Auto wrx

[mutatedfrog]

for those of you out there with an automatic wrx, how do you like it?? I'm interested in the manual and the automatic, but i do a lot of city driving, so automatic is probably the best for me. Please tell me what you like and what you don't like about the automatic,

thanks

[RockinWRX]

Drove an auto WRX before we got the manual wagon. All I can say is that the auto tranny is a horrible match for the engine. I do tons of city driving also , in fact all 8500 miles have been in the city so far , and I see no problems with the 5-spd in the city. Unless you live in NY city , I'd get the 5-spd . If you want an auto-equipped car for city driving only , get the 2.5 RS. Lots more torque down lower which is really what the auto tranny needs to get it moving. Seemed like the auto WRX never got out of its "black hole" And I've seen them at the drag strip also , they go slower than the Honda's. I'm pulling 14's with the 5-spd , the auto WRX's I saw were 16's and worse.

[mutatedfrog]

is there anybody else out there who actually bought the auto and who are regretting buying it?? The main reason that I should get the auto is because I drove the manual and killed it a couple times because I couldn't figure out the AWD launch. I'm gonna go drive the manual again, and this time, give it more gas, but if I still can't figure it out, i have to get the auto.

[RockinWRX]

Its just a matter of "slipping" the clutch a little more than you normally would. Are you talking about a hard drag-race style launch , or just a normal street launch. Normal street launchs just require a little more rpms and feathering the clutch. Prolly 1500 rpm is good , and step into it a bit as you let off the clutch. WRX motors are pretty weak til the turbo kicks in , its because of the low compression ratio. Trust me , you'd rather have the 5-spd. It'll be fine after you get used to it. I take it you've never driven an AWD car before?

[mutatedfrog]

I have driven an AWD before, but that was in an SUV, not in a subaru. yes, I was talking about a normal street launch. I do believe that I'll get used to it, but i'm just scared now. hehe

[illracer]

I have an auto wrx. I test drove both (although I admit I wasn't exactly familiar with the 5mt especially as you said with all wheel drive, bogged down like crazy). Anyways its been a great car so far. I've since added a protorque modified torque converter which evens the playing field with manuals performance wise as well as a ton of other mods.

The one thing that really scared me away from manuals is that if you're into modifying I kept reading horror stories on Subaru boards of how the US 5-speed was known as a "glass tranny" and would break without much effort, and if you had as much as a Turboback exhaust you would be screwed out getting it fixed under warranty. One of my friends with a modified manual wrx w/ a VF23 is on his third transmission so far. It definately makes the difference in city daily driving and stop and go on highways coming in and out of the city. The only downfall so far has been my friends giving me grief for driving an automatic lol... but them

Anyway either are great cars, good luck with that

[mutatedfrog]

does somebody out there know the actual difference of 0-60 times between the manual and the auto? Quarter mile?

[RockinWRX]

Originally posted by illracer
I have an auto wrx. I test drove both (although I admit I wasn't exactly familiar with the 5mt especially as you said with all wheel drive, bogged down like crazy). Anyways its been a great car so far. I've since added a protorque modified torque converter which evens the playing field with manuals performance wise as well as a ton of other mods.

The one thing that really scared me away from manuals is that if you're into modifying I kept reading horror stories on Subaru boards of how the US 5-speed was known as a "glass tranny" and would break without much effort, and if you had as much as a Turboback exhaust you would be screwed out getting it fixed under warranty. One of my friends with a modified manual wrx w/ a VF23 is on his third transmission so far. It definately makes the difference in city daily driving and stop and go on highways coming in and out of the city. The only downfall so far has been my friends giving me grief for driving an automatic lol... but them

Anyway either are great cars, good luck with that

Warranty issues would be no problem if all parts installed were the ones offered by Subaru for upgrades. Subaru has a great "in house" selection of performance parts , and many of them are cheaper than you'd find thru another vendor. Plus installation of such does not void any warranties , if Subaru does the work , they will cover it. Since your friend is on his 3rd tranny , he could have had an upgraded one from Subaru by now. And I'd consider it unlikely an automatic Subey could ever keep up with a manual. Theres at least 1 second difference in the 1/4 mile times between the manny and auto trannys. And thats a lot. A torque converter geared towards acceleration helps a little , but you lose a lot on the midrange. I can hit 60 in less than 5 secs and still do 150. I imagine with your special converter , you run out of steam a lot earlier. And I get 20+ mpg when I'm not boosting. I don't imagine you get anywhere near that.
I like stick shifts , because I like to be in control of what gear I'm in. Automatics always seem to be in the wrong gear.

[RockinWRX]

Year 2002 .................................................. ..............2002
Make Subaru .................................................. ..........Subaru
Model Impreza .................................................. .......Impreza
Trim WRX Sedan .................................................. .....WRX Sedan
Transmission 4-speed Automatic ............................5-speed Manual
Theoretical Top Speed 143 mph ..................................143 mph
Limited Top Speed

0-30 mph 1.86 s .................................................. .......1.49 s
0-40 mph 2.82 s .................................................. ........3.06 s
0-50 mph 4.78 s .................................................. ........4.23 s
0-60 mph 6.50 s .................................................. ..........5.55 s
0-70 mph 8.40 s .................................................. .........8.00 s
0-80 mph 10.87 s .................................................. ........9.98 s
0-90 mph 14.70 s .................................................. ........12.55 s
0-100 mph 18.50 s .................................................. ....... 16.71 s
0-110 mph 23.09 s .................................................. ........ 20.73 s
0-120 mph 30.11 s .................................................. ........ 26.19 s
0-130 mph 45.07 s .................................................. ........38.80 s
0-140 mph 77.51 s .................................................. ........ 66.07 s

