[QUOTE]Originally posted by mbilderback

 

The loyal is a non-performance Subaru 4-door back before Subaru became popular in the states.

As for the brand comparisons, I'd say you're right in most parts, however, different brands have different design teams and design foci.

For instance, most(if not all) American manufacturers have a less expensive car in the same class because of cheaper materials such as interior panel plastic and such.

As for Subaru, they seem to TRY and be different in their manufacture/design techniques. Usually with no better reliability or specifications, just /different/. They require more brand specific tools to work on and tend to require more time/effort/money for the same repair as other Japaneese manufacturers.

 

This is one of the reasons that non-dealer Subaru shops are harder to find.

 

I used to have a WRX, and it's a great car.
Like someone said before, with less you can get MORE!
I have turbo stage 2, and it costs only $2000 to make it possible.
It is very cheap, the car is user friendly, lotsa aftermarket parts, and IT HAS MORE SPACE THAN THE S2000!

I will not say WRX will be faster than the S2000 cause with money, you know that you can DO ANYTHING to make it fast.

Which one do you like? V tec engine or Spooling turbo with *pssss* BOV sound?
Which one you prefer? Convertible or More Space?

I know a lot of people say bad thing about any other car than honda cause you have a honda. That's gay.

 

I think I can answer this best...because I have owned them both. In a race off the line, the WRX will have 1-1.5 car lengths on you until third gear when the S2000 blows right by the Subie. As for the freeway, the WRX is fairly fast, but again the S will blow its doors off.

Ryan

 

It's all about preferences. The convertable is what kept me from going the 350 (which looks gay in the roadster) and the RX-8.

 

Reasons why the WRX is better:

- room for 4 people
- room for lots of stuff
- can go reasonably well in the snow
- has a metal roof (good idea in bad weather too)
- really smart if you can only have one car
- who cares how ugly it is if it goes fast and holds my stuff?

Reasons why the S2000 is better:

- it's beautiful - looks fast as well as goes fast
- more satisfying driving experience (only my opinion)
- it's a roadster (very important for some people)
- who cares how small it is if I have another car too?

So what's more important? Different things for different people, no doubt. Both cars are first rate.

 

OverBooster, chobits, and others who have owned a WRX:

How many miles did you put on yours, and how well did it hold up over time and use? Did you have any major problems? How did the regular maintenance compare to the S2000?

 

I sold my WRX at 4500 miles. I didn't like it! Maintenance is more expensive than a Honda (comparing regular maintenance; dealer vs. dealer).

Reasons for not liking it:

1) Boost is great in first gear, goes lower and lower every gear after (can be fixed with minor mod or boost gauge).

2) Complete flat spot in power/boost after 5500 rpms. Why even redline the car if there is no more power after 5500 rpms and it redlines at 7K?

3) Body roll. Man, if that car didn't have AWD, it would have been another crummy sedan!

4) Poor gas mileage. Even when driving easy, trying not to boost and doing highway driving, I was getting 20-21 mpg. I can drive my S2K hard all day, for a full tank of gas, and still get at least 22mpg. And on highway cruises, I've gotten 26-27mpg. The WRX couldn't touch that.

5) Cheap interior. It really wasn't anything fancy.

Granted, many of the above things can be fixed/modded to make up for it. But I wanted a car that was an all-around performance car out of the box. I don't like to spend thousands in mods. I want my car to be great stock. And if I decide to mod later, so be it.

I regretted selling my ITR to buy the WRX. But now that I have the S2K, I'm happy and have gotten over it.

Now, don't get me wrong. The WRX is an awesome car in its own right. The one-year test updates that I've seen in the car mags are dead-on accurate. So read those if you are considering buying one. They tell all the same things I noticed with the car. And they give you a summary of maintenance, etc.

It comes down to what you really want in a vehicle. The WRX was cool, but not quite for me. The S2K is perfect for me.

If I had plenty of money, I'd have a WRX STi, EVO, S2K and a few other cars in my garage!

 

Oh, as for problems, the only thing that I had in the six months that I owned it was the A/C problem you see mentioned in the reports in the mags. The A/C would blow cold for 30 seconds or a minute and then blow "warmer" for 30 seconds. It would constantly do this.

I took it to the dealer, had the system cleaned out and new CFC-free coolant (or whatever the hell they call it) put back in. It didn't do much either.

Come to find out, this is common with most Subies and there is nothing to fix it.

In Florida, this was annoying. Especially in the hot, summer months.

In the long run, I believe the WRX would cost more to maintain. Remember, a turbo requires more maintenance than a N/A motor. In addition, it's AWD (more moving parts), so there is always the potential for more problems. Luckily, the WRX has proven itself near "bulletproof" as far as the engine/drivetrain go, so it's more a matter of how well you keep up with regular maintenance.