WRX drivers annoy me

[koreshot]

Sorry, I'm just venting or something but I am just wondering if others have noticed something weird about Subaru Impreza WRX owners. It could be my experience, but a couple of other friends have also mentioned to me that they find many WRX drivers a bit stuck up.

My main complaint is the arrogance and the delusions of driving a really fast car. I have heard many WRX drivers make comments like "its really fast", "it is perfect", "I can keep up with that <insert car that there is no way the WRX will keep up with>". Oddly enough this not really the case with drivers of the WRX STI which is actually a fast car instead of pretending to be one.

I find this quite annoying because I feel like I know a decent amount about cars, their real world speed (not magazine numbers) and their ability to go from point to point quickly at real world speeds - and I am convinced that a stock WRX is one of the most over rated "performance" cars. It is a nice platform that can be tuned into a fast machine but comes completely undertuned from the factory - soft suspension, too much wheel travel, horrible tires, burly but loose transmission, subpar steering, and worst of all turbo lag that makes the wrx feel very unlinear and dead off boost. The only reason why the magazine acceleration numbers are fast is because they drop the clutch at 6 grand and let the AWD system take the hit (something most drivers will never do cause it would kill the car pretty quickly). Its the car's 50 foot acceleration numbers, thanks to the awd, that make it seem so fast.

In conclusion, the subie is a nice car and is a great buy, it is also fun and quick, but it just isn't this awesome super car that many owners seem to think so drop it already! Ok I am done...

 

[Hawkshot99]

Agree with the comments on the attitude, but I would still love to have one.

 

[ckofer]

In the words of Tony Soprano: Wudyagonnado?

Maybe the WRX owners can face off with the Z24 owners.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

I drive an Impreza with the 2.5 engine and I always joke that I have an STI without the big wing and that's 14 grand cheaper.

People buy the WRX or STi for the extra power so they want to show it off.

Kpreshot what do you drive?

 

[ckofer]

Frankly, the whole horsepower thing is foolish. Anybody who qualifies for a payment can have a fast car. You might deserve bragging rights if you take a stock vehicle and rebuild it into something faster yourself. Real bragging rights belong to those who can find a sweet line through tight trees with sub-optimal snow and make it look easy.

Here's the Australian take on the matter

 

[hrstrat57]

I drive an Impreza with the 2.5 engine and I always joke that I have an STI without the big wing and that's 14 grand cheaper.

People buy the WRX or STi for the extra power so they want to show it off.

Right on!

Me too, I drove all 3....and bought the base Impreza with 5 speed....fantastic performance (stay away from the automatic)

I'll use the extra thousands saved and take the long awaited trip to Utah this winter.....

Love it, and icy, snowy road performance is all Subaru...put my yaki rack with spoiler on it...she is way cool....

Been getting about 30 mpg and no premium fuel like the WRX requires....I just wish I had waited for the special edition and got the sunroof

 

[koreshot]

I drive an Impreza with the 2.5 engine and I always joke that I have an STI without the big wing and that's 14 grand cheaper.

People buy the WRX or STi for the extra power so they want to show it off.

Kpreshot what do you drive?

I drive my trusty Toyota Matrix AWD with Blizzaks to the mountains. It has been very reliable so far and with the snow tires on it has been unstoppable in the NE winter storms. Even if the AWD system isn't as fancy as the ones in the Subies, the traction that the Blizzaks have in the snow more than makes up for it.

I also have an other, less practical car for weekend fun and motorsports, but don't normally use it for skiing.

Like you GSS, I would probably just opt for the 2.5 Impreza over the WRX. Although the STI is a completely different animal and actually lives up to the big wing and the hype more or less - it is rather expensive for my check book.

 

[koreshot]

Frankly, the whole horsepower thing is foolish. Anybody who qualifies for a payment can have a fast car.

Completely agreed. The horsepower wars are really ridiculous - people that don't know how to drive and don't need the power tooling around in super fast cars. Putting out a car that doesn't go to 60 in at least 8 seconds is almost embarassing these days. Why does the FJ Cruiser need to get to 60 under 8 seconds? Or the Camry in under 6 seconds. I just don't understand - both are tubs on wheels that are supposed to be safe, practical and reliable transportation from point a to point b, not race cars.

Instead of applying the advances in engine/combustion technology to getting the same power out of less gas, the manufacturers have gone with getting as much power as possible out of the same amount of gas. So we are still getting 20mpg like we did 10 years ago but can now acceelerate to 60mph in 7 seconds as opposed to 9 or 10. I would rather see a lot more cars that hit 60 in about 10 seconds but get 40+ mpg.

