General Comments:

The Subaru Impreza WRX Japanese import (JDM) is a legendary motor. A true road going WRC machine.

The car is powered by 2.0i-16v turbocharged engine, producing 256hp and 228ft-lbs of torque in standard form.

Mine was slightly modified with de-cat s/s exhaust and blitz dump valve. Approx running 280PS.

How about 0-60 in 5.0 secs and top speed of 149mph, 128hp per litre, and just weighing at 1230kg? These figures are standard, and simply incredible.

It's well equipped with a good interior and rally bucket front seats, A/C, CD player and full electrics.

A near perfect motor, but there's only one problem; very poor fuel economy. £10 gives you 12 miles, and £30 gives you 55 miles in city driving conditions.

Maintenance and servicing the motor is good as long as you use high quality oils and fluids. And also if you don't abuse the motor. Launching the car often will wear out the clutch. The standard brake pads fade out quickly, and need to be replaced with Brembos.

I won't get a Subaru WRX again, only because it drinks too much fuel and expensive fuel prices.

Faults:

Leaking valve cover gaskets. Replaced them myself, super cheap.

General Comments:

I have a lot of reviews on this site, I am trying to get my hands on almost every JDM turbo car I can.

NOW THE WRX! Where do I begin.. I do not have a stock WRX; coilovers, A/M suspension, Lexani tires, BPU, full 22b kit. I was really used to twin turbo cars with no lag.. and the MR2 with basically no lag either. But this car has quite a bit.. up until about 3300 rpm. An Evo of the same year seems like a more hardcore driver's car.. With all my upgrades, it would obviously rape an Evo.. but stock for stock, I think the Evo's got this one. The gas mileage is pretty terrible in this little 4cyl too.. but you should expect that. Performance above 3300 rpm is truly remarkable, the Evo and WRX are one of a kind in that department. They handle extremely well in almost every condition, it's a very rev happy engine.

The bad things on the car.. Brakes are terrible. It has been the lightest car I have driven by far at around 2700lbs. The 3000GT, which weighs 1000lbs more.. stopped much much better than this car with less fade. Brakes are a must upgrade.. that's really all I can complain about on this car. And the stereo sucks to.. but when you have a boxer engine.. no need for a stereo, SERIOUSLY!

It handles corners the best by far though.. and it's a different kind of fast, compared to the more torquey TT JDM cars. The gearbox is very precise and tight too, which I don't like.. it's not a smooth shifting gearbox either.

I would not recommend this car to a beginner driver wanting to push it hard.. because miss shifts come easy if you're too eager (only once so far.. but I can see it happening a lot if you are not a good driver).

This was a really hard review to write because I didn't really know what to say.. If you're looking for performance.. go with an Evo. Looks and sound.. go with the Subaru. The MR2 has no back seats and can't be driven in winter.. But between all 3. #1 EVO, #2 MR2, #3 WRX. The Evo is the top performer by far if they are all stock. But the WRX is the cheapest in the group.. so I highly recommend it.

I drive my cars to their absolute limits to see how they truly perform.. and the WRX is probably the best bang for buck all around car you could buy. Don't expect to get thrills daily driving like you could in twin turbo cars.. because it does need to be revved high, so unless you're one of those people who races their car everywhere like an idiot and wants poor reliability.. than go for it.

If you have any questions, just leave a comment.. if you want to know how it compares against another car, just ask and I'll let you know. It's all preference.. but I can tell you basically anything about these cars. Cheers.

I can see why this car grew one of this biggest group of followers today, and people stay true to this car for a reason. Very well made car Subaru.. PROPS.