WRX 2.0 VS 2.5

Photo Courtesy of Automobilemag.com

In 2006 WRX's got one of the first mechanical changes they have ever. The engine jumped from a 2.0 liter to 2.5. To me, this is a very good move. This gives the driver a much better power band to work with, and especially to modify. The 2.5 gives the car a lot more power in the low end of the RPM scale which is fantastic for start ups. The 0-60 times are within 1 or 2 tenths of a second which didn't make much of a difference, but as far as power band, the 2.5 has got it. I would love to see the WRX take advantage of this and increase the horsepower a little more because the car has so much potential. Or give some kind of help in tuning so that sports enthusiasts who can't afford to insure the STI and get a little brother of it and tune it to 240-250 stock. This might even attract those away from Mazdaspeed 3 . The 3 is packing around 263 horse which is pretty substantial for a car of its size. It beat out the WRX in a recent review I was looking at as well. The only downside to that vehicle is that its not AWD like the WRX. This changes the market a lot. Because the Mazda is a 2.3 liter packing 263 HP and the WRX is (Now) sporting a 2.5 liter with 230 horse... shouldn't it be updated to run with the 3?

Anyone have any ideas? Let me know!

Heres a link to the comparisons.

www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/Comparos/articleId=121942

WRX STI... Is it dead?

Photo Courtesy of Revmods.com

Well it has happened again. there has been another shock to the tuner car arena. Mitsubishi has come out with a new STI killer and Subaru has changed their design once again to something that seems much different then what people were expecting. The new STI has a very hatchback look to it and I'm not sure if I like it. The 2008 STI is only available in this hatchback form.... for now. It does have a kind of sharp look and a 304 horse boxer engine. This hasn't changed much since the 2007 version which is kind of depressing. The new Evos are now pushing 295 hp instead of the old 286, but the real treasure is the twin clutch system. This allows for much faster, if not almost instant shifting. This decreases the 0-60 time down to 4.5 seconds. The new STI is around the old time of 4.7-4.8 0-60 as far as I know. I have not seen any published specifications as of yet but I will update as I get them!

As far as looks, I think it looks ok, but for sport purposes, Subaru should invest in creating a sedan version. This would make a much more balanced market. Overall I think they did alright for a car, but to compete with Mitsubishi I think that Subaru should increase some power or transmission to keep up pace.

Photo Courtesy of Techeblog.com