The WRX, STI and the Evo just make the insane amounts of power eaily accessible for the average buyer. Their AWD system makes for exteremely quick launches and, in particular with the WRX, gives the owner a false sense of driving a fast car. The power/weight ratio really isn't so great, its the ability to launch the car with AWD and cover the first 50 feet very quickly that makes the car seem particularly fast.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

A colleague of mine bought a used Ferrari for 80 grand..he lives in NJ near NYC,,,so he can get go zero to 60 in 3-4 seconds on 287 or I-95..then what????

 

[cbcbd]

Completely agreed. The horsepower wars are really ridiculous - people that don't know how to drive and don't need the power tooling around in super fast cars. Putting out a car that doesn't go to 60 in at least 8 seconds is almost embarassing these days. Why does the FJ Cruiser need to get to 60 under 8 seconds? Or the Camry in under 6 seconds. I just don't understand - both are tubs on wheels that are supposed to be safe, practical and reliable transportation from point a to point b, not race cars.

Agree with all you're saying. When I first drove the WRX I was completely disappointed - it was "quick".. but unresponsive steering, too much roll in the corners, even didn't like the big ass Momo wheel. It just wasn't as fun to drive as my much underpowered Mazda.

It's that whole "rally inspired" marketing hype. Everyone wants to have a rally car so they can video tape themselves doing donuts in a parking lot and post it on youtube.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

. Everyone wants to have a rally car so they can video tape themselves doing donuts in a parking lot and post it on youtube.

Hell Yeah..I'm going to do some burn-outs in the Wal-Greens parking lot...yeah boy-ee..

 

[cbcbd]

A colleague of mine bought a used Ferrari for 80 grand..he lives in NJ near NYC,,,so he can get go zero to 60 in 3-4 seconds on 287 or I-95..then what????

On a similar thought, but not about speed... There are a few Lotus Elises around here I see once in a while - I hate driving MY car through our crappy streets, I can't imagine a car with more road feel doing so - I really hope they are doing some track time with them instead of just driving their cars through potholes roads... man, it would kill me.

 

[koreshot]

On a similar thought, but not about speed... There are a few Lotus Elises around here I see once in a while - I hate driving MY car through our crappy streets, I can't imagine a car with more road feel doing so - I really hope they are doing some track time with them instead of just driving their cars through potholes roads... man, it would kill me.

The percentage of sports car that actually see track time is sadly even lower than the percentage of SUVs that see real off road.

 

[ckofer]

The percentage of sports car that actually see track time is sadly even lower than the percentage of SUVs that see real off road.

Posers.

 

[ski_resort_observer]

We had a big Mini-Coup Rally at the Bush this summer. I wasn't paying attention and accidently stepped on one.

 

[drjeff]

Unfortunately lately, atleast in the greater Hartford CT area, it seems like everytime there is a fatal accident involving teen(s) a WRX is involved

 

[bvibert]

Unfortunately lately, atleast in the greater Hartford CT area, it seems like everytime there is a fatal accident involving teen(s) a WRX is involved

I was thinking the same thing the other day. Sad really. When I was younger and I heard older people exclaim that young drivers shouldn't have fast, powerful cars I thought they were just crotchety old fogeys. Now I can see their wisdom. I didn't have a fast car (even if I thought it was at the time) and I still consider myself lucky to be here typing this after some of the stupid crap I did...

Not that I'm some super cautious driver now, I still have my moments, but I'm better than I was.

Crap, now I'm the old fogey!

 

[MRGisevil]

Unfortunately lately, atleast in the greater Hartford CT area, it seems like everytime there is a fatal accident involving teen(s) a WRX is involved

That's because some idiot in a used Honda probably zipped around on the right and cut him/her off.

Can you tell I drive 84 much???

 

[drjeff]

That's because some idiot in a used Honda probably zipped around on the right and cut him/her off.

Can you tell I drive 84 much???

Case # 1 - http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=7172645

Case #2 - http://www.wtic.com/pages/855625.php?contentType=4&contentId=837953

Both of these accidents happened within a 10 miles radius of each other, within a 6 week time frame involving drivers of WRX's and MULTIPLE teen fatalities

 

[cbcbd]

Case # 1 - http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=7172645

"Authorities say Anthony had a history of motor vehicle infractions, including speeding tickets and an arrest in March for drunk driving. His license was suspended for 90 days following that incident."

He was 17 and that was his record? I think the issue here was way more than just what car he was driving. Seriously... when I was 17, if I had that record there would be no way in hell my parents would let me drive any car until I was out of their control. I really don't know what that kid's home life was like and don't want to assume anything, but it still seems ridiculous that this kid was driving ANY car after all that crap. What a tragedy, a stupid tragedy.