just picked up a "new" 2009 wrx and i am loving it. only had it aboot a week and a half, but it is an awesome ride. still "breaking it in" tho. anywho, i;d be interested in hearing any thoughts, pros, cons, problems, good mods, bad mods, etc. anyone has been having with the new gen. matt
welcome, nice ride. the 09wrx's are pretty much full of win - haven't really heard anything bad about them. there are a few members here who have been slowly doing stuff to their 08's and 09's
#1 rule.. it aint a honda so the mods you may be thinking about doing.... STOP and think first welcome
Its an awesome ride! The only mods that I have done so far are short shift (not really a mod, ordered it from the factory) and my SPT catback. The first thing i'd do is get some good winter tires, because the summers SUCK in the snow. Bob
welcome, the first mod i'de suggest is a for sale sign for the white car, cuz your never gonna wanna run front wheel again, and to get some $$$ for future mods
Besides needing a new engine after a few thousand miles, there's nothing really bad about it. http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1695936
Nice car!!! I have a 09 hatch WRX. Vary the rpm's for the first 1000 miles they say. And dont go over 3k on the tac. The car just starts pulling then I know but wait get used to the car. Just did my first oil change. Now its time to try it out. Worst thing is most times im past the speed limit without trying. Have to see if after I get the car down I can attend some events to see whats really there. Still It is by far the best car I have ever owned. Period. And I own alot My car is a limited. Nice. It had the short throw shifter and rear bumper for hatch added on. I put on the sport grill, sti front lip spoiler and tinted the windows max for ND. Just work on the looks for now is my plan. Im not going to mess with mods on mech right now. Till im sure the motor is solid for sure. They say they fixed it we will let others see.:eek3: Watch craiglist for winter rims and tires. And searchtempest.
so you saying that he will for sure need a new engine in a few xxx miles? i think wording you post differently would be better.
Ya dont sweat the new motor to much. Make sure you document the first few oil changes is what I am doing. At the dealership with all the documents in my hands for proof. Most all the blown motors were from certain build dates and most happened with in the first few thousand miles. That’s what the warranty is for. Just make sure we have our end covered and we should be ok.
welcome, also an 09' owner. I love the car. Best advice is to read about the 09' and really think about what you want to do with your car before you buy anything. I have the SPT short shifter and SPT exhaust. Just put in the HID kit for my car and it was the best $70 I could spend.
sweet ride, the new body style is growing on me. With a good set of winter tires your going to love the snow this year
Thanks for all the welcomes! I cant quite tell from your pic, but do you have the sedan? I am wondering if the spt exhaust is really much louder than the stock. I read that it was only about 1 db louder at idle and 6db at wot. what do you think? Is the short shifter worth it? that is probably going to be my first upgrade. I will try to stay as factory as possible.... for now. lol, if you look really close, you can see that there is a for sale sign in the pass window! i have been trying to get rid of it for a while now. that car is almost stock, but dont worry, i'm all growed up now:biggrin: hey whatsup emily, thought youd approve of the new ride!lol although i wont be driving it in the dirt anytime soon:biggrin: I have been doing a lot of reading and right now i'm thinking starting off w/ the short shifter and i just got a sweet trunk liner and will be getting a roof rack. then probably some big sway bars... sticking with spt stuff for sure tho when possible. what do you think of the exhaust and shifter? I actually am on the second engine already. just rolled over 1000mi on the odometer and about 600 on the engine. i picked up the car used for a very reasonable price.
when i purchased my car i asked for all paper work/ R.O. and receipt and proof of new engine from factory which they gave me with no hesitation. What the technicians found was a loose connecting rod cap bolt that had caused the knock and eventually total engine failure at about 200 miles on the engine. So they replaced the engine and the turbo within the last couple months, dont recall specific date off hand.
Chill guys It's just a lil' sarcasm. I know it's only a few but these are the people who took the time to post their problem to a survey. ^But I was right
I got the short shifter and the exhaust. the SPT short shifter is nice, but you won't notice a ton of difference. I took out the non-short shifter car @ Morries and picked up mine a week later. there was a week of time in-between the two but I still didn't feel like it was a HUGE difference... I will follow that up with I am happy I have it. the SPT exhaust is great, but it won't do much for you besides add a nice growl to the car. I have to say I really like mine. it has a nice throaty sound to it. however, my exhaust is different than yours because i have the 5 door. not sure what it sounds like on your car. i believe that you have a dual exhaust set up with the SPT on your car. Things to think about: Sway bars are great (I want a pair) but good wheels might be a better buy to start with. ask around before you buy anything, you will get good information from people who know a lot about these cars
well, now that my computer is back from the geeks............. the sedan does have the dual setup. I just want to hear it in person before i go spend money on it... i really don't want anything loud. However, I do want a nice bov. I was thinking the HKS ssqs, I know it sounds good, but i have to do some more research on the type of system on this car. anyone done this yet to a new wrx? I think I will definitely invest in a short shifter and some bigger sway bars, among other things. overall, I am loving the new car, almost put 1000 miles on it so far. And just today i had my first subaru owner encounter with another subaru enthusiast. Its funny, I saw this guy in a nice older impreza 2.5 rs (ithink) with black wheels near ridgedale and he waved at me. When i was driving my old honda, if you saw another honda kid, they'd rev at you! i guess i just found this interesting.....
Why do you want the BOV? Just for the sound? Atmospheric BOV's cause rich conditions on Subaru's, as the stock system is a BPV so it reinserts the air back in to the system between shifts. And no, this cannot be tuned out. While many people run atmospheric or 50/50 BOV's without problem, I wouldn't recommend one.
yeah, iwas doing some research on bov's for this car after i posted. and it is looking like it is not a good idea. i did want it for the sound but it is not worth it.
Welcome man. As a fellow person who went from the world of honda ('99 civic si -> '05 wrx wag) I know what it's like. Problem is, all the mods you *thought* were a "should do right away" are totally different on the subaru's. I think you got it nailed down somewhat right, but i would check out this post if you haven't yet. You could always park it at MOA in a remote area for a day or two I'm sure it would just walk away. lol. Anyways Welcome again. -Ryan
haha yeah i thought about doing something along those lines, but decided against! I finally was able to get it sold about 2 weeks ago now:biggrin:. I think I may have met you before at a mnsc northwest meet a few years back? Anyways, I am really loving the new car and will probably just drive it the way it is for a while. My first mod will probably be a roof rack and some snow wheels:biggrin: edit: does the info in that link pertain to the new wrx also? some good info there. I did not know that about the coolant thing with the turbo, pretty cool
Welcome aboard! I am not too familiar with the 08+ Imprezas but I would assume that they are fairly similar to the GD (02-07) series Imprezas so alot of the thread on this forum will be useful (like this thread http://www.mnsubaru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8892 ) I have heard alot of people who want to stay stock choose to go with suspension upgrades as they will make your car feel much quicker while keeping the stock power levels. Otherwise a stage 1 tune (stock car w/ a new ecu map) is a good route to go.
