2019 Subaru WRX Review (400whp) - Does Fast Equal Fun?
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- Опубліковано 13 жов 2024
- My first time behind the wheel of a VA chassis WRX. With full bolt-ons and a flex fuel tune, let's see how this 400whp AWD family car tackles the canyons.
/ zygrene
2019 WRX Limited
DGR coils stock 8k spring
Blox rear lca
White line rck
Advan Rs-df 18x10+40 wrapped in extreme contact sport
Mishimoto CAI
Cobb catted dp
Invidia q300 exhaust and mid pipe
Cobb ebcs
Cobb flex fuel
Aem low pressure pump
Tuned for ethanol 0-60%, makes 400whp at e50 on a cool day
As many here have stated, the STI is clearly the better all round enthusiast car for those who can afford it. For those on a tighter budget the WRX offers a great base to build from, particularly for owners who value raw performance and capability. Refining a platform like this over time with choice mods to be as good or better than it's STI counterpart is what affordable Japanese performance cars have always been about.
What mods to do this?
I have a built 06 STI, a 12 hatch and my daily is a 380 whp e60 tuned 16 wrx. It’s the best daily I have ever had. 4 doors, seats fold down, I drive it in the winter and snow, I surprise anyone that pulls up and wants to do a run in a straight line and I live around incredible roads for “spirited” driving. In a weird way The numbness is just confidence inspiring for me to accelerate through an apex harder with no fear . Idk. For a daily VA’s are gold. 🤟🏻
After three years of ownership of an 18 WRX, I came to the conclusion I need to buy a pure sports car.
This comes from the facts:
1) The car is too heavy which means the consumables are going quite fast. Usually 2-3 track days my brake performance will drop significantly (I've been using EBC yellow and DBA rotors, fluids), and you can feel the performance going down after each session. Tires TOO.
2) The gearing spacing between 2nd and 3rd is too wide imo, making downshifts difficult and it puts more stress on the clutch.
3) The rev hang was unbearable even after three years of trying to get used to it. I went for Cobb stage 1 for the last year but the tune completely killed the responsiveness of the engine at daily driving speed. The worst thing about the rev hang is that it is unpredictable, sometimes it decides to stay hanging a little longer sometimes a little shorter. I grew weary of dealing with that.
4) On the limit the car can only understeer. You will never feel the car rotate like a pure sports car (eg. brz, elise, GR supra). It is a safe car to drive on the limit but also a boring car I dare to say.
5) Steering is totally lifeless as Zygrene stated in the video. Because this car so relies on not going over the front end limit, it is a shame there is no feedback at all.
6) Top mount intercooler can get hot. On track my guess is that the whp can drop to 200 flat because of the heat soak. The peppy engine you feel on the street was not there when on track.
So, I've reached a point there's nothing I can do more about the car unless I invest more into engine modifications, big brake kits etc.., and due to the dynamics I feel I cannot learn more from driving the car either. At that point I decided to move on.
***End of my rant against WRX**
(My modifications included coilovers, sway bars, strut tower bars, brake pads/rotors/fluids, Cobb stage 1, catback exhaust, perrin transmission mount, clutch...)
Not trying to stop you from moving on from your WRX, do it, but for future reference EBC yellows are not good man. Just marketing forum pads. They fall off and eat rotors.Try some true track compound pads like Endless, project Mu and you'll be good to go for track days in most cars
@@cs2294 Thanks for the advice. One issue I had was I couldn’t find any endless pads online or endless pads that fit the stock calipers.
Props for writing all that. Very informative
I came to that conclusion after a 20 minute test drive of the wrx. It's just a bit too ordinary. I think the crossover interior in the new one makes it even worse. Get a GR86/BRZ and you'll feel so much more driving the car. The new one is about as fast too.
went from a '15 BRZ to an STi. STi is fun but its a boat, going back to a BRZ lol. My '23 should be here next month
Made 400whp on a dyno with stock charge pipe and stock top mount?
I believe a STi would fix a lot of the issues you have with this car. Most notable being the inclusion of a hydraulic steering rack with a quick steering ratio. I agree though, I never enjoyed my STi nearly as much as my BRZ & S14 on a mountain road.
If you're not dealing with snow AWD is worthless
@@FATmenDRIVEtrucks A properly set up AWD car can be a ton of fun. It requires a completely different driving style, though. Even in the dry, an AWD car can dominate compared to a FF or FR, IF it was set up correctly. Subarus need a lot of front camber and caster to turn in well. Also, the importance of a good LSD in the rear cannot be overstated.
Out of the box, they're not so great. I am still partial to FF & FR layouts.
I've never driven an STI from this gen. Would be interesting!
@@FATmenDRIVEtrucks I wouldn't go as far as say its worthless, it does spoil you quite nicely when u can blast out of a hairpin in 2nd with 0 worries. dry, wet, snow gravel w/e
@@FATmenDRIVEtrucks good lord !! Some of this comments are literally brainless thoughts 🤦♂️
Stock doesn’t have the lag. It ramps boost on modded and tuned wrx to save internals and reduce lspi
As a current owner of the VA chassis. Was waiting for you to review one of these!
how? please educate me how its making 400whp with stock TMIC and chargepipe?
