15 WRX: 18 Month, 25k Mile Review and AMA

"uofime-2" (uofime-2) 01/19/2017 at 14:44 • Filed to: None

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So I’ve had my car for 18 months and 25k miles now, I’ve spent 3 days on a race track, done 2 ice races, and 5 autoXs. It would be safe to say that the honeymoon phase is long over. At this point I should be able to form a somewhat less biased picture of the car.

Track Day at GingerMan Raceway (wet)

My car is one of the last 2015 model year cars brought into the US, it is Galaxy Blue Pearl (the best and now discontinued color). It is “premium” trim model so it has heated seats/wipers/mirrors, a sun roof and not much else. I paid about 30k for it out the door.

The Good:

The seats are nice and comfortable even for hours at a time, they’re also reasonably supportive when you add lateral g’s

The steering wheel feels nice, though the leather is getting a little smooth/greasy at this point (should probably try cleaning that)

I really like the HVAC control, simple 3 knob systems are under rated, and its automatic too which is nice.

The Bad:

The stock speakers are terrible, the coils are seriously an inch in diameter and they used what appears to be a regular 1.75" speaker as a tweeter and I’m pretty sure it has a bigger coil than the door speakers too though, go figure...

The cabin is rather loud and frankly all I’ve done is make that worse, but my worsening is the good loud... maybe

What is clutch feel, I’m pretty sure that’s not a thing other than stiff

The Ehhh:

The radio is functional, bluetooth always connects and calling usually works as long as my phone doesn’t get confused about audio I/O from different apps.

Shifter feel is not great, I’ve done a bit to improve it (diff, trans, engine mounts, short shifter), but its still no STI or anything else with an actually good shifter.

The stock Dunlops are loud, I suspect my winter blizzaks are actually quieter. That said they have stood up to my considerable ham-fisted abuse gallantly and they’ve still got life left in them. So ehhh!

Suspension: I actually think its really good, but I’m a nutcase and demand the impossible so ehhh and read more below.

The above section paradigm is a failure so now I’m just going to ramble, organization is overrated anyway (section):

Daily driving this car is fun. To give some perspective I should say that I live in Chicago suburbia, I am downtown weekly, and commute to work from both the burbs and downtown. That means I’m in traffic daily, occasionally at full halt and crawling and around the fact that driving sucks in those conditions. I have on occasion had to use “better” commuter vehicles and I can confirm that the suck is very equal between them. Yes, the clutch is firm and I have to use it a lot, but that just means I can skip leg day and that my left leg is immaculately toned.

When the opportunity arises to actually drive, the car is consistently impressive and always smile inducing. The thrust this thing can dish out is intoxicating and terrifying to those unaccustomed to it (sorry mom). In something like a GTI or one of the ST siblings, you can’t really get on it in first or second (or if they’re tuned, third gear) because they just burn the tires off (or light up traction control or both), but in this car from a dead stop you can drop the clutch (don’t actually just drop it) from 5k rpm and the thing will hook up and scoot (none of this is recommended for the sake of your clutch and transmission). Even when leaving a stop normally or from a 5mph crawl, you can just mat it and the thing will go (taking a left, crossing traffic, nooo problem, go with confidence).

That’s not even the best part of the car, the real good part is how it turns. At sane person, quasi-legal, speeds the grip is unflappable and when you turn the nannies off on an on ramp it stays very neutral and you can actually provoke either under or oversteer with the pedals. The biggest downfall is that the limits are so high you really can’t play with them on the street, so to the track is is!

An Aside:

All of that daily driving is clearly from the biased perspective of someone who is a car enthusiast. If I attempt to remove that hat, my impressions would be this: The car is loud, stock that’s mostly the tires and other road noise because of cheapness or lightweight aspirations Subaru didn’t add a whole lot of sound deadening to this car. The trunk for example has almost none, unless you count the styrofoam spare tire covers, which you shouldn’t because they’re useless, or the paper trunk liner which is thin carpet glued to coregated plastic board (also nearly useless). The suspension and tires are too stiff, if there are bumps in the road you will feel them. If you were riding with another person in this car for any period of time you would notice these things, they’re not that bad so if you liked or had a neutral opinion of the owner and were in a reasonably good mood you probably wouldn’t say anything, just think that it is a bit odd and wonder why the owner choose this car as opposed to something better, like a Camry.

