2009 Subaru WRX 265

Thanks to Phil Ingratta who wrote in and sent this info. Thanks Phil for sharing.

Here is an article I found on some 0-60 times far better than
the ones you have on your site, and I think are more accurate.  PHIL

2009 Subaru Impreza 

Here is sample text

"Out at the track, the new and improved WRX launches hard; all four tires
spin as the car leaps forward as if it were rear-ended by a bus. A mere
1.6 sec pass before 30 mph is reached, a time on par with the new BMW M3
and Cadillac CTS-v. Sixty mph comes in 4.8 sec, and the five-door, five-passenger hatchback
we tested covered a quarter mile in 13.5 sec at 101.1 mph. That's near
a second faster than last year's model and just a tenth slower than the
2008 STI. Consider the $10,000 difference between the base WRX and the"
homologated rally car, and you'll be asking yourself, "STI why?"

I just read an article posted by the Autotrader in the UK that did a good review of the WRX 265. Don’t be thrown off by the models and the competition, its a bit different out there. It looks interesting for those of us who drive on the right side of the road to look at the interior picture of the WRX where the steering wheel is on the right side of the car.

In the interest of remaining on topic, Autotrader clocked the WRX 265 and I quote.  “Acceleration from 0-60mph takes 6.1 seconds, which is best-in-class performance”. The car reached a top speed of 130 mpg.
0 – 60 in 6.1 is pretty fast folks, I feel it when i drive it, the car just whips you back into your seat and goes. I can’t wait to be able to get back in it and drive it.

0 – 60 in 6.1 seconds is very excellent, given that a 2009 Porsche Carrera does it in 4.5 at 4 times the price, and faster than a BMW 330i, which takes 6.5 seconds to get to 60.

Well i had to go through surgery on my Achilles heal, its been two days days now since my operation. Here is what really sucks.

I am in a cast for 6 weeks, when that cast is done, i am moved to something called an air cast, and i stay in that for another 6 weeks. So 3 month in a cast, you guessed it. NO DRIVING. I cant imagine.

Mean while my wrx is parked in the drive way, So sad, I just want to get and drive it as fast as i possibly could…. My doc tells me that my insurance maybe void if i am in a cast.

Having the wrx parked is just painful to watch. Man.

I had intended on taking my 265 to the track this weekend. long story short, i was playing soccer and busted my achillies heel, and have to go for surgery. So nothing to report on the 0 – 60 or quarter mile runs or whatever.

But when i hurt myself, i fell down hard and eventually painfully made it to the car, of course i cant drive, and thank God my wife plays on the same team and thank God she drives standard. So my wife jumped behind the wheel, for this first time, she was a bit hesitant to drive it because she was worried it maybe too fast.

The Feedback from my wife:

1) Visibility is not good: Mind you my wife is tiny, 5 foot tall. She moved up the seat as much as possible, pumped it as high as possible and she still thought that the view was limited especially with the air intake being high up. My wife also had a hard time parking and backing up because the seats are built up high and get in the way for someone her size. When she turned around the seat was kinda in the way.

2) She loved the ride, she said that the one thing Subaru did well was to give you that sense of control, and that when she got to high speed (and yes she did, as we where rushing to the emergency room) you never lost or felt that you are going to lose control of the car.

3) She thought that the dials and instruments where great, because she jumped in the car and was able to manage things quickly.

In general she thought it was a fun ride, but not for her because of the visibility. I bet Subaru is not going after women my wife’s size with the wrx 265 anyway

Earlier this week I wrote about my 1st week with the WRX, i was actually behind a bit when i wrote it. Today I have a chance to do the week 2 review on time, so here goes.

Overall I am still extremley happy with the car, I can honestly say that this has been the most fun car i have had, and I am so glad that i actually went for it. The drive and the performance of the car are just amazing. If you want to feel a speed rush, this is a real good way at it. I am also still impressed with the gas efficiency of the car, its averaging arround 10L/100KM so not bad for a speed monster.

