2009 Subaru WRX Review
12-27-2008, 01:02 PM
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Location: San Jose CA
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Car Info: 2007 Subaru WRX STi
2009 Subaru WRX Review
Hey,
For the last week i've been lucky enough to be given the opportunity to drive a 2009 Subaru WRX Wagon to demo the car. Here is a quick breakdown of how i feel after almost 1700 miles on the car, of which 1400 were easy break in miles. I tried to be as unbiased as possible, even though i've been a subaru guy most of my life.
Exterior:
When the 08s first came out i was like WTF? lol since then they have grown on me. The car i had was WRB and had 17" gunmetal wheels with Dunlop SP Sport tires. The car looks decent enough, as compared to the earlier wagon's i don't think it was any more blah than before. The scoop has grown on me since they first came out and the rear wing (more like just an extension of the roofline) seems more in place now.
Interior:
Friggin sex...compared to my 07 wagon, this is 100% better in my opinion. There are 6 cup holders in the car now! One in each door and two in the center console. I just wish they would have kept the cup holders in the rear of the console. The Center Armrest Extension ($16X option) is pretty nifty and is perfect for me unlike the old extensions that make it WAY to high for me.
I'm 5'11" and 150 lbs, the seats are way to wide for me and i slide a good 1" side to side when cornering. Also, the drivers seat latch for the seatbelt is mounted way to high for someone small like me. It would be best if it didn't have what looks like a 5" steel extension to raise it up. The rear seats have way more room than my 07. Maybe a few inches of legroom, but it made a world of a differance. I would no longer feel bad for rolling deep with my friends lol.
The rear trunk area seems to be smaller than before, I don't know if it is just me though. Haven't had to load it down with anything to figure out exactly.
Engine Performance:
Interesting....is all i can say. Once it was broken in, she really suprised me. The car has a lot of usable power. it seems to let off about 5750RPM to redline. I felt that was fine though as i didnt like pushing to much. It did cause a lot of early shifts which could cause some problems on the race track. Getting on the freeway, it will suprise you. It would definitely be a car that 90% of the population would think of as a fast car if you took them for a drive.
Drivetrain Performance:
Transmission seemed to be well working. My car had the optional "5spd STI Short Shifter". I don't know how much it is differant, but i never had an issue getting the car to shift gears. The clutch is super soft. It definitely took some getting used to and now my 07 2.5I clutch feels stiff! lol The car was easy to stall the first 500 miles and still every once in a while i stall it. The thing i wish they could get rid of is the dang rear diff clunk. It was super bad the first time i ran through first and tossed it into second. It will even clunk into third. Deffintely one of the first things i would fix if i was to track the car. It's probably not a real reliability issue, but just an annoyance and one more thing that makes me want to let off the gas thinking something is broken back there.
Suspension Performance:
The car was never pushed super hard. I had more than just a few spirited turns though up in the hills by my parents in Calaveras County on the roads i grew up on. It handles decent, I was hesitant to get on it to hard, but the only complaint I had is that the rear end seems to float up and down around long sweepers. On bumpy roads, like the ones i was driving on, it was no fun. I had a little understeer at times, but nothing super major. Overall, i think this stock suspension, is equal to that of my 07 with Crucial Springs, Tanabe Rear Sway Bar and 17x8's with 235's.
Braking Performance:
The only place that i felt this car was lame. I know the rotors all around appear to be larger than the 07's. The initial bite is pretty good and i never had a problem when i was going through the twisties going from 80 to 55 then back up and back down.
But, I was on a straightaway, picked a spot ahead where i thought i could brake 100-0. I overshot it by about 100 ft....no joke. I was still traveling at about 40MPH where i thought I was going to stop. The stopping power from 100-80 was great, then complete brake fade, pedal to the floor! I've got 60K on my stock pads on my 07 wagon and i never felt such immense brake fade as this, even at buttonwillow. I think they went with way to much of an unaggresive pad. If it was just a commuter car, it would suffice, but with the added engine power, they should have stepped up the braking power as well.
Snow Performance:
Traction control....why is it there? it makes driving in the snow a pain in the ***. I forgot it was there and I could barely start rolling lol The Dunlops on it, are nice, but forget them for winter. I kind of wish they would have gone with more of an all season tire even though it is a "performance" car. Due to the tires, i wasn't comfortable at any speed higher than say 35 or so. With some studdless snows i would think it would be nice.
