Well I hear great things about this club so I am glad to be here. I am a member at www.clubsi.com, hopefully this crowd isnt as rough as some of those guys.

On to the point of the post, I currently drive a 1999 Honda Civic Si. I love the car, its been great to me. I have a year and a half left at college at which time I feel its time for me to get something more upscale. Now I have always loved the WRX, and seeing the redesign of the 2004 model made me love it even more. I sat in one at the NY auto show and rode in a friends and have fallen in love with this car. It WILL be my next car, the question is when. I have the money to do it in about 6 months, but I thought it best to wait till I am out of school, I worry about my civic at school I would be a basket case with the sooby there. One thing I love about my Honda is I can beat the living **** out of this thing and it takes it with a smile. How does the WRX stack up to the rest of the world in terms of reliability. I love the fact its factory turbo, I have a thing with turboing my Si, it wasnt like that from the factory and its quirky to tune it with a turbo. I pretty much love everything about the WRX. Heres the thing though, I priced one on subarus website and opted for most of the options, the stereo, BBS rims, sideskirt flares, spoiler, CF interior peices, the whole bit. When it was all said and done it ran the bill to an MSRP of 33k. What do these sell for all loaded up realistically? At that point I would go for the whole thing and opt for the Sti. I feel the WRX has enough performance for me, and since I will be about 22 in less than a year about the time I would buy this I think the Sti wont be an option for me, although I would love to have the 300hp. Any hookups to some general info and answers to some questions I asked would be great. I am trying to learn about these cars, as of now I know nothing other than I like it, first I had a stang GT, then an Si Honda, now a hopefully a soobie so I need to learn this end of things now. Look around for me, I plan to stick around here and learn what I can. I think my goal right now is to get a base WRX and crank it up to similar output hp wise of an Sti. Also, NE guys look for me as well, I plan to go to meets and get to know people and talk and learn about these awesome cars, I will try to be as active as I can if you can put up with my Honda at meets.

 

don't get all that crap.. don't need the wheels.. dont need the body kit... if you want all that stuff.. there are other places to get them, and a lot cheaper than factory.

 

Yeah, but I am less inclined to get the wheels if I dont get them from the factory, I want the spoiler and I can do without the sideskirt flares. I didnt notice if it was a full lip kit from the factory or not. I can sacrifice some stuff I suppose.

How are the manual trannies in the WRX? One thing thats a must is a solid trans, nothing feels worse then a crappy trans.

 

TORQUE????

My 99 SI is currently for SALE! My next decision is, should I get an 04 WRX or get an 03????

I like how the 03's look more aggressive. But the 04's have that new brake tech. new seats, bigger scoop, and a moonroof.

Can't get an STI, can't afford the M3 with an STI.

 

Well me being a detailer and a nut about a clean car the paint issue is a problem, how bad is the paint and in what way?

I dont really beat on my cars or race them, but I like to cut loose once in a while and want it to hold together, ya know?

 

I've got an '03 WR Blue Sedan--no complaints about the paint from me. It's a factory paint job--shouldn't be compared to any custom paint; they're not the same beasts. The paint is as good as the factory paint on my '98 Z28 & the '94 Firebird before it. If you really want all the options and aren't gagging on the 33K price of entry--buy the STi, it's a better all around package (and priced accordingly). Keep in mind what you'll pay for insurance; the punks that run the Ins Corps sure don't want anyone to own anything remotely sporty. Insurance on an STi might be a hair raising experiance--though everyone has their own insurance shock threshold. Good luck.

 

WRX is a car I want too, but I dont currently have.

hehe..

I hope to check out the wrx's meets! In the future.

 

my friend had his civic si stolen and stripped. i had a 2000 si and the engine went out at 35K miles. instead of replacing it i traded it in and got my wrx. what was said above is right, there is no compairison between the si and the wrx.
nick

 

Yeah, I hear you all on the Si getting stolen, I have a large alarm, but if someone wants it bad enough I am sure they can get it. As for your engine going out at 35k, I am not sure I understand, you blew the engine? Did you boost it? Did you misshift and rev it out to like 10k? It really takes something dumb to blow up the b16a, its an extrememly solid motor.

I see alot of civic converts here. I would agree that the Si isnt the performance machine the WRX is, but would also say the Si is meant to do something different. With that said you cant count these little things out, they are quicker than some people like to think. From a roll at 55mph I pulled a bone stock WRX with my bolt on, I/H/E suspension, Si. Its just getting off the line is where our cars lose the battle.

As for the paint chipping, I have some strong protectants I think can keep the paint in check, and I plan to get my WRX in white.

On to the trans, I dont plan to launch it at 6000rpms, but I want to be able to take it to the track for some fun once in a while. What rpm is optimal when launching these cars? Can they handle it? How is Subaru with their service? Honda is pretty strict.

Lastly the engine, I know my Si will pull an easy 200,000+ miles out of the engine if I take care of it. I wouldnt expect that from the WRX, but I would like it to live a solid life if I end up keeping it a while, since my next purchase after this will be a house. Do these engines last long? Any insight to these questions will aid me to my car choice, 6 months will be on me quick and by that time I might be looking to get the new car.