new member with at 2013 Plasma Blue 5 Door!

[Jarradasay]

Hey there! I went round and round with what to do for my next car. Previous was a Cadillac CTS-4 (wasn't me), before that was a 2004 Roush Stage 2 mustang (was really me, but totally impractical, especially with 3 kids). I knew I wanted all wheel drive (northern Indiana), knew I wanted to go back to turbos (91 GSX, 91 TSi AWD, 93 Laser RS, 94 GSX, 97 TSi AWD, 98 GSX). I thought I wanted STi or Evo, but alas, I was looking at 08's with 50k miles, but the three i drove had all been jacked with. I started poking around the internet and saw all the great things about the WRX (I built Legacy's and outbacks at Subarus's Lafayette, IN plant for 7 years, but that ended back in 04).
Just so happened my dealer had an order cancellation, and had a 2013 Plasma Blue 5 door. I drove it and was floored. It easily out performed my Roush. I have read so much about actual numbers and how fast they are, and I must say, it is really fast.

Which brings me to my issue. We need to fight the magazines in the quest to tear down the WRX. The interior is perfect the way it is. And if anyone in the forum wants to argue that, I have to tell you to stop! I was a mustang man from 2000 until 2011. People all complained about the mustang interior and how cheap and plastic it was. Well, they fixed that! and now the base mustang is $23000 and you can't hardly touch a GT for 30. I am driving a car that does zero to 60 in five seconds, it is AWD, it has excellent styling. No one, No one can touch it for anywhere near the money. DO you want to trade that for some "soft touch" interior components?

And for the record (preaching to the Choir), The GTI, the Focus ST cannot be compared to the WRX. I drove both in my quest for car, and both of them have to have the pedal feathered in rain, the ST barely got out of the dealer's lot when we had some snow. I drove the WRX home in the snow!. You are looking at cars that cost basically the same, but both have HP deficits, both have rear axle deficits, one had two door deficits. Not to mention neither comes close on the 0-60 times. It seems that people are comparing the interiors of those cars to the WRX. There is a reason Subaru can pack all that performance into the WRX and the competition can't.

Please join me in fighting the "WRX needs better interior and better Radio" bandwagon.

Oh, and by the way, Thanks for having me! Glad to be a member. I am usually not this opinionated, but I saw what happened to the mustang and dont want to see it again!

[TrozPSU]

Please join me in fighting the "WRX needs better interior and better Radio" bandwagon.

Congrats on the car... but the WRX needs a better interior and a better radio. It doesn't mean it needs to be a $2000 interior to knock it out of the reasonable price range (no one is asking for that unless it was an option), but it's 2013 and car technology is way past bluetooth and heated seats. Other than the dashboard setup it's not much better than the base Impreza. Besides, when you can honestly spend $100 aftermarket to upgrade the radio to something that sounds a decade better there is something wrong. The stereo in my 2011 sounds worse than the one that was in my 2008 WRX!

Cars are doing some crazy stuff nowadays (laser sensors galore in my grandparent's new Cadillac). Is it too much to ask for a backup camera and some nicer trim? Especially from a car manufacturer in a country where technology is years ahead of the US. They had gps camera phones when we were still using flip phones.

[TeknoKim]

congrats! you will enjoy it.
on the note of the mustang GT my buddy picked one up brand new for 26k when they were going the 5k back from factory last year.

[Eric05mx]

Personally, I like the interior other than the noises it makes when cold. The radio and blue tooth are garbage. Ya, the car will do 0-60 in 5 seconds but your clutch won't last long doing so. I thought the car was pretty slow completely stock unless your in 1st or 2nd gear.

[pmacey]

Congrats and welcome

[EJ257]

Welcome

[Jarradasay]

Thanks for the welcome guys.

I get the radio, but even my 2008 Cadillac CTS-4 DI didn't have bluetooth connectivity and it was a $40,000 vehicle. I was really surprised to see it in the WRX. I called my mother who is turning 70 this year and we had no problem talking. I like the fact that it is not an integrated head unit. I can buy a 7" DVD touchscreen and install it with no modification, with the competition your pretty much stuck with whatever is integrated in the dash.

