thoughts on a 2001-2005 impreza wrx? not an sti just a regular wrx

 

To mod? They are excellent, I am a huge fan, either frog eyes or the revamped front ends. They also have a huge huge huge, enthusiast and helpful base of owners, I know plenty in Atlanta (and are one a few of their forums) and great people.

 

Make sure it is in good shape, and check out the car you are looking at carefully. These cars tend to have be driven rather hard, by the caps-on-backwards crowd. The first couple of years in the American market had some clutch and transmission issues.

Also, for any real traction in the snow, you'll want to stay away from the stock high-performance tires, although the AWD, of course, helps. The WRX, STi, and Legacy Spec B, unlike other Subarus, don't come standard with all-season tires. Put all-seasons or winter tires on if you want max traction in bad weather.

 

I bought one of the very first 2002 WRX's when they were introduced in early 2001. I've had it since April 2001 and I now have 86,000 mi on it. Absolutely no problems whatsoever, including clutch or transmission issues. It has been absolutely bulletproof. They are a bit noisy on the road, but it isn't supposed to be a Lexus.

I had it for 3 winters in Canada and it went all over the place in pretty deep snow, even with average all season tires. The AWD is excellent. I get an avg of 26mpg. Body integrity is good and so far no rust problems or deterioration is evident.

Just make sure you get a clean example that hasn't been abused.

 

They have monster engines. The interior and exterior have very poor fit/finish however.

 

Sounds like you took care of it. The cars that had clutch/tranny issues were generally driven hard. You got good traction in deep snow because, as you say, you had all-seasons. The stock tires on some WRX models (although that was more the case with the STi) were set up for dry-weather high-performance and weren't as good in snow as most all-seasons.

Your signature says "Texas Hill Country"...and I take it that's your yellow WRX in the picture. Is that Mansfield Dam, right outside of Austin (or maybe Lake Travis?).....looks like it.

 

You are right, I do baby the WRX. I'm over 50 and no 'Boy Racer' type activities anymore. It's basically stock. Some of the ones I see of my vintage are beat to hell and modified in questionable ways. The few times it's been in to the dealer for service (like the cam shaft belt at 80k) the young guys ask if I'm interested in selling it. I think they see it as a blank canvas that they can get at a deep discount, plus Blaze Yellow color was only made in 450 examples for the first model year. In fact I've never run across another one of that color in the wild.

Although the interior materials are just so-so the inside has held up remarkably well, and the seats are very comfy with good side bolsters. And there is not a squeak or rattle that has developed anywhere. The whole thing is screwed together very well.

That pic was from 2006 when I was living in Nova Scotia, Canada. A short ferry ride over one of the inlets when I was driving from Cape Breton Island to Halifax on the South shore of Nova Scotia.

 

I think the WRX is a great value right now, iIhave seen some for under $10k, but as others said, stay away from abused cars.

 

I was in charge of preping WRX's for Automotive journalist test drive loans usually lasting 1 week these cars were rode hard every day and were so durable they stayed "in service" for 20,000 miles twice as long as most loaners
seems that 2nd gear syncro's were a bit fragile if abused. What I loved about the cars was the suspension really soaks up bumps with 16" or the optional 17"s BBS wheels we lent one to a journalist who took it to autocross & it developed a squeak from the rear shelf area bracing but other than that they were solid high quality reliable cars

 

my ex wife has one. she bought it when we were married and wanted it modified. so i basically modded this thing from stock to a monster. turbo, intercooler, fuel system, suspension, clutch, flywheel, gauges, engine management, wheels, tires, intake, up pipe, downpipe, exhaust, etc. she's driven it like that for the past 20k miles and had 0 problems. still runs perfectly and STRONG. she isn't easy on a car either, she drives it like its meant to be driven; HARD.
even the trans has held up; like some people mentioned that is the weak point. the key is to not drag race it. i built it more for street driving and hard back road driving. i changed the trans fluid to a redline mix of synthetic fluid and some of their shockproof oil. it shifts better than ever and has no problems at 75k miles.
the interior is holding up well, no squeeks or rattles, seats are good; they hold you in place during hard cornerning and still look good. it's no lexus inside but that's not what it was made for. in classic hot rod style, they took a cheap car and added a fantastic drivetrain.

 

I'm told that the Bugeye headlights of the '02 and '03 are annoying.