving record. Ironically, I got a ticket in the Pathfinder about 3 weeks after we got it. Go figure.

The most telling thing I can say is that I still miss the WRX.