Lets Go to the Track:

Lets start with the gateway drug, autoX. If you didn’t know these cars dominate D street and everything I mentioned earlier should tell you why. At low speed you have tons of grip. Forward acceleration is never a problem between the AWD, sticky tires and torquy engine. The gears can be frustrating second takes you to 60 so you spend a lot of time there but you will from time to time have to go to third and if you do that and slow down much you’ll feel underwhelmed waiting for boost, rpm, power to come back (did I mention I don’t love the shifter). Turning wise the car is heavy, but the chassis is really stiff and the suspension does as good a job as is reasonable to keep it in control. AWD is cheating so you can pretty much slow down enough to get it pointed in the right direction and go back to doing that first thing it’s particularly good at.

I haven’t really mentioned brakes, so I guess I should say that they exist and they are more than capable of locking the wheels. They’re sliding calipers so feel is meh a little rubbery (better pads, lines can help but the issue is endemic to the calipers) The stock pads are OK, they’re fine for autoX but if you push them to long they will overheat and that is possible to do on the street, though I never have. Regardless before going on a real track it is imperative that you replace them with something with a higher heat tolerance (heavy car remember). That’s not conjecture either I’ve seen a couple owners track days ruined in one session (well one session then an out lap and maybe half a hot one where they realize they’re permanently cooked). My suspicion is that because the pads are ceramic the pads themselves aren’t so much ruined as the fluid has been boiled (ceramic can tolerate heat, but it is an extremely good conductor) and you have air in your brakes until you re-bleed them.

Enough about brakes, who wants to stop anyway? I sure didn’t that’s how I ended up at a track day, autox just doesn’t give a good enough fix after awhile. So how’s the car at that? The acceleration is no longer noteworthy with average speeds moved up to 60 the thrust is diminished, but more than adequate. What you really focus on is the cornering and at this pont it becomes clear that the cars predominate characteristic is under steer. Yes you can trail brake, and it will rotate though I am very much an amateur, my kung fu is weak, and my results doing that are subsequently inconsistent. If you’re on the power and you’re turning you will understeer. Part of that initial and mid corner understeer is entirely Subaru’s fault because they nerfed the car to make it predictable and safe. They did that buy putting a ton of camber (-2)on the rear tires and spec’ing almost none on the front. A non standard alignment really helps, you can only adjust the front which isn’t all bad because if you want to go fast you want more grip not less. Improving it is easy “fixing” it is proving more difficult, but I’ve got ideas....

So overall the strategy is brake late, maybe trail brake, release, aim for apex, begin looking for exit, find exit, feed as much power as under steer will allow.*

*these are the impressions of a goon with very limited experience, use at your own risk

So... uh...yea, 2015 WRX good all arounder, fun on the road, fun in a parking lot, fun on a track.

Before anyone asks:

1. Yes, my flatbill collection is on fleek (do people still say that?)

2. Ask me about my vape mods, its pretty good, I always win plume contest at my local Subaru meets

Vlachen > uofime-2 01/19/2017 at 15:00

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I dig it. You’ve put to words many of my own thoughts. I got one for myself in the middle of ‘15 and have been absolutely loving it. It’s my first new car. All the other cars in my 18 years of driving life have been sub-$1000 beaters or never finished (or even started) project cars, so it really doesn’t take much to put a smile on my face. Damn, does this car do it, though.

I haven’t AutoXed or track dayed yet. Planning to start this spring.

gawdzillla > uofime-2 01/19/2017 at 15:04

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they stop making a hatch.... WHY !!!!

gawdzillla > uofime-2 01/19/2017 at 15:13

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Are you buying the killer b oil pickup

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10154821328974526&id=325426134525

uofime-2 > Vlachen 01/19/2017 at 15:19

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First car I bought new as well. Came from a 2004 Chevy Aveo haha what a change!

uofime-2 > gawdzillla 01/19/2017 at 15:22

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Hot take, the hatches are ugly!

Vlachen > uofime-2 01/19/2017 at 15:23

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I traded in (they ACTUALLY gave me money for it!!!) a 1999 Ford Ranger. 5 speed, power nothin’, wheezy. And they gave me 3X what I paid for it.

