WRX Wagon vs moded P5

[Missile_Man]

Turbo P5 (w/ like MAM or hiboost kit) Vs. WRX wagon

Once you spend about 5.5k on a P5 you can get pretty comperable HP out of both of them. But how would they match up head to head in reality?

A) Who would win flat out 1/4 mile

B) Better Car (value)

C) Better Car (mechanical)

Pleeze put answers to all of these in there. I say that get a P5 and mod it up a bit and youd have just as good a car as the WRX Wagon. Stiffer suspension, looks better (my op.), Little bit less of a cop magnet, and I've heard some bad things about the WRX wagon trannies blowing up sporadically.

 

[jaskel]

Personally just answering the first topic, i would take a guess that the subie' AWD system might help out a bit in a flat out sprint down the 1/4 but i am just guessing

 

[Replica]

5k would get a turbo on the car. dunno how well it'd run, hopefully that leaves enough room to tune the ems that comes with it. Probably run low 14's-high 13's. Last i read a WRX wagon ran mid 15's or so but im sure someone will post and say a WRX hits low 14's but ive NEVER seen one do it at the track...

 

[Autolykos]

Not necessarily low 14s, but i think they do usually bust into the mid-high 14's stock, or with minimal (ie, catback) modification. Personally i love the WRXs, if i could afford a wagon i'd have one, period. But i can't so i'll probably get a P5. I have a 2.5RS right now with the same AWD system as the wrx and it is very nice to have. Not only just in the snow but just in rain, or even on dry pavement sometimes. They don't get the greatest mileage though.

Subaru transmissions do leave something to be desired, but they're not to be feared or anything. Many have a difficult time going into 1st if you're going more than 5-10 mph, some of the bad ones you have to be nearly stopped or they'll grind going in. All the other gears are no problem at all. And if you mod the crap out of the engine and don't do anything to reinforce the transmission housing, it will flex a little which mis-aligns the gears and then kaboom, new gearset time. That doesn't happen unless you're putting out a LOT of power though, or if you drive like a retard. A lot of not-so-bright individuals have broken subaru transmissions by dropping the clutch at hi-revs when streetracing their buddy's civic and that is not a good idea in an awd car. Instead of spinning a wheel or two to relieve some of that torque like would happen in most car, you spin a few teeth off a gear somewhere. So just don't do that and you'll be fine.

Reliability on the scooby is outstanding as long as you don't do a LOT of modding. If you change a lot of things then yeah, reliability starts to go down if you don't spend the money to do them all correctly, but that is the case with any car.

I would say that a stock (or very mildly modified WRX) which you say will be about as fast as a heavily modified (turbo'd, whatever) P5 would be much less trouble and more reliable than the modded P5 as well as having the benefit of AWD. Also, if you go look up the wagon pictures threads on www.nasioc.com you'll find some pretty damn good looking wagons! The interiors are even getting pretty nice. Not sure if they're quite as nice as the mazda still, but getting there anyway.

 

[Natey]

Rishie smokes WRXs in his HiBoosted P5 all the time. A HiBoost kit costs under 4g's, including the Haltech.

IMHO, the WRX may be faster in the 1/4 because of the AWD launch, but the Protege 5 is so much better looking, and let's face the fact. Mazda>Subaru.
All you've gotta go is read Consumer Reports or the JD Powers report to see which car is better mechanically.

Have you seen the new STi? (blarf)

 

[mp5jeff]

5k would get a turbo on the car. dunno how well it'd run, hopefully that leaves enough room to tune the ems that comes with it. Probably run low 14's-high 13's. Last i read a WRX wagon ran mid 15's or so but im sure someone will post and say a WRX hits low 14's but ive NEVER seen one do it at the track...

a while ago when my brother had a wrx we both hit low 14s(i hit 14.3 he did 14.2, but i only ran it once) with it stock, not sure who is driving them around you but they suck ballsack and don't know how to launch an awd car obviously...you can't just rev it and drop the clutch which is probably what they are doing...and the wagon is just as fast and the sedan, MAYBE .1 second slower at the most with a good driver.

 

[Lord_Zath]

My best friend Dave has a WRX wagon. He wants to race my p5 to prove it could kick the p5's ass. I'm like "duh!". He's just pissed because I used to have a 2000 Trans Am and while he had a Honda CRV.

I drove the WRX and I honestly wasn't very impressed with it. Yeah it's got pickup, but gas mileage sucks AND it takes premium gas. Add to that the cost of insurance, and you're beating him every month where it really counts - the wallet.