30-50, 2nd gear 3.35 s .................................................. ......2.27 s

100 ft 2.79 s @ 39.7 mph .......................................... 2.65 s @ 37.09 mph
500 ft 7.87 s @ 67.36 mph 7.60 s @ 67.84 mph
660 ft (1/8 mile) 9.41 s @ 74.62 mph ..........................9.12 s @ 75.8 mph
1320 ft (1/4 mile) 14.84 s @ 91.02 mph ......................14.34 s @ 93.79 mph
2640 ft (1/2 mile) 23.71 s @ 111.16 mph ..................... 22.94 s @ 114.64 mph
5280 ft (1 mile) 38.71 s @ 126 mph ............................. 37.54 s @ 129.13 mph
7920 ft (1.5 mile) 52.54 s @ 133.61 mph ......................... 51.07 s @ 136.19 mph


I don't beleive these times to be accurate. I've watched automatic Subaru WRX's run horrible 17 sec 1/4 mile times here in Colorado. My personal 1/4 mile time is in my sig. I beleive those times may be possible at sea level , but at 6300 feet a lot of things change.

[mutatedfrog]

i can drive a manual, and I would like to get one, but does anybody have any special tricks for a normal street launch? (other than giving it more gas). Because I haven't had a chance to try giving it more gas yet, but I've heard from a lot of people that that is why I kept bogging it down. That's the main reason why I was looking at the automatic.

[illracer]

Heh quartermile performance is suuuuch a sketchy way of measuring a cars worth. I've seen a stock manual WRX run a 16.8 and a stock Evolution run a 15.5 in the same run (at sea level, decent weather). E.T.'s don't say a whole lot to me. The auto WRX you saw run a 17 might not have brake torqued properly or at all for that matter. But there definately is difference in performance between the 5MT and the 4EAT regardless. The mods list in my sig is about 9 months old but since I've picked up a protorque TC (as well as full exhaust and unichip). I can easily keep up with 5-speed's with the same mods. Dealers won't "void" your warranty per se but they certainly deny service if it looks too "modded"... the place I bought my car I've never had my car worked on there since but I've heard of people getting turned down with coilovers as the only modification etc. I guess the one advantage to Auto WRX's is that they have a better all wheel drive system (similar to torsen on Audi's rather than the Viscous diff on the 5spd WRX) and variable torque distribution (similar to the US STI driver controlled center diff on 'auto' mode) which Manuals don't. Oh yeah this isn't strictly the best example but the fastest WRX in the US, Easy Street Motorsports, is an automatic and has broken into the 9's

[RockinWRX]

Originally posted by illracer
but the fastest WRX in the US, Easy Street Motorsports, is an automatic and has broken into the 9's

Ummm sorry , WRONG. I'm pretty good friends with Ali at Easy Street. The car is not an auto. Its a full dog box 5 spd , which is NOT an automatic. They were in town for a few days after last IDRC , when they ran against Shepard and blew their engine. I got to participate the full engine buildup. Pretty impressive if I do say so myself. And you know that motor is a 2.5 liter. The block is a 2001 , and the heads and intake manny are 2002. They also use the offset central coil , as opposed to the coil-on-plug ignition our normal cars use. I'm currently inquiring as to their ESX 740 modifications package , which basically creats a similar car to what they run. But I think I'd be just as happy with an ESX 500 series buildup , its still capable of 10's

[illracer]

You're good pals with Ali and the ESM crew and you're in Denver? At last I had heard they were thinking of replacing the tranny on their car with a dog box and were currently running a 4EAT that they made a 9 sec pass with because they kept breaking 5 speeds left and right. Despite what they say, their setup isnt very realistic for a street car since the dogbox is so noisy and the T66 would take forever to spool without a shot of nitrous to get it going, plus it only reaches full boost at redline. For me there are better turbos out there capable of making crazy power (maybe not that much ) and still have decent low end. Unless you're going for a full drag car thats something I'd hate to drive on the daily kick.

[RockinWRX]

Originally posted by illracer
You're good pals with Ali and the ESM crew and you're in Denver? At last I had heard they were thinking of replacing the tranny on their car with a dog box and were currently running a 4EAT that they made a 9 sec pass with because they kept breaking 5 speeds left and right. Despite what they say, their setup isnt very realistic for a street car since the dogbox is so noisy and the T66 would take forever to spool without a shot of nitrous to get it going, plus it only reaches full boost at redline. For me there are better turbos out there capable of making crazy power (maybe not that much ) and still have decent low end. Unless you're going for a full drag car thats something I'd hate to drive on the daily kick.

Yeah , I also spoke with John Shepard. He's actually a really cool guy. Ali and the other guys at Easy Street are pretty friendly also , they prolly have tons of friends. I'm just a lowly WRX wagon driver. They don't act snotty , though , like what you'd prolly think the fastest WRX team on the planet would act like. Anyhow , I got some pics of a little "show and tell" thing they did at a local Subey dealership , where they also rebuilt their blown engine. I apologize in advance for the bad quality. My tiny digicam screen doesn't show how fuzzy the pics were , and by the time I had downloaded them , it was way too late to take others

[RockinWRX]

exhaust side