2015 WRX - New hope for turbo AWD cars?

First drives are in and this thing sounds promising. 3300 lbs, FA20 series 2.0L DI boxer 4 with a divided turbo, and finally a 6 speed gearbox. Lots of favorable comparison to Evo handling. As turbos became the norm over the last few years, it seemed the rally car genre was ironically imploding, with the Evo getting quite heavy and Mitsubishi's future in America questionable, and a stream of weird Subaru entries that were a worse option than a GTI or Focus ST for most people.

I still want an Evo IX, if only to experience the last of the raw mechanical cars of this genre. But the new WRX doesn't seem like a bad alternative at all, and an STI that actually improves on this could be one hell of a car. Too bad it doesn't look like the concept. Subaru wins again though, as they consistently offend the eyes in some way.

I look forward to seeing it in action. I'll wait to judge.

Ehh, I still don't like the way it looks or the way SoA has treated people locally over the last few years.

Warranty disputes? I agree, looks plain.

In reply to turtl631:

Ringland failures, out of 6 total, one was warratied. All failed prior to 10k miles too. Hell, the one that was warrantied failed again within 5k mi.

turtl631 wrote: First drives are in and this thing sounds promising. 3300 lbs

Woah. How did the WRX gain so much weight?

ProDarwin wrote:

turtl631 wrote: First drives are in and this thing sounds promising. 3300 lbs

Woah. How did the WRX gain so much weight?

This. My 2011, in DS autocross trim with a half tank of gas was 3061lbs.

I just want someone else to "out-WRX" the WRX.. I love the idea of a performance-oriented AWD small car, but Subaru has lost their edge, and their quality control sucks. After my last one and the way my "Subaru Gold Plus Warranty" was interpreted by SOA when things actually started breaking from regular daily use, I won't be buying another Subaru product. And I was an unabashed Subaru fanboy! Never again.

Plus with all the Brotato/stance crowd buying WRX's and STI's, insurance rates are stupidly high.

C'mon Mazda, Honda, or (insert random car company here), you can do it!

Subaru North America has been not nice. I sort of like their cars, but I'd always be afraid to drive one hard lest I end up with a failure that was non-waranteeable.

What's kind of neat is that it makes 20 ft-lb more torque than a TDI, with only 15ish PSI boost.

Knurled wrote: What's kind of neat is that it makes 20 ft-lb more torque than a TDI, with only 15ish PSI boost.

what's not neat is that it makes less power than the previous-generation WRX, with the same amount of boost, and without losing any weight.

Here's hoping that the new suspension setup and fuel mileage makes up for the power loss. Looks are subjective, so no use in commenting on them to any real extent. Nobody ever likes the looks of a new body style of "their" car anyhow, until a year or two down the road when they do....

ProDarwin wrote:

turtl631 wrote: First drives are in and this thing sounds promising. 3300 lbs

Woah. How did the WRX gain so much weight?

Yeah, I'm not sure how "3300lbs" sounds promising, considering the previous generation was 100lbs lighter with a bigger engine. My 09, loaded, is listed at 3209 stock.

Not trying to be a so-called "hater" - I don't much care what the new WRX looks like or weighs....I won't be getting it either way - just don't see where the real "upgrade" is with the new model, unless the handling is drastically improved. I don't count electronic interior accessories, bluetooth, MP3, and all that crap to be "upgrades," personally.

SilverFleet wrote: C'mon Mazda, Honda, or (insert random car company here), you can do it!

lol....as if Honda Civic Si, Mazdaspeed3, (or the GTI, or probably now the Focus ST) aren't also "brotato" cars. It's not the WRXs you see all stanced out and hellaflushed these days....it's the speed3s and the GTIs. Those are far more bro cars than the WRX in the last half-decade or so. Ken Block being associated with the Focus/Fiesta are sure to make it the new bro-to car in the future....

irish44j wrote:

Knurled wrote: What's kind of neat is that it makes 20 ft-lb more torque than a TDI, with only 15ish PSI boost.

what's not neat is that it makes less power than the previous-generation WRX, with the same amount of boost, and without losing any weight. Here's hoping that the new suspension setup and fuel mileage makes up for the power loss.

Well, that is true (and understandable given the drop from 2.5 to 2.0l) but on the flip side, this engine has the low-mount turbo, yes? That, relatively high compression, and direct injection should mean that the engine is a lot more responsive than the outgoing engines. Response makes up for outright power in the Real World[tm].

Well I love Subarus. I have had 5 of them and have to say all my experiences have been positive. My son has a 2013 WRX and I really like that too. Sure the interiors aren't up to BMW levels but they are 10K-15K less than the Germans. In typical Subaru fashion they always seem to make one gigantic blunder when they re-do a car, in this case not offering a hatch. Don't understand that at all. Likely in a year or two they will offer a hatch after every one has bought a sedan. I like the other cars mentioned above, the MS3, GTi and the Focus ST (love the Recaro seats!) but they lack the AWD which is so nice in winter. All my Subarus have been dead reliable and a pleasure to own. I have owned and driven many cars over the years but for me Subaru offers the best performance for the money.

In reply to irish44j:

Ehh, brotatos prefer subaru, honda, and occasionally evo's around here.....I don't foresee that heirachy changing anytime soon. Most of them used to have srt-4's, but it seems they've all broken down and were left on the side of the road(I used to see 1-2 a month this way)

Knurled wrote:

irish44j wrote:

Knurled wrote: What's kind of neat is that it makes 20 ft-lb more torque than a TDI, with only 15ish PSI boost.

what's not neat is that it makes less power than the previous-generation WRX, with the same amount of boost, and without losing any weight. Here's hoping that the new suspension setup and fuel mileage makes up for the power loss.

Well, that is true (and understandable given the drop from 2.5 to 2.0l) but on the flip side, this engine has the low-mount turbo, yes? That, relatively high compression, and direct injection *should* mean that the engine is a lot more responsive than the outgoing engines. Response makes up for outright power in the Real World[tm].

yep, that's certainly possible. Response has never been a problem in mine (as evidenced by many cars that I've almost rear-ended when in boost pulling into traffic), but no, it's not a big V6 or antying with the instant torque :)

yamaha wrote: In reply to irish44j: Ehh, brotatos prefer subaru, honda, and occasionally evo's around here.....I don't foresee that heirachy changing anytime soon. Most of them used to have srt-4's, but it seems they've all broken down and were left on the side of the road(I used to see 1-2 a month this way)

around here every time I see a WRX/STi it's being driven by a mid-30-something like me, lol. Around here every wannabe street racer or flatbrimmer is in a VW GTI or R32. And all of them wants to race at any stoplight you happen to be at with them. And all of them have 215-width tires on 9" wide wheels, lol. And none of them have EVER been to an actual track :D

I'm just trying to be optimistic here.

The concept looked great, the production car looks to me like a previous gen corolla with scoops and holes cut in it. What a shame.

I liked the first generation WRX's, the ones with the round headlights, it was kind of distinctive, had the potential to be iconic like the front end of a jeep. Then they screwed it up all to hell...

My 2013 WRX just had the glove box fall out of the dash. It made finding my I pass easy I guess.

It also scalled at 2930 in DS trim at nationals.

CLynn85 wrote: The concept looked great, the production car looks to me like a previous gen corolla with scoops and holes cut in it.

Isn't that what all Imprezas look like?

I like mine looking like a Corolla. I prefer going fast (and not getting tickets, because I look like a Corolla) to "looking fast" so every cop wants to pull me over for minor stuff....

Wow. The Corolla posted above looks better.