Mazdaspeed 3

[Steve Hirsch]

Things have really changed in the last 5 years.  The 2002 WRX was a 
pretty quick car when it came here in 01, despite the turbo lag and 
anemic off-boost performance.  But by today's standards, yeah your 
average Camry/Accord can keep up w/ one from a roll.  But the car really 
does wake up w/ an ECU reprogram and turbo-back exhaust.

As for the 5 spd tranny, this comes up in Subaru forums all the time. 
There are ppl running 300+ WHP who've gone 100kmi w/ no problems and 
there are ppl who've broken gears within the warranty period at stock 
power levels.  It all depends on how abusively you drive (ie dont try to 
spin 4 wheels on dry pavement).  But everyone generally agrees that the 
syncros suck and the ratios are too widely spaced which doesnt help the 
syncros one bit...

-steve
04 WRX, "Stage 2" (ECU + TBE)
93 SE-R, 215 kmi, still runs great.



Mike Jez wrote:
>  I didn’t want a WRX simply 
> because I just didn’t like how it feels very gutless stock, and after 
> working for Subaru as a tech and rebuild a lot of those 5spd trannies I 
> said no way.
> 
> 93 Legacy
> 91 Legend