Helen brought home a WRX tonight... - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

blackmercedes · #1 12-16-2002, 08:49 PM

The 190E is in the shop for some minor repairs, at our indie shop. She took the Mazda today, and stopped at the Subey store to look at cars. The salesperson talked her into test driving a WRX.

So she came home to show me.

Impressions?

Well, it's nearly $40K, and it's still an Impreza. That said, it's a howl to drive. I do want to know one thing though...

...did they hire the turbo engineer from the original 911 project? Man does this thing suffer from turbo lag! It's got one large turbo, and it shows. It falls on it's face, and then takes off like a rocket. If you work hard to keep the revs high and the turbo spooling, it can make some serious speed, but dare you shift too early, flop.

The AWD system is superb! Wow. It is well balanced and doesn't push like an SUV. It doesn't bind (much) and has no "grab" as it changes percentages. All those years of making AWD cars has paid off.

The manny-tranny isn't Honda smooth, but pretty durned good.

The brakes are really top notch. The Bridgestone RE92's suck, and the brakes are WAY beyond their capabilities. Shame on Subaru for putting junk tires on such a car.

Helen is taking the car back right now. She doesn't like it. For $40K she wants something a little more sophisticated. She knew I'd enjoy a test drive...

Diesel-Lover · #2 12-16-2002, 08:52 PM

I kinda like em too, but the road noise is kinda high and as you said off the line is not so great. In bad weather though you can show up most of the normally driven fast cars due to the awd.

The lag may be a good thing when you think of it on slick or snow covered pavement, dont really want a lot of umph off the line, but once in motion it can pour on.

rwthomas1 · #3 12-16-2002, 10:40 PM

40K!!!! Was it gold plated?? Those things sticker at 27K loaded. Who the hell would buy one for 40K, its a damned Subaru.... RT

blackmercedes · #4 12-16-2002, 11:01 PM

Canada.

rickg · #5 12-16-2002, 11:03 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by rwthomas1
40K!!!! Was it gold plated?? Those things sticker at 27K loaded. Who the hell would buy one for 40K, its a damned Subaru.... RT

That was my response too, until I remebered John lives in Canada. Quite a price diff, but if you go up there and pay for it with US dollars, I think works out to be about what you'd pay here.

rwthomas1 · #6 12-16-2002, 11:35 PM

whoops, guess I missed that! Sure straightens things out.... RT

#7 12-17-2002, 08:24 AM

I test drove the WRX last summer. It's a BLAST to drive and handles like a dream. Only complaint is the cheap interior, which the salesman said they're planning to improve.

I guess I have a little soft spot in my heart for the Suburus because they have four wheel drive and still stay away from the V-6 configuration like Mercedes used to.

JCE · #8 12-17-2002, 04:07 PM

I have been driving a 2002 WRX once a week since August for a friend who is on sabatical leave ("Ticket Me" yellow color). John is spot on - great brakes, fun handling, but also turbo lag that will scare you to death if you ever need 'right now' acceleration, and too many spotty build quality issues. I have taken it to the dealer for them twice for warranty repairs: Electric window that collapsed, and rear sway bar assembly problems. Expensive fixes (but covered by warranty). The sway bar assembly replacement cost was higher than the sway bar assembly cost on my MB C230 (also a warranty issue).

Biggest concern to me over the long haul is the car is noisy - real noisy from wind around the windows, tire noise, other cars radios at stop lights, rain on the roof while driving, etc. And the seats kill my back by 25 miles of freeway driving. A fun autocross car, maybe, but not my cup of tea for a daily driver.