Guest 2fortyZ Posted June 26, 2004 Share Posted June 26, 2004 bastaad525, thanks for the reply and the words of wisdom. I totally agree with u on the fact that people come in without an open mind and just see one side of the story. I'm planning on getting an 05' subie, so we shall see if i get any problems, but hopefully the warranty and shit cover it, im pretty sure it does. but anyways, thanks again for the reply, and it made me see all sides of the story, and i sat down and thought hard about what are the likes and dislikes of the subie. its time to put my car up for sale, so we shall see how that goes......hopefully well....anways, thanks again Later, Kevin Egli Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zhadman Posted June 28, 2004 Share Posted June 28, 2004 Well... I have both. Head on over to http://www.NASIOC.com (if you haven't already). There are several tech forums where people have detailed problems they have had with the Subie. Subaru (and other auto-makers) are getting very strict with their warranties and will negate yours if it appears that you have modified or abused the vehicle. There have been members who have complained about tranny problems and have been left out to dry by Subaru. ALOT of those members have modified thier cars and have problably driven them really hard. But for every one person that has had a problem with thier car (and recieved crappy service) there are probably hundreds more who have not. Subaru, in their infinite wisdom, markets the cars with 'Wanna Race' slogans and commercials showing stock cars tearing up the back roads. They tout the car as a sports car, Rally bred... through and through. But if you make to modify your vehicle or run it in any type of competition (SCCA auto-x, for example) they may very well void your warranty and deny service. There are several 'mod-friendly' and 'owner-friendly' dealers here in SoCal who have recieved very favorable recommendations from California Subie owners. I have found that smooth operation of the WRX tranny requires some finess and I cannot shift it the same way that I do my Z. That is not to say that it is a BAD tranny... but you gotta learn to use it. My father, who has always owned sports cars and has attended several racing schools (Skip Barber's being one) absolutely loves my WRX. He loves the feel of the clutch and the (factory installed) short shifter. As far as handling goes... I couldn't be happier. It's great! BUT... it doesn't come with performance tires. I don't think that Potenze RE92's are going to win awards on the race track. The suspension is also a tad soft, but IMHO is great for everyday driving. I don't notice excessive body roll in corners and it feels fairly tight. One thing to remember is that this car is NOT the STi. If you want race tires, no radio, a super tight suspension and 300hp... then teh STi is the car for you... not the standard WRX. The WRX is not a slouch, it's just a bit tamer to 'satisfy the masses'. They can, however, me made to rock the tarmac... with some simple suspension modifications (read about the warranty above, though). I can't wait to start modifying my WRX... but I think I'm going to play it as safe as possible and delay that until my warranty is up. Obviously I am a bit biased, so take that for what it's worth. It would be foolish to defend the car as perfect... and I would respect the opinion of certain individuals here greatly. Ultimately... the choice is yours. Go with what you want and like. Treat your car well and you should have no problems. Good luck... Cheers! Keith **edit** Just a couple additions: A car marketed as a performance car should be able withstand the abuse of a spirited drive. Transmission failures during everday driving are unacceptable. If there are reliability issues with the Subie tranny I think it is a failure on Subaru's part to correctly identify and correct problems with thier equipment. Most of the horror stories I have heard have directly related to poor customer service at the dealer level. Subaru will commonly refer those with complaints back to the dealer when issues are present. I think the dealers are using the modified/abuse rule to limit thier responsibility. This isn't only a problem with Subaru... many dealers selling many makes are also adopting this philosophy. I also want to reiterate that it seems that the owners complaining of equipment failures seem to be a minority. But please... research this yourself. DO NOT take my word for it! Second... The Dodge SRT-4 is a GREAT car (since it was mentioned here). Dodge has really highlighted themselves with the overwhelming factory support of these cars. They offer sizeable and thorough upgrades that (when dealer installed) are backed by the factory warrantly. I feel that more auto makers need to take notice and adopt similar practices. I think it fosters an environment that serves to totally satisfy the customer and breeds loyalty within the owner demographic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bastaad525 Posted June 28, 2004 Share Posted June 28, 2004 Yeah I forgot to mention about the warranty thing when he said if the trans went he'd just have it fixed... that has become a really big issue, I read a HUGE thread regarding guys having this problem with Subie's and also Mitsu Evo's, how the dealers were being REALLY strict about warranty repairs if they even THOUGHT you had modified the car in any way... how people with mods were pulling aftermarket parts back out when problems arose and going to the dealers "appearing" like they had been left totally