It's too early to say what changes Subaru may make to the WRX tranny. Obviously, the greater torque output can shorten life of the transmission if driven hard.

I think the choice may once again boil down to your priorities. Do you want a good track car (road racing) almost out of the box, or a decent track performer that is a pleasure to drive every day due to its torquier engine (WRX 2.5)?

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"…axles of evil…" - george w. bush

 

first off good luck at training...

a 2.5L subaru wrx is the STI so its a completely different car than a wrx or an evo. if you are looking into a wrx (2L) which im assuming you are based upon the price range, then yea the tranny is considered a weak point. i wouldnt expect any real revamping of the transmission for the 06 because to be honest, people only break their trannies typically by pushing lots of power with a stcok clutch and little experience with how to launch. launch an awd is critical to the lifespan of any tranny. if you beat on the transmission with poor launching then yea the wrx transmission is basically glass, but most trannies would be. Its by no means THAT weak if the driver uses it correctly with a limited upgrade in hp. I would say that after 300+hp (crank) the tranny life depends on the driver, but then again a stcok wrx transmission could break if driven improperly.

if your looking for 13's, alls you need is a UPpipe, DPpipe, catback, or kill both dp /cat back with turboback exhaust, and some EM (which is critical to the effectiveness of the exhaust upgrades as well as managing the engine correctly. thats it. nothing too major at all. most stock wrxs run 14.5 (on average) and thats only pushing 165whp (on average) of a stock wrx. considering that the above mentioned mods will net around 220 whp (average) the extra 55whp is capable of mid 13's.

the mitsubishi parts market is pretty darn good, but so is the subaru market...so as for your decision, go drive both and see what you like more for your purposes, Honestly i like the Evo for its competetiveness to the STI, but i dont think mitsu is doing so hot as a company and that could be a factor, also i like buying something brand new, thusly persuading me to think a wrx is a better choice. Especially, as you said, for turbocharged cars, dpending on previosu driver so many factors could become issues quickly.

if your actaully looking into an STI (2.5L) id say go STI over EVO, its been discussed million of times.


chile

p.s. evo IX will be out by the time your looking to buy so it could push the VIIIs price lower...

 

I think WRXboost25 was asking about the '06 model year WRX, which will have the 2.5 liter engine. It will still be less expensive than the '06 STi.

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0==WW==0
"…axles of evil…" - george w. bush

 

hmm.. unaware of that change for 06. thanks tho.

chile

 

now the new 'look' is out. Do you still want to consider the 06?

 

for me, if money allows I would always get a new car instead of used. especially evo and wrx. People do drive it 'hard' from time to time even if they don't 'race'. Unless you are buying the evo from a grandma. good luck with your training and car shopping!

 

Well, for the most part a WRX tranny will be alright, so long as you don't try and launch it a lot or put excessive power strains on it. From experience I know that the Evo tranny is a lot worse, especially the clutch. I drive my WRX on a daily basis, and got to drive an Evo for a few days last week, and ended up wanting to come back to my WRX because the Evo continually died out. The clutch only had 5,000 miles on it too!

 

I say get the used Evo. i love subarus but the Evo is more of a car then the Wrx and if your going to mod the car anyway mind as well get the biggest head start you can. IMHO.

 

More of a car maybe, but I think you should look at the long term effect of owning such a vehicle. We all can agree that Subaru has its problems, but from the degrading situation from Mitsu, no matter how wonderful a car in terms of performance, the realibability and company support will be lacking compared to Subaru.

The WRX will have a newer warranty, and if you aren't stupid with it, it should last a very long time. With the Mitsu, you're taking a gamble, especially used!