I also didn't like the way it handled. It felt like a slushbox! WTF! Body rolled much more than the stock p5's and it felt like I was driving an SUV not a "rally car".

So trick him into some corners! But remember the most important thing - the car doesn't matter. It's the driver that counts!

LZ
Z

 

[billzebub]

I drove the WRX and I honestly wasn't very impressed with it. Yeah it's got pickup, but gas mileage sucks AND it takes premium gas. Add to that the cost of insurance, and you're beating him every month where it really counts - the wallet.

I also didn't like the way it handled. It felt like a slushbox! WTF! Body rolled much more than the stock p5's and it felt like I was driving an SUV not a "rally car".

If you high boost your P5, you'd better run premium as well. Turbos require premium. You pay to play. The WRX and the P5 are two entirely different cars.

And the WRX wagon is not a rally car...it's a wagon. The WRX sedan is a rally car. Different sway bars and body roll dynamics.

 

[bonesmp5]

well I know it varies from person to person and depending on the insurance company ------- But for me -- it would have been cheaper insurance for the Suby --

Add to that the cost of insurance, and you're beating him every month where it really counts - the wallet.

 

[MazdaDryvr]

This is a very interesting thread for me. I had a 02 P5 (one year) then a 03 MSP (2 years). Now I have an 04 WRX sedan. I can tell you without a doubt that the WRX is the better car. You need to know how to drive it, it is a very different ride from the proteges. A turbo protege may be able to match it in some ways but it will never be a factory designed and proven vehicle as is the WRX. I loved my MSP and P5 but the more I drive the WRX the more I appreciate the Subaru engineering.

 

[Lord_Zath]

well I know it varies from person to person and depending on the insurance company ------- But for me -- it would have been cheaper insurance for the Suby --

For me, a WRX wagon would cost about 2k a year. With the P5 I'm paying 1000.

And I understand turboed cars need premium fuel. I wasn't saying turbo the car ;-)

LZ
Z

 

[bonesmp5]

i know -- i was just saying that the wrx is cheaper than the 5 to insure -- in my case anyways -- thats all i was saying ---


and even tho i dont need it -- i still use premium on all my fill ups -- lol

 

[Captain KRM P5]

i've easily pulled on WRX wagons before in my p5

 

[Captain KRM P5]

And I understand turboed cars need premium fuel.

pretty much any forced induction or most high horsepower engine requires premium grade fuel.

 

[Natey]

... I loved my MSP and P5 but the more I drive the WRX the more I appreciate the Subaru engineering.

Get back to us on that in 60,000 miles.

 

[Rickman]

A) Who would win flat out 1/4 mile

B) Better Car (value)

C) Better Car (mechanical)

A) WRX would win.

B) I say the Mazda.

C) Again, I vote Mazda.

 

[MazdaDryvr]

Get back to us on that in 60,000 miles.

Actually that's exactly the reason I sold my MSP. It had 48000kms on it and I had way too many quality issues with the car. I'm all about Mazda, I've owned many but the add ons they did to the Protege to create the MSP were, IMO, unreliable. My P5 was good for the year and 20k I put on it but then again it is a factory designed car.

 

[Protege52003]

For me, a WRX wagon would cost about 2k a year. With the P5 I'm paying 1000.

i almost bought a coule WRX's last spring. my insurance would have went from 680/yr onthe P5 to 1150/yr on the 04 WRX. Even on an 02' it would have been 9XX/yr.

Pretty much it would have been a lot more than my 03' PR5 but the WRX is a much more risk than the Protege 5.....

My G/F hates the WRX....she likes the EVO so who knows. I would love to own an EVO........wait till I have my protege paid off!!!!

 

[Lord_Zath]

Did I mention my best friend's license has been suspended because he had too many speeding tickets? Thanks to his need for speed, he got 3 tickets in one day!

LZ
Z

 

[Replica]

a while ago when my brother had a wrx we both hit low 14s(i hit 14.3 he did 14.2, but i only ran it once) with it stock, not sure who is driving them around you but they suck ballsack and don't know how to launch an awd car obviously...you can't just rev it and drop the clutch which is probably what they are doing...and the wagon is just as fast and the sedan, MAYBE .1 second slower at the most with a good driver.

Hmm, that's pretty good. All the ones ive seen were in the 15's. It was fun to watch my friend's 01 Trans Am absolutely **** WRX's during a launch at the track. Maybe people are scared of breaking the tranny to launch it right.