stock, and the dealers looking at the cars VERY closely and figuring out... "okay hey we know you had something in here... no warranty for you. sorry.". I also think it's total BS that cars built with performance in mind would NOT be expected to be driven hard, and though I can somewhat agree on the aspect of aftermarket parts... I mean, come on... everyone and their mother is making rice parts for import cars these days, not all of them are gonna be up to snuff and some probably do have the potential to seriously damage your car, and the factory has every right to protect themselves from that. Not to mention, people just dont know when to quit with the boost, they blow their motor, and then expect or try to trick the dealer into fixing it... not cool. But I CAN"T understand how it is that now supposedly the factories are going so far as to sending people out to racing events/tracks and actually logging VIN numbers, and 'blacklisting' and revoking the warranty of any cars they catch racing at these events. It's almost like they are now encouraging these car owners to go back to racing on the streets lest risk losing their warranties. They build the cars to perform and then bust you if you are caught extracting that performance.... pure BS. Even the dodge dealers have been somewhat guilty of this, as far as you installing aftermarket parts in an SRT-4. But... they are offering very effective upgrade packages of their own that seem to me to be VERY reasonably priced, and like Zhadman said, do NOT void the warranty. One of the big reasons I liked the SRT. In the SRT's case I wouldn't bother with aftermarket anything... the factory upgrades offer very nice power increases. I almost get angry when you say you dont like the SRT because it's a 'gay' neon. WTF? So me liking the looks of the car makes me 'gay'? Come on man... Sorry but I happen to like the way the SRT looks... I'm not going to knock it just because some 'trendy people' or whoever don't think Neons are cool (most of them are so biased against anything american made nowadays that you could take the coolest looking, hottest handling japanese made car ever, slap an american logo on it, and it would suddenly become 'gay'). Come on now, not everyone is drop dead in love with the subies styling either... would that make them 'gay' as well? Anyways, just more stuff to consider. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zhadman Posted June 28, 2004 Share Posted June 28, 2004 Very true! It seems that so many people are biased against the domestic offerings. If you look at bang for the buck and out of the box performance then the SRT-4 is the way to go! Might sound funny coming from me (and my love of Z's and my Subie), but hey... it's the truth. Throw in factory performance support coupled with the warranty and you have a recipe for a very successful car. Dodge has made great pains to produce a car that can hang with, or out-perform, most 'imports'.... and for 20k! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 2fortyZ Posted June 29, 2004 Share Posted June 29, 2004 its not like im some dumb teenage kid who just like "rice rockets" and hates everything amercan, i do like the neon, and american cars in general, i have nothing against them, but i dont like the styling of the neon. everyone has their own opinion on things, i can call it gay, and u can call it sick, or tight. its just our views on the car. and i already knew that it is the best bang for your buck as far as $$$$=HP. I really have nothing against the car, i just dont like the styling of it. as far as warranties go, i got a real chuckle when i was down at livermore subaru here in town. i asked the guy what they do about aftermarket parts and what not, he said that if u have any parts on the car and something happens to it, just slap on the stock stuff and bring it back. i straight up laughed when he said that. hes was like "ya, no big deal" blah blah blah. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Phailure Posted June 29, 2004 Share Posted June 29, 2004 I think the SRT4 looks alot better than the normal neon and actually isnt bad aesthetically.... but honestly if I had 20k... Id just build myself a LS1 Z maybe toss in a used legacy wagon as a daildriver. awd can come in handy... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fl327 Posted June 29, 2004 Share Posted June 29, 2004 Id go for the STI right off the bat and skip the regular wrx. Sti has a stronger tranny and you can dial it in for more rwd with the touch of a dial. Also put together a bit stronger than the wrx, no disturbing z like diff clunks with the STI. STI stock has same hp as a regular wrx with stage1 vishnu ecu upgrade and bolt ons, maybe a bit more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Phailure Posted June 29, 2004 Share Posted June 29, 2004 Id go for the STI right off the bat and skip the regular wrx. Sti has a stronger tranny and you can dial it in for more rwd with the touch of a dial. Also put together a bit stronger than the wrx, no disturbing z like diff clunks with the STI. STI stock has same hp as a regular wrx with stage1 vishnu ecu upgrade and bolt ons, maybe a bit more. should have more torque with the increased displacement as well. perhaps an sti is too pricey for a college student? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 2fortyZ Posted June 29, 2004 Share Posted June 29, 2004 phailure, u hit the nail right on the head with that one, too rich for my blood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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