This morning i woke up and there was a bit of frost on the windsheild, its that time of year i guess, i did turn on the car, put on the heat, and was surprised how fast it defrosted the windsheild, i would say within seconds it started to warm up, so that is another think i like about it. I almost thought that I should turn on the heated seats, but thought i will save that experience until it really get cold to see how that does.

Earlier this week, i took a very tall friend on a ride, he sat in the front seat, and commented how much space he had, he said that he liked how Subaru designed the passenger side very well, because they curved it in and allows for a lot of leg room, he actually sat in the back and while yes a bit tight for his height he still managed to sit comfortably. Interesting as well how the back seats are designed in a curved way, gives those who sit in the middle a bit more comfort. well done with that.

On the “needs improvments” side of thing. The radio, i mean I already talked about the radio, i dont why the sound is not great, i should take it in and have them look at it. Plus that radio itself is not user friendly, or maybe its me. There are a couple of buttons that, well, i have no idea what they do. So one day, i will pull out the user manual and read it to see what those buttons are all about, for now i will go on believing that when pressed they will do miracoulous things. Of course the compartments, if you have read this blog, you would know by now, that i think the car needs serious compartment action.

Now on a different note. I was driving it yesterday on the HWY(a bit over the speed limit) going 120 KM/H or 75 M/hour, and i was looking at the dash and noticed that the car is driving with RMP at 3000. Now i gotta tell you the car makes a really cool noise at that level, i swear it sounds like a plane ready to launch, and if you do give it gas, it will launch. BUT BUT BUT, i thought to myself, hey i am just taking it easy, i really am not in the mood to fly, i was actually on cruse control, and though this cars is seriously missing a 6th great. I mean the HP of it warrants a 6th gear. If they had a 6th great you would cruse at much lower RPM which is just fine with me. When i have the kids in the car, i dont need to be going Moch 5. Plus it will be more gas efficient. Even the Mini for goodness sake has a 6th gear, the BMW 1 as well, etc… I dont quite understand why Subaru has not moved up in the 6 gear box format yet.

This weekend I am going to take the car to a local race track. The track opens up to the public on the weekends. You can go there and basically drag against, well against anyone who shows up, could be bike, could be a ferrari, could be a 1960 bettle. The track also lets you do quarter mile runs and 0 – 60 clocks.

Should be fun, plan to go take pics etc… and see what the 265 horses can put out.

Ok, so yesterday i head downtown for dinner with some friends, got to the parking lot and it is one of those no attendand parking lots. You get it, get a ticket, hang on to it, and then when you leave you walk up to a machine, put your ticket in, and pay. Once you pay you get another ticket which is what you use to scan yourself to get out.

I get in, get my ticket, no place to put it. As you know i already posted about the lack of compartments in the car. There is a compartment under the heat controls a good portion of it is taken up by the 12 volt adapter. I put my ticket there, kinda toss it in, and off i go to do my thing. I come back, i try to get the ticket, but you think i can get my hand in? nope, so this compartment is shallow and deep. I don’t think i have giant hands either.  Anyway i managed to get the ticket out and get going, but those compartments or lack of, is getting annoying. I have now resorted to using a (well i wont call it compartment) more of a side thing, that is on the door, its working Kinda, but not the best solution.

Its been almost a week since I got the WRX, and still love it, I find myself finding excuses to get in the car and go for a ride. Yes I managed to put a few miles and a speeding ticket (HORROR) in just one week. I have a feeling this speeding ticket wont be the last.

So after a week with the car, one starts to realize things about the car that you won’t just find in your quick test drive back at the dealership. So here is my list of things that are well, not great and should be improved. Subaru are you listening?

On the down side

Compartments: Honestly the car has no compartments; I mean where do you put your change or parking garage badge or anything. There is only one giant, yet awkward compartment where you would put CD’s but that is it. The shallow compartment next to the cup holders (Subaru’s idea of a change holder) is not good because when you go fast around the corner, the change goes for a ride as well. So Subaru, Please some compartments next time.

Sunroof: It cute, but not sure the point of this thing, when you open it, it barley opens up. So Subaru, either make it bigger or get rid of it, no need to have a tiny sunroof.