Intelligent delivery. Subscribed!
@zygrene enjoying your videos, just subscribed, you've driven lots of cars at the track wanted to get your input. Was going to pickup a new 2023 wrx for track driving, all the new wrx owners online say it's fine for track but the Subaru engineer at the Willow Springs event told me if I wanted to track to get older STI, he said new WRX has open diffs straight from the Forester and numb electric steering, he said that all STI models came standard with front LSD, center DCCD, and rear LSD with hydraulic steering to feel what the front is doing. Is the Subaru engineer blowing BS or telling the truth? Or are the WRX owners online right saying all-wheel-drive are all the same regardless of it was WRX, STI, GTR, Evo.
Do you trust a Subaru engineer or the Subaru vape driver crowd?
@@davidzebar6876 true
I own a modded wrx. I personally think it’s fantastic for what it is. But what is it? It’s an econobox sedan with plenty of daily driver space.
My base wrx was 28k out the door, and I’ve taken it to over a dozen track days in my ownership. Not 50 track days, not 100… just over a dozen. Why am I saying this? Because it’s not a track car. It’s a cheapish daily that with pads and fluid can do a lapping day with out much issue. (Until you know what you’re doing and then brakes will start burning and oil temps will be sky high)
But if you cannot have a two seater, want ~33 mpg on highway commutes, and be a part of the car community, the wrx does it’s job exceptionally well at its price point. At least the 2015-21 did. The new ones lost the price value.
the VA chassis is very capable and currently holds a handful of world records including fastest nurburgring run in a 4dr sedan at 6:57.5 in the VA chassis WRX STI Type RA NBR. these cars can truly do it all. look up an older video i believe by touge engineering, they won an open class time attack challenge with a VA fa20 wrx against a crowd of much more expensive cars, including heavily modded evos, Stis, corvettes etc. edit again: it was by touge tuning sorry, not touge engineering here is the vid ua-cam.com/video/7Dl9QZsaIp4/v-deo.html
edit: also that one looks a bit too low for touge, not enough suspension travel. i have a nearly stock 21 base model wrx with just 17x8.5 +40 rpf1's, 245/45 indy 500s, 4pot front brembo swap, thicker rear sway, front camber bolts on stock suspension and its one of the quickest cars ive ever driven through fish ranch, 9, marsh creek and some of the rougher one lane roads we have out here. it rotates off throttle very predictably and absolutely eats bumps gaps and potholes without even caring.
3:59, shifter is good because it's cable as opposed to older ones with the linkage which got kinda clunky and sometimes worn out over time. new bushings or just deletes fix that
Needs more handling mods! Upgrade the sway bars, endlinks etc.
I think you should do a series on sedans to find the best “sports sedan”.
Great idea!
can you review the VA STI as well? i tried my friend's stock wrx and a stock sti.... it was a big big big difference. both manual. the wrx just felt lifeless and soft...
It's not necessarily "turbo lag" as much as it's poor gear selection. Probably could be tuned to boost early. What was the deal with the brakes, carbon ceramic?
Great review! Hope you get to review and compare a GR Corolla in future!
you should try a modified GD, after the GD they were softened quite a lot - especially from a suspension point of view
that said i hear you guys in LHD markets got terrible steering racks in almost all your subarus, 'steering dampers'
Nice! I think you’d enjoy how much the 22 pulls lower down
Love seeing you show how folks are winding their cars up and giving your honest opinion of their mods. I'm sure this WRX's road manors would be vastly improved with a little time dialing in the chassis. I don't know if the banshee squeal of the RR Racing BBK was intentional, but it's a bit rich for my taste. Granted I'm an old fart who survived having a 2 year old throwing a tantrum in the back seat, so maybe I'm bias. Keep up the good work Fenton.
This is a car that is best left as stock as possible.
Yup. Every Subaru owner's first mod should be a real alignment. Caster + camber = win. When I had my sti, I would dust people who put 15k+ in their WRX/sti. All I had was an alignment and suspension mods to achieve that alignment.
💯
Yep this car got ruined by negative value coilovers
A stage 0, or stage 1 AP OTS to take away the rev hang also relieves strain on engine. All i have done is a AP for diagnostics and nothing else engine wise. Love how it drives
@@funkad95 so your alignment made up for 15K of mods towards hp/torque. Lmao go take your meds
I bought a 2015 when this gen came out to replace my amazing 8th gen si. I remember being soooo let down when I drove home and around the first week. I did everything I could to try and make it fun. Sti shocks, lowering springs, alignment, intake, rear sway. The issue w the car was how terrible the steering was but even worse how bad this car handles with the front and rear open diffs. It never really would turn in and had unnerving understeer on power. I really didn't like this car. Sold it after a year and got one of the last new evo x still avail. It was the best car I ever owned. Modded and drove it hard for 5 years. I'll always miss the evo but had no good memories of the wrx.