As far as the nicer interior goes. I have been in Automotive Purchasing for 10 years (Consumer OEM, Commercial OEM, and Tier 1 Supplier). If you want soft touch interior, your are doubling or tripling the cost of the panels. So you can expect a 1500-2000 price hike, and that effects the base model, so the WRX entry price went to $28,000, add in a bose or infinity stereo and you add another 500-1000 on the cost of the car.

I lived in Japan for 2 years, and have been to the Fuji Heavy Industries Plant in Gunma, Japan is ahead of the USA. They also cost way more. Simple example... 1 liter of milk is almost $4.00. that is $16.00 a gallon for milk. The cost is the same for electronics and cars. One of their state of the art stereos is way more expensive than we are used to over here.

Coming from a Cadilliac with full leather even on the side panels, with genuine mahogany wood integrated, heated and cooled seats, Bose 8 speaker surround sound with center channel, etc; I get it. I know there are better, nicer, softer interiors out there. You just have to realize there is a trade off. Right now for performance sake, Subaru has traded interior refinement. If you want interior refinement you will either trade perfomance for it, or price for it. It won't come for free.

One more point to the soft touch plastic, depending on the make up it can weigh 50% more.

I was just really happy to get a great all season, ridiculously fast, sport hatch for under $25k. Inflation will erase that soon enough. I hate to see it affected further. I mean, really, how often do we stroke the interior and say, oooh, now that feels nice ;-) and if you do, please don't post about it... LOL

[Jarradasay]

Personally, I like the interior other than the noises it makes when cold. The radio and blue tooth are garbage. Ya, the car will do 0-60 in 5 seconds but your clutch won't last long doing so. I thought the car was pretty slow completely stock unless your in 1st or 2nd gear.

My Cadillac's interior squeeked when it was cold too. I love the car, love the seats, the red gauges and backlights are awesome! I havent track raced (other than 1/4mi) since 2003, so if I wind out first and second, I am pretty much breaking the law anyway. As far as the clutch goes, that is true of any car, and even more true with any performance car. I killed three clutches autocrossing my 98 eclipse, two in my last Roush mustang. It is a consumable and will happen. If you shift like butter and shift at 2500 rpm the clutch will last darn near forever, but where is the fun in that! in a couple thousand miles, maybe mid spring I'll hit a 1/4 miler and see how she pulls through 3rd.

[Jarradasay]

EJ257 your avitar is just wrong! i am not sure if i should laugh or throw up! LOL

[Eric05mx]

My Cadillac's interior squeeked when it was cold too. I love the car, love the seats, the red gauges and backlights are awesome! I havent track raced (other than 1/4mi) since 2003, so if I wind out first and second, I am pretty much breaking the law anyway. As far as the clutch goes, that is true of any car, and even more true with any performance car. I killed three clutches autocrossing my 98 eclipse, two in my last Roush mustang. It is a consumable and will happen. If you shift like butter and shift at 2500 rpm the clutch will last darn near forever, but where is the fun in that! in a couple thousand miles, maybe mid spring I'll hit a 1/4 miler and see how she pulls through 3rd.

I wasn't referring to shifting being hard on the clutch to achieve a fast 0-60. The 5-5500rpm launch needed on these cars is what shortens the clutch life. I shift at 6000rpms a couple times a day on average without any problems on the stock clutch and my car is making a good bit more power than stock.

[Rodman]

Welcome to the club! And I agree.. I like the trade off for the power. Still shopping for
a sound processer to add to the stock system. JBL MS-8 is looking pretty good.

[BigDaddyRex]

Jarradasay - Welcome aboard. I think you did a nice job expressing my thoughts on the car, and it's perceived shortcomings. Everyone wants more, but every bell and whistle comes at a cost. Another car in the price range may have better goodies, but I bet they don't have a costly item like AWD. It's all about trade-offs when manufacturers choose vehicle content. I have no issues with the interior (though I will admit I have not had the rattling issues some have had) and the stereo gets the job done fine when I'm listening to my iPod (it does sound like crap using the radio).

People forget the car IS an Impreza. Sure the performance is upgraded, but the rest of the car is a cheap (albeit well made) economy car, built to have a low-price point. The result is a very affordable - and pracitcal - performance car. Sounds good to me!