Hey everyone. I'm thinking of buying one of them there WRX sedan dealies, and I've been reading that it "lacks a lot of power" under 3000RPM. Now, when people say that, to what are they comparing it? Like, does it even have less pull than a Corolla? Or is it just not much power if you compare it to a Viper or something?

Any info will be appreciated!

- brewdude

Yes, it's true. Stock it is very boggy below 3 grand. If you keep it above 3 grand you are fine.

Just buy the car and learn how to drive it right. :)

If I am at a light or stop sign, I just give it a little punch on the throttle, 3 grand. Coming out of a turn, time it right, downshift, 3 grand. It's not hard to do. You gotta give the turbo time to spool up though. You wont even notice you are doing it after a few days I don't notice anymore anyway. Just learned to compensate for the lag.

I haven't driven the auto but a friend of mine did and said the turbo lag was really bad. There are a few guys on here with auto's who have combated the problem, from what I read. So either way you go, you should be happy.

My vote is for the 5-speed and always will be ;)

That info helps a lot, thanks. What can a know-nothing like myself do to make the lag less pronounced, or to make the turbo start spooling earlier?

Oh yeah, and 5-speed it shall be. Let it be written.

- brewdude

Let me start out by saying first... Don't flame me! Just an opinion! :D

Just to put it in perspective, my 99 Honda Civic EX off the line would beat the WRX if there was absolutely no launch at all. I said NO LAUNCH <anti-flame mechanism>. But once turbo kicks in, seriously, hang on tight!

under 3 grand, it functions more or less like a NA 2 liter engine. But above that, you get gobs of power.. music to my ears :D

I currently drive a 200SX SE-R (with slushbox) that's 2.0L. So if it's about equivalent to that under 3K then I'll probably be happy!

- brewdude

The power that you get under 3000 rpms is about the same as other cars but once you hit 3 grand you are off. If you like to feel the power keep the rpms above 3000 and try to stay out of the red...

Just hack the ECU so it idles at 3000rpm :D

Because the engine is a turbo, it runs at a lower compression ratio than N/A, so despite being 2.0L, it feels more like a 1.7L below 2500 rpms. To put things in perspective, the engine has nearly double the torque and 3 times the horsepower at 3300 rpms that it does at 2000 rpms. Try test driving it and you'll see, the car takes off like a rocket in the low gears as you go from 2-3K rpms making it challenging driving in traffic in that range. It's easier to keep it in 3-4K because the torque curve is more flat there.

There are a couple reasons for the bad performance at low RPM's: turbo lag (can be fixed by breathing mods, better boost control), and running the engine too rich (can be fixed with a Unichip from TurboXS or Cobb). You can gain real power a full 500 rpms earlier than you normally would.

The stock car has enough oomph to putter around town as low as 2K rpms (although for a smooth street start you will need to rev to 3K). Sometimes in LA stop and go traffic, I slip the clutch in 2nd gear at a 5mph roll (since it is very hard to shift to 1st when moving), and it works fine. Below 2K just absolutely forget about it, the car will bog badly. I tend to shift the car at 4000 rpms when I'm being calm, which generally puts you at around 3K in the next gear. Once I'm up to the speed I want, I shift one more time if I want to save gas, putting it at around 2300 rpms.

--Jason

Let's not forget we are talking about 3000 rpm's here too. I don't think I've ever been below 3 grand for very long while driving around town in any of the cars I have ever owned. I just don't drive that way. Anyone else?

That might explain the terrible gas mileage I'm getting in the rex though :D

I really don't think it's that big of a deal and honestly don't know why people are so concerned with it. Just like brownkiler said, there are ways to lessen the lag. You just have to adapt to the cars characteristics.

If you go for a test drive and the dealer wont let you drive the car hard....just take it up to about 40mph or so in second gear (should be around 4k rpm's) and give the throttle a tap.

Sometimes I think I am used to the boost now but just today I surprised the hell outta myself. I was behind some lady going like 30 in a 45...I was in second gear about 2 car lengths behind her. So I just pushed on the pedal a little, brought the rpms up some, floored it and changed lanes......and man did it take off. I was as giddy as a schoolgirl for the rest of the afternoon :lol:

Can't wait for my chip and turbo back!

The lag below 3k is actually a good thing. Remember what you have in this car. Driving around town and want to conserve gas, good thing. Up in the snow, good thing. When you are racing, drag or autox, you are rarely below 3k.

you won't get the bog if you launch the WRX correctly! I rev the engine a little to 3k rpm, then, don't just drop the clutch, but slip it quicker than normal. that should solve the bogging. this has been mentioned a million times.;)