Overall, it was a fun car to drive. It is definitely something i'd want if I was in the market for a car under 30K. The MSRP on mine was 27800 after destination charges.
For the last week i've been lucky enough to be given the opportunity to drive a 2009 Subaru WRX Wagon to demo the car. Here is a quick breakdown of how i feel after almost 1700 miles on the car, of which 1400 were easy break in miles. I tried to be as unbiased as possible, even though i've been a subaru guy most of my life.
Exterior:
When the 08s first came out i was like WTF? lol since then they have grown on me. The car i had was WRB and had 17" gunmetal wheels with Dunlop SP Sport tires. The car looks decent enough, as compared to the earlier wagon's i don't think it was any more blah than before. The scoop has grown on me since they first came out and the rear wing (more like just an extension of the roofline) seems more in place now.
Interior:
Friggin sex...compared to my 07 wagon, this is 100% better in my opinion. There are 6 cup holders in the car now! One in each door and two in the center console. I just wish they would have kept the cup holders in the rear of the console. The Center Armrest Extension ($16X option) is pretty nifty and is perfect for me unlike the old extensions that make it WAY to high for me.
I'm 5'11" and 150 lbs, the seats are way to wide for me and i slide a good 1" side to side when cornering. Also, the drivers seat latch for the seatbelt is mounted way to high for someone small like me. It would be best if it didn't have what looks like a 5" steel extension to raise it up. The rear seats have way more room than my 07. Maybe a few inches of legroom, but it made a world of a differance. I would no longer feel bad for rolling deep with my friends lol.
The rear trunk area seems to be smaller than before, I don't know if it is just me though. Haven't had to load it down with anything to figure out exactly.
Engine Performance:
Interesting....is all i can say. Once it was broken in, she really suprised me. The car has a lot of usable power. it seems to let off about 5750RPM to redline. I felt that was fine though as i didnt like pushing to much. It did cause a lot of early shifts which could cause some problems on the race track. Getting on the freeway, it will suprise you. It would definitely be a car that 90% of the population would think of as a fast car if you took them for a drive.
Drivetrain Performance:
Transmission seemed to be well working. My car had the optional "5spd STI Short Shifter". I don't know how much it is differant, but i never had an issue getting the car to shift gears. The clutch is super soft. It definitely took some getting used to and now my 07 2.5I clutch feels stiff! lol The car was easy to stall the first 500 miles and still every once in a while i stall it. The thing i wish they could get rid of is the dang rear diff clunk. It was super bad the first time i ran through first and tossed it into second. It will even clunk into third. Deffintely one of the first things i would fix if i was to track the car. It's probably not a real reliability issue, but just an annoyance and one more thing that makes me want to let off the gas thinking something is broken back there.
Suspension Performance:
The car was never pushed super hard. I had more than just a few spirited turns though up in the hills by my parents in Calaveras County on the roads i grew up on. It handles decent, I was hesitant to get on it to hard, but the only complaint I had is that the rear end seems to float up and down around long sweepers. On bumpy roads, like the ones i was driving on, it was no fun. I had a little understeer at times, but nothing super major. Overall, i think this stock suspension, is equal to that of my 07 with Crucial Springs, Tanabe Rear Sway Bar and 17x8's with 235's.
Braking Performance:
The only place that i felt this car was lame. I know the rotors all around appear to be larger than the 07's. The initial bite is pretty good and i never had a problem when i was going through the twisties going from 80 to 55 then back up and back down.
But, I was on a straightaway, picked a spot ahead where i thought i could brake 100-0. I overshot it by about 100 ft....no joke. I was still traveling at about 40MPH where i thought I was going to stop. The stopping power from 100-80 was great, then complete brake fade, pedal to the floor! I've got 60K on my stock pads on my 07 wagon and i never felt such immense brake fade as this, even at buttonwillow. I think they went with way to much of an unaggresive pad. If it was just a commuter car, it would suffice, but with the added engine power, they should have stepped up the braking power as well.
Snow Performance:
Traction control....why is it there? it makes driving in the snow a pain in the ***. I forgot it was there and I could barely start rolling lol The Dunlops on it, are nice, but forget them for winter. I kind of wish they would have gone with more of an all season tire even though it is a "performance" car. Due to the tires, i wasn't comfortable at any speed higher than say 35 or so. With some studdless snows i would think it would be nice.
Overall, it was a fun car to drive. It is definitely something i'd want if I was in the market for a car under 30K. The MSRP on mine was 27800 after destination charges.
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