Wish you could go back in time and buy an original Bugeye WRX? Well, perhaps we can help.
The good: Despite some 155,000 miles, this 2002 Subaru Impreza WRX wagon looks stock. It’s even wearing the original wheels and the right color. Asking price is $6900.
The bad, possibly: It has an automatic.
Do we care? Does the good outweigh the …
I went on the press intro for this one. I’m trying to recall if we drove any automatics back then. (By the way, the “rally” portion of the program took place at the FIRM.)
The automatic is stronger than the manual, and has a form of DCCD (planetary center diff with a 45/55 split, and a computer controlled clutch to tighten it up as necessary) while the manual has a fairly dumb center diff. IME the autos handle better as a result.
Autos are unicorns and hard to find if you want one.
Pete. (l33t FS) said:The automatic is stronger than the manual, and has a form of DCCD (planetary center diff with a 45/55 split, and a computer controlled clutch to tighten it up as necessary) while the manual has a fairly dumb center diff. IME the autos handle better as a result.
Autos are unicorns and hard to find if you want one.
"I decided to devote my life to it, and not get sidetracked by all the other bullE36M3 that life has to offer." - Cliff Burton
That's good to know.
I can't explain it, but the automatic seems more acceptable in this WRX than some other cars.
So, I know you Florida guys don't usually have to deal with this, but see this little guy circled right here?
On this particular platform, that means the rear strut towers have already rusted out.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said:So, I know you Florida guys don't usually have to deal with this, but see this little guy circled right here?
On this particular platform, that means the rear strut towers have already rusted out.
Also, having cross-shopped this very car when we bought DW her TSX, the automatic / 2.0 turbo combo is just horrible. Slow downshifts coupled with boost lag meant that putting your foot in it resulted in:
Nothing... nothing... downshift-boost-WHAM-AHHHHHH! It really didn't seem like it would make a great daily. Turbo automatics are usually like chocolate and peanut butter, but this one was not.
DD#1 ended up with a 2.5 TS / auto like this, and it was perfectly acceptable for a small daily runabout. But in WRX format it was awful.
Wagon: Yes
Color: Yes
Bugeye: No
Auto: No
Having driven the auto WRX a friend of mine insisted on buying because he could not/would not drive a stick daily I can say.. I don't like it. It does not feel like a car with 200+ horse powers. It was slow to shift and hard to keep in boost. My friend often "manually" shifted it to try to wring more power from it. It handled really well, but I coudn't get past the suck of the transmission.
In reply to LopRacer :
The biggest problem was that the shifter, while it had four forward detents, was very easy to slip from 1 right through 2 to D. It had a jogged gate but not between 1 and D. For rallycross, all you really need is 1st because it is just right, whereas the 5 speed has you in between gears and driving one is hateful.
There is a reason why Ed and Jon Trudeau preferred automatic WRXs and did very well nationally with them.
Later models got rid of all the shift positions and simply had a D position and a side gate for upshift/downshift, but that trans controller is networked and Subaru changed the valve body layout too, with some solenoids (pressure solenoid, center diff solenoid, and some others?) on to engage instead of off to engage.
Subaru seemed to change the electronics in the trans every two or three years, makes it very fun to find info about them.
The 2l WRX automatics had no networking to the trans controller. It piggybacked the TPS and MAF signals right from the engine wiring harness! Silly pre CAN shenanigans...
I wanted a WRX wagon for years. I bought a totally stock, original owner Florida blob eye (2004) wagon, manual transmission, with the same mileage as this one for $2000 at the start of the pandemic. I'
I'm cured. It was gone in six months.
Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:I wanted a WRX wagon for years. I bought a totally stock, original owner Florida blob eye (2004) wagon, manual transmission, with the same mileage as this one for $2000 at the start of the pandemic. I'
I'm cured. It was gone in six months.
"Blob eye" LOL!!
Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:I wanted a WRX wagon for years. I bought a totally stock, original owner Florida blob eye (2004) wagon, manual transmission, with the same mileage as this one for $2000 at the start of the pandemic. I'
I'm cured. It was gone in six months.
Ain't that the truth! I think I had mine for 5 or 6 months as well. Checked all the boxes on paper, checked zero boxes when actually being driven. I paid around $1500 or $2000 for mine, I forget. $6900 for a rotted out automatic seems like an insult if the heading is "you need this" because I absolutely do not need it.
If I remember correctly, there was an aftermarket company in Australia that made a manual controller for the 4EAT, it was just an Up/Down push button that you could put anywhere. This plus a stall converter would make an auto trans WRX a real Rallycross weapon.
I had some experience with these cars (in Saab 92X form). My recollection was this:
The automatic transmission mated to the WRX engine was perhaps the worst engine/transmission pairing that I've driven.
A rusty, automatic, high-mileage turbo Subaru for $6900. No berking-way do I need that. Sorry, guys, not even close with this one.
Back when I raced my old 2002 WRX wagon at New England Dragway semi-regularly, a guy with a World Rally Blue 2002 sedan with the 4EAT automatic showed up from time to time. He had the trans built, and it launched HARD and was pretty quick. It was definitely faster than mine, mainly because I had to soft launch the thing as not to grenade it. So, it is possible to make them fast, but you need to build that trans. At that point, the 5EAT from the Legacy GT is probably a better choice if things are out already; I've heard they are much more stout.
This example though... as others have said, once you see that rust bubbling in the rear wheel wells, it's most likely already too late and the strut towers are skeletal.
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