The sound system: Not too great, actually I think it’s the most disappointing thing about this car so far. When you drive it, especially on the high way, you can barley hear the sound and have to crank it up real high to hear. But when you crank it up, the sound quality is not good at all. The sound is even more muffled when you plug in an iPod. Maybe its my car that has this problem. Curious what others experience, let me know.

On the Upside.

The drive: just pure fun, no need to say anything else, the car rocks. I need to take it to a track and let it loose. The drive, from speed, to handling, everything is just great.

Gas Efficiency: I was worried when I got it to be honest, because 265 horses can drink a lot. And yes, if you are just driving it in town and pedal to the metal all the time (as I did the first 3 days) it will burn up a lot of gas. I went through half the tank in just 150 KM or so, so no not efficient (but a lot of fun).

HOWEVER, this weekend I drove it like I would drive any car, and went out of town, I drove it about 450K on a HWY and that only consumed ¾ of the tank. So in my mind, that is very fuel efficient and a pleasant surprise.

One week in, no regrets, awesome ride, and a few things that can be improved

It took a few trips to actually get the test drive going. The first time I went, I just showed up to dealership and asked to test drive one, unfortunately they did not have any in stock yet and I was told to come back in a month.

In mid Sep I called, and was told that the first of the WRX 265 a Black one, had arrived and sold already, and to check back. Success finally came at the end of Sep when the dealership told me they had 2 of them on the lot, a 5 door WRX and the sedan, however only the 5 door was ready to test drive.

I thought I would go and test drive the 5 door, got there it was later in the day and it was getting dark. In any case, got in the car and the salesman told me to let it rip, and so I did, and was sold in the first minute.

As we drove along, and it did not matter if we drove on a local street or a highway, that car just wants to fly. It cornered well, handled well, sounded great, and again the main attraction, the speed. I mean it just takes off. The fact that it is an all wheel drive helps kick it even more and gets you up there in speed pretty quickly, and the best part, you always feel in control of the ride.

I did a quick look around the car, visibility was great, and its size was perfect for me, and the dash board and controls where simple and easy to use.

And so with that, I decided to go for it, I wanted to get the sedan in White. Subaru did such a good job on this years white, and the car looked awesome in white except they only had a white GT. If I wanted to get the 265 in white, I would have to wait for one to make its way from Japan, and I was not waiting. With that we made the deal on the silver, the only 265 sedan they had on the lot.

Come to think about it, the test drive went really quick, I did not really bother looking at the details of the car, the drive sold the car. I mean performance wise; one can not expect a better ride at that price.

I had a couple of things in mind when I went car shopping this time around.

1. I wanted a fun car
2. I wanted a small car
3. I wanted a family car (with 3 seats in the bag)
4. I wanted a well built car
5. The price had to be reasonable

With that in mind, i made a list of all possible cars i could test drive. On the list, cars that fit the bill where not that many.

The North American cars, other than the Mustang where not that fun. Toyota and Honda had nothing really that is fun either. BMW, yes they had fun cars for sure, the new 1 series looked good, and of course the 3 series is also awesome, but both the 1 and 3 series are pricey. Further the 1 series only had a 2 seater in the back.

So the list was quickly narrowed down to 3 cars. The WRX 265, the Mini S and the Mitsubishi Evolution

I test drove all 3, and the WRX 265 fit the criteria best. So far, day 4 with the car, i love it

The Mitsubishi.

That car is a great car, i have to tell you, you would fall in love with the seats alone, well built, and a fun ride as well. But why did i not go for it? a) it was a bit too loud b) the price tag was high, you can get a BMW for that price, so i passed, but great car

The Mini S

This is also a fun car, performed well, and at 170 HP for that little car, the thing flys, but the car is also too small, and only 2 seats in the back. Also the price put it close the WRX, which offered more kick and more room, So i passed. The Mini i have to admit has the coolest interior of any car i have seen. whoever designed it, deserves serious brownie points

The WRX

Well the winner by far