Well, I finally had the opportunity to drive the WRX and I must say I wasn't disappointed in the least (in case you haven't read my sig, I drive a RSX-S).
For reference, my roomate has a '97 M3 and his buddy has a beautiful white WRX. I've been bugging the guy to take me out and last night he finally must have gotten tired of hearing me and he just threw me the keys!
Anyway, I've never had any problems with the way the car looked - I love the styling in fact. So that's never been a bias for me.
I jumped in and immediately noticed the comfort of the seats. I know a lot of RSX'ers always say "well, we've got leather" but to be totally honest, I am not thrilled with our seats. The leather is cheap IMO and its not soft at all...I loved the "plushness" of the WRX's seat. It was much more comfortable IMO.
I started her up and put it in first...at this point, I encountered the only negative impression of the car IMO. I felt the gear box was a bit too "slushy" and the clutch felt too, um, slushy as well, but that's subjective. I have a short-shift adapter in my already short RSX-S gearbox and I've been driving Honda's for about 8 years now, so obviously the clutch was 100% subjective...I still would have liked some shorter throws in the Subbie, but that negative was shortly overcome by the abundance of positives.
Well, I drove out of my neighborhood trying to get accustomed to the car and just dropped the hammar in 2nd. Hearing the turbo's spool up and then going WOT was, ummmm, orgasmic? What an amazing sound! You guys are lucky to drive to that sweet melody everyday! I love my vtec engaging, but this is equally as nice, if not better IMO.
Anyway, dropped the hammer in 2nd and bam, I took it to about 6K and punched it into 3rd and the turbo's kept on going...what a feeling! Its so different than the RSX-S because the Subbie is so effortless...doesn't feel like its straining at all. The Type S, man, its like a screaming banshee and the effort is noticed, if that makes any sense.
I never had the opportunity to give it a go from a stop. I wasn't comfortable enough and I'm pretty anal about my friends cars. I won't redline or slam it off the line because its not my car! I would have to be 100% comfortable as well before I did something like that and I just wasn't acclimated to the car enough to warrant that.
Vs. the RSX-S my impression is this: though I did't get to WOT off the line, its blatantly obvious that the WRX is a better launcher (duh). Its a nice feeling to have all the power instantaniously go down to the ground and its comforting as well since its AWD.
I think vs. RSX-S the inherent advantage is off the line and once you take that lead, you'd never look back. I don't really feel that the WRX is that much stronger though 2nd and 3rd however...its a bit stronger, but honestly I think our 3rd gears match up fairly well. But its irrelevant - the WRX will take that 1-2 car lead off the line IMO and continue to slightly pull throughout the course of the race. The Type S doesn't have enough power, like let's say the Mustang GT, to make up that instant advantage. The fact that your turbos are also spooling at 3k rpms also gives you an advantage because you are immediately in your powerband whereas my powerband doesn't even remotely start until 4K and vtec doesn't engage until 5.8K rpms.
I have had the opportunity to drive my roomates E36 M3 and I must say in comparison to the WRX, stock vs. stock it would be very hard for the WRX to outrun it. The M3 simply has more power available at all times - I don't see the WRX hanging on to that one, given equal drivers, but that's not reality...anything can happenon the street.
In conclusion, my already wonderful impression of the WRX only got better through this test drive and we all got together afterwards and decided that we want to go to the track this summer and give 'em all a go.
My real life isn't similar to most of these message boards and I feel lucky - I love lots of cars and have had the opportunity to live vicariously through my friends Now we've got a '97 M3, a '02 RSX-S and an '02 WRX to have fun with. Sorry so long, just wanted to share.
For reference, my roomate has a '97 M3 and his buddy has a beautiful white WRX. I've been bugging the guy to take me out and last night he finally must have gotten tired of hearing me and he just threw me the keys!
Anyway, I've never had any problems with the way the car looked - I love the styling in fact. So that's never been a bias for me.
I jumped in and immediately noticed the comfort of the seats. I know a lot of RSX'ers always say "well, we've got leather" but to be totally honest, I am not thrilled with our seats. The leather is cheap IMO and its not soft at all...I loved the "plushness" of the WRX's seat. It was much more comfortable IMO.
I started her up and put it in first...at this point, I encountered the only negative impression of the car IMO. I felt the gear box was a bit too "slushy" and the clutch felt too, um, slushy as well, but that's subjective. I have a short-shift adapter in my already short RSX-S gearbox and I've been driving Honda's for about 8 years now, so obviously the clutch was 100% subjective...I still would have liked some shorter throws in the Subbie, but that negative was shortly overcome by the abundance of positives.
Well, I drove out of my neighborhood trying to get accustomed to the car and just dropped the hammar in 2nd. Hearing the turbo's spool up and then going WOT was, ummmm, orgasmic? What an amazing sound! You guys are lucky to drive to that sweet melody everyday! I love my vtec engaging, but this is equally as nice, if not better IMO.
Anyway, dropped the hammer in 2nd and bam, I took it to about 6K and punched it into 3rd and the turbo's kept on going...what a feeling! Its so different than the RSX-S because the Subbie is so effortless...doesn't feel like its straining at all. The Type S, man, its like a screaming banshee and the effort is noticed, if that makes any sense.
I never had the opportunity to give it a go from a stop. I wasn't comfortable enough and I'm pretty anal about my friends cars. I won't redline or slam it off the line because its not my car! I would have to be 100% comfortable as well before I did something like that and I just wasn't acclimated to the car enough to warrant that.
Vs. the RSX-S my impression is this: though I did't get to WOT off the line, its blatantly obvious that the WRX is a better launcher (duh). Its a nice feeling to have all the power instantaniously go down to the ground and its comforting as well since its AWD.
I think vs. RSX-S the inherent advantage is off the line and once you take that lead, you'd never look back. I don't really feel that the WRX is that much stronger though 2nd and 3rd however...its a bit stronger, but honestly I think our 3rd gears match up fairly well. But its irrelevant - the WRX will take that 1-2 car lead off the line IMO and continue to slightly pull throughout the course of the race. The Type S doesn't have enough power, like let's say the Mustang GT, to make up that instant advantage. The fact that your turbos are also spooling at 3k rpms also gives you an advantage because you are immediately in your powerband whereas my powerband doesn't even remotely start until 4K and vtec doesn't engage until 5.8K rpms.
I have had the opportunity to drive my roomates E36 M3 and I must say in comparison to the WRX, stock vs. stock it would be very hard for the WRX to outrun it. The M3 simply has more power available at all times - I don't see the WRX hanging on to that one, given equal drivers, but that's not reality...anything can happenon the street.
In conclusion, my already wonderful impression of the WRX only got better through this test drive and we all got together afterwards and decided that we want to go to the track this summer and give 'em all a go.
My real life isn't similar to most of these message boards and I feel lucky - I love lots of cars and have had the opportunity to live vicariously through my friends Now we've got a '97 M3, a '02 RSX-S and an '02 WRX to have fun with. Sorry so long, just wanted to share.