Vlachen > uofime-2 01/19/2017 at 15:23

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Was like buying a fucking rocket ship.

uofime-2 > gawdzillla 01/19/2017 at 15:24

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At the point you’ve shredded a rod and likely a case half, replacing bearings seems like it would be the least of your concerns.

I suspect I’d have to pull the engine to install it, so unless I have cause to do that I’m going to leave it alone, but keep an eye on the forums to see if the problems are worse than they appear currently.

uofime-2 > Vlachen 01/19/2017 at 15:25

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That’s amazing!

uofime-2 > Vlachen 01/19/2017 at 15:26

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I remember feeling that way when it was new, now I’m so accustomed to it I don’t even think about it. Funny how that happens!

Vlachen > uofime-2 01/19/2017 at 15:30

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I can’t help but get all giggly every time I bury myself in the seat. I have good comparisons, since the better half did drive a regular Impreza and now has an Outback.

gawdzillla > uofime-2 01/19/2017 at 15:32

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i replaced the pickup on my 05wrx, all i needed was take off the oil pan.

not too sure about the 15+

AddictedToM3s - Drives a GC > uofime-2 01/19/2017 at 15:35

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I sometimes wish I had gotten the WRX instead of the BRZ. Your review didn’t help haha.

How is the car at doing 4-5mph stop and go traffic? My BRZ makes it very apparent that it does not like it.

uofime-2 > gawdzillla 01/19/2017 at 15:39

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I was just under there last night and while i didn’t look too closely I suspect the front sub frame is in the way of removing the pan. If you can do it on jackstands I’ll consider doing it a lot more strongly

DasWauto > uofime-2 01/19/2017 at 15:40

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Damn you and your Galaxy blue. I tried hard to find a ‘16 to buy for that colour alone. Didn’t pan out so I got a world rally blue base model ‘17. Since I’m in Canada the heated mirrors and seats are standard, which is nice. I do like the three knob auto climate control as well, it’s nice and the defrost is quite effective.

The stock stereo and speakers do suck, especially coming from my Golf because it had a very good system for a cheap car. What have you done to help yours? I’ll probably be looking to upgrade the speakers in mine in the summer.

I can’t wait to autocross this car. I’m gonna try to be competitive this year so I’ll get RE71Rs (instead of the 500 treadwear all seasons I had one the VW), some light(ish) wheels and see how well I can finish in the regional series. I’m not sure I’ll ever properly track the car but I’ll probably run close to a dozen autoX event this summer.

Also, do you have rally armour mudflaps? If so, is there any way or place to get a deal on them? I can’t seem to bring myself to spend $200+ ($CAD) on mud flaps yet.

uofime-2 > AddictedToM3s - Drives a GC 01/19/2017 at 15:43

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It’ll idle along at 5mph in first gear OK, but yeah there’s a lot of potential for jerkyness if you aren’t careful about how you get back on the gas.

I didn’t mention this, but stock the throttle to torque requested curve is heavily top loaded and it makes driving smoothly very difficult, but my car has had various states of ECU tuning since about 12k miles and it is vastly improved

DasWauto > AddictedToM3s - Drives a GC 01/19/2017 at 15:45

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Being forced to drive slowly is always annoying but doubly so in a car that wants to go fast like the WRX.

I’m glad I don’t have to deal with traffic regularly. If I did I’d probably be likely to turn into that jackass that jumps into every little gap, just for the sake of entertaining myself with the car.

uofime-2 > DasWauto 01/19/2017 at 15:55

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for speakers:

tweeters: pioneer tst110 in custom bent plumbing straps with connectors stripped from the factory speakers because crutchfield sent me the wrong pigtails and I’m both crafty and impatient

Door: 2 pairs of HK infinity reference series 2-way 6.5" (IIRC) and mounting with some modified brackets for a sturn vue haha found a guide on youtube.... I’ll find it here he’s got a tweeter video too which you should be able to find through his channel:

Mounting Bracket - Scosche SAGMEQ656
Speaker Wiring Adapter - Crutchfield 120 71-035L

I do have rally armors and no sadly I really don’t think there is any way to get a deal on them they’re 172USD and that price is pretty much the same everywhere (I tried pretty hard to find better, even used they’re really hard to find) I like them pretty well, they’ve held up fine for the year they’ve been on the car

marshknute > uofime-2 01/19/2017 at 16:08

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Any issues with overboosting on the racetrack? I traded in my 15' WRX after just 2 trackdays because it simply didn’t work on a real track (Watkins Glen and NJMP Lightning). The turbo would spool up too much in 4th and 5th gear after 2-3 laps, causing the fuel-cutoff to engage for 10-15 seconds at a time. Not a fan of literally coasting around a track while other people are racing around me.

