According to a post at carpoint.com, the suspension on the WRX wagon is not as sporty as thethe sedan's. I thought they the suspension was identical.... anyone know the truth?

Also, is there anything different between the 2 other than dimensions, weight, and body style?

I'm not sure about the suspension tuning, but the sedan is wider and has a different weight distribution than the wagon. This results in some different handling characteristics. I don't believe there are any differences other than those you mentioned. Sport Compact Car magazine, this month, just had a shoot out between an Acura RSX Type S and the WRX wagon. They mentioned some of the differences between the wagon and the sedan. Hope this helped!!!

the wagon's track is 20mm narrower, and has a 17mm rear anti-sway bar (as opposed to the sedan's 20mm bar)

Originally posted by Keith99RS
I'm not sure about the suspension tuning, but the sedan is wider and has a different weight distribution than the wagon. This results in some different handling characteristics. I don't believe there are any differences other than those you mentioned. Sport Compact Car magazine, this month, just had a shoot out between an Acura RSX Type S and the WRX wagon. They mentioned some of the differences between the wagon and the sedan. Hope this helped!!!

It's a pain in the butt to find, but the Edmunds.com comparison is a great tool, has all kinds of info, you could set the cars together and compare them side by side there. Hang on, let me see if I can find it . . . dude, you'd think they wanted to hide that feature!! I can't see it anywhere, I know it's there though . . .

Okay Someone mentioned that the WRX Wagon and the WRX Sedan have different weight distributions. This makes total sense, but I can't find accurate weight distribution numbers for comparison. I have found approximately F/R 60/40, but it doesn't even specify which model.

Is this why they use a softer rear bar on the wagon, because it has more weight on the rear end of the car??? If so wouldn't that imply that the wagon has marginally better distribution than the sedan (by that I mean closer to 50/50)? It is probably a not very substantial difference at all.

In fact, the rear bar change is more likely an attempt to make the wagon less aggressive than the sedan.

Anyhow does anyone have any accurate weight distrib. figures for each model??? Just curious.

Bottom line is that nobody knows for sure. The SCC article says that the wagon and sedan have the same suspension (struts and springs, that is), but an earlier email from Subaru that someone posted, said that the wagon was tuned for "convenience and utility." This could mean sway bar, springs, or Lord knows what.

I do know that driving both hard reveals that Subaru put the smaller rear bar on the wagon for a danged good reason-they don't want people spinning. The wagon rotates quite a bit better than the sedan, once you put a bigger bar on it. Yes, the wagon does have better weight distribution and yes, you can feel it.

Oh, people are very fond of making much over the 20mm track width difference, but think about it this way. Measure off 20mm, divide it by both sides of the car, and decide for yourself how much it matters. I drove the poop out of a wagon and a sedan, and for me, it didn't matter at all.

Hope this helps.

Kevin

Thanks Kevin

I have a WRX Wagon on order right now. I plan to autocross it and use it as a daily driver. I am constantly wondering if maybe I should have ordered a sedan instead...?

The $500 difference between sedan and wagon will more than pay for the 20mm swaybar (or an adjustable one even), if that's all you're worried about. I keep hearing that the wagon has 85lbs more in the rear than the sedan (which is why they have the smaller swaybar). I'm not aware of any other suspension differences. There are other differences if you decide to get front lip spoilers and the like, but that doesn't really belong in the 'suspension' category.

--jeff (though this thread probably should've started in the suspenion/rims category)

Myano:

Don't worry about wanting the sedan for Solo II'ing. I, too, made the "wagon vs. sedan" decision. I went with the wagon for the 98% of the time that I'm not autocrossing.

Unfortunately, I can't make any auto-x comparisons between the two because NOBODY in the SCCA Rocky Mountain/Continental divide regions has showed up at a Denver regional in a WRX sedan. We've had as many as five wagons, split between GS and ESP (I think ESP), but not a single sedan. Hrmph.

Just bring your wagon and drive the poo out of it. You won't be sorry.

For you other wagon autocrossers, spare tire in the car or not? I've been running without the spare, but I may try to split between spare/no spare at our next winter event. My gut says not having the spare will make the back rotate a little easier, but my gut's been wrong before.

Regards,
Joe

Want to know if parts are identical?

Find out the part #'s

No car company is going to push extra paper (aka use different part numbers) for identical parts.

Hey Jeff

Doesn't changing the rear bar put you in to GSP or something. I didn't think you could change the rear bar and run stock classes still. If this is the case does anyone sell a smaller front bar. I'm not up on the SCCA rules these days, I've been running in a local club, but I would like to run more SCCA events in the future. I think a front bar change is allowed in stock the classes??? Is that correct?



Hey Joe
Thanks for your advice, Wagon it is!!!


Best Regards,
Myano