Subaru told me off the record that they knew exactly what the problem was but that it only happened on a racetrack, so it wasn’t covered under warranty. Basically, the stock tune simply wasn’t meant for HPDE. They said an ECU tune would fix it (and my friends have successfully done so), but I wanted to keep mine stock and warrantied.

Btw, I laughed when you mentioned upgrading the brakes. My cousin also had a 2015 WRX (has since upgraded to a 15' STI) and experienced catastrophic brake fade at Pocono. Fortunately she had miles of runoff zone, but I made sure to always install Hawk HP Plus pads on mine before AutoX or HPDE.

uofime-2 > marshknute 01/19/2017 at 16:18

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I flashed an OTS tune right before my first event, partially because of your experience and partially because it was hot and I wanted to monitor temps and knock. With that I had no issues. My opinion was that If I break it after tracking I’m as likely to get denied for that as I am for the reflash.

FYI HP+ are fine for AutoX but you will overwhelm them on track with an STI if you push very much at all. My friend made that mistake and was stuck doing cool downs every other lap for an entire half day event.

AddictedToM3s - Drives a GC > uofime-2 01/19/2017 at 16:30

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That’s pretty much how I describe the BRZ. It idles at 4mph in first but if you so much as cough while applying any throttle then the car will get jerky.

Interesting. What tune did you go with?

marshknute > uofime-2 01/19/2017 at 16:31

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Which pads do you use?

TBH, she’s nowhere near brave enough at the moment to exceed the limits of the HP+ pads, but she is improving, so it would be helpful to have a better backup plan.

AddictedToM3s - Drives a GC > DasWauto 01/19/2017 at 16:33

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Precisely. I’ve realized that I’m more into cars with torque. Contrary to what OPPO says, I’d prefer a car with some extra weight but has the bottom end torque to at least behave in traffic.

At times I wonder what a 370z would be like. It has a good amount of torque and can rev decently high.

uofime-2 > AddictedToM3s - Drives a GC 01/19/2017 at 16:36

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I’m guessing they’d be a lot fun, if a bit heavy, but like you said depending on your use, maybe that’s not so important.

uofime-2 > marshknute 01/19/2017 at 16:39

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I have been using Ferodo Ds2500s they’re about as aggressive (heat wise) of a pad as you can get away with on the street. they’ve been great so far, but for the upcoming season I’m going to have about 20% more power in addition to stickier 200TW tires so I’m not sure if they’ll continue to do the job. Time will tell.

DasWauto > AddictedToM3s - Drives a GC 01/19/2017 at 16:57

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The BRZ would be so good with a little turbo motor. If not the WRX motor (which I think would fit because front mounted turbo), the FA16DIT. Even with a tad less top end, the low and midrange torque would be a boatload of fun. It would make for even more tail-out shenanigans. All that with better usability.

Small turbo engines are great - my Golf sold me on them, the WRX is just hilarious.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > uofime-2 01/19/2017 at 17:33

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They killed Galaxy Blue? Why? That color is the best!

uofime-2 > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 01/19/2017 at 20:02

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I agree, but it was one year only because apparently no one else bought it. It was repleaced with Lapis Blue Pearl which has a bit more of a purple tint to it and IMHO isn’t nearly as pretty

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > uofime-2 01/19/2017 at 20:06

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Wasn’t it offered on 2011+ WRXs as well?

LongbowMkII > uofime-2 04/06/2017 at 12:30

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All wrxs have been ugly since the first gen.

uofime-2 > LongbowMkII 04/06/2017 at 13:06

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the first gen was ugly too, but time makes the heart grow fonder.

LongbowMkII > uofime-2 04/06/2017 at 13:13

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Nah. The first gen WRX was a generic sedan beat with a rally stick. Subsequent ones were ugly sedans beat with the rally stick.

uofime-2 > LongbowMkII 04/06/2017 at 13:38

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The Impreza has always looked like a 6 year older Toyota, so yeah somewhere between ugly and boring.