Love the content man! Keep it up!!
The squeaky brakes just ruined the experience..😢
Wonder what he thinks of the s209 or type RA
Oh boy that squeal is no joke.
we need to get you in a STI with the hydraulic steering rack + the DCCD system to get your thoughts. Definitely more performance focused
The sti has a horrible steering feel too…its so light
@@H8HotWeather I have a 2019 and the steering isn't light at all + the feel is decent for a modern car. Maybe you drove a different generation?
@@wadesloan 2011 sti
@@H8HotWeather lmao the steering in my 2021 is heavy nothing light about it.
After the first stream from the brake, I would stop using it all together...
Full send 😏💯💯💯💯💯💯
The wide body was so much better than this generation
I felt the stock tune on this car doesn't have much lag, much less than the EJ255 prior to this gen. I am curious what it takes to push the power to 400? Does it need any forged internals? Bigger turbos? More cooling?
Stock internals and turbo. Full bolt ons (intake, downpipe, midpipe, catback), flex fuel, and Cobb access port for the tune.
I really hope those dyno numbers were way fudged...400 whp on that shitty stock TMIC?
Yeah the sti is beautiful in corners.
lol, ur friend doesn't know what he's doin, my WRX is well balanced has less power at stg2, but i have an rear LSD, steering dampner lockdown and s209 strutower brace with good tires all these thing combined make the front end feel alot more solid and communicative car feel more rwd not plowing into wall understeer. you friend put too much horsepower not enough handling and car is overwhelmed. drive an s209 you know how capable the VA chassis is being a true drivers car.
What kind of rear lsd did you get?
This always would be my worst nightmare if lending a car to a youtuber lol. You better be darn sure it's well sorted before putting it out there on the internet. Glad Zy can be so honest during the review but I couldn't help thinking of the poor vape boi that most likely owns this! I'll take an STI or a Focus RS all day long over a modded WRX.
The owner is a good friend of mine, and he's aware of the car's shortcomings. He doesn't track his car, so it seems to fit his needs just fine. He also has plans to improve things like the throttle response between shifts. So it's all good!
@@Zygrene Still friends after this vid...!? Lol. That's good to hear. Love seeing all sorts of cars on the channel though so I'm not complaining. Thanks for the content! Excited for my shirt coming in the near future.
@@dsher503 Still friends after the video! (and sorry to disappoint but I'm not a vape boi) The car is far from sorted but that's part of why I wanted Zygrene's review and input. I wouldn't want him to sugar coat his review and I'm looking forward to fixing some of his qualms before bringing it back (better suspension, reduced turbo lag, tightened steering, and of course new pads)
@@tomwinget Haha hopefully no offense was taken from my comment. Still love a Wrx for the winter time. Lucky to have a friend like Zygrene! I'd be asking all the time to get some seat time in the awesome cars he has on this channel. Good luck with the mods and cheers!
I’m a RWD car guy but I guess I wouldn’t mind having a wrx as a daily since it’s able to drive on mostly all terrain.
as a 2018 wrx owner, those brakes would drive me nuts!
I'd have brought it back to the owner after the first banshee brake squeal, and told them to call me when they figure out that and every other job they half-assed on their car. The WRX has a ton of potential, but not every owner has the skill, desire or perseverance to unleash it. One driver's opinion of this platform, with literally endless available variations to choose from, this owner's build being only one, well you know what they say about opinions...🤑
Love my 19 sti limited rally Blue
You’re lugging the engine. In 2nd gear under 3k rpm’s and your going WOT. You have to drive the car properly to get its full potential. Turbo for wrx doesn’t kick in till 3.5k rpm’s, down shift my man!
Taking a huge gamble when modifying a Subaru.
I think you don't know what you don't know. Coming from a 2016 mazda 3, my 2020 wrx handles amazing and I love the awd forgives me for not being amazing. I drove the most powerful 4 cyl currently made with my friends amg 45 and yes it handled great and fast but I didnt get that fun excitement I get with my Rex.
The problem is when you drive high end sports car possible to lose connection in terms of judging the performance. Technical car it is not, think of it as a bmx bike. Just meant to have fun and tear up some terrain. It should feel a lot more raw and analog then your recent reviews just saying.
Those brakes almost make this unwatchable lol
I agree that it’s all a matter of perspective. WRX is a great “only” car. I’d imagine especially practical and fun for people who live where it snows.
Don’t have rally experience but I’d think the added weight is less of an issue on loose surfaces. On paved roads though, it’s just going to understeer.
Zygrenes experience is definitely performance/track oriented so the bar is really high.
I personally own an NA Miata. I completely underestimated how significantly different a lightweight, balanced, rwd car feels to anything else. That being said, it’s so fun because it’s no compromises, focused on driving dynamics. This means it’s only really great if you have another car or live somewhere where the weather is consistently nice.
Seems like you just got the WRX but when you’re ready to move on, highly recommend dipping your toes in the world of lightweight, rwd cars. Tons of fun if your living situation permits.
@@kipp4805 You are very right. It was bewteen an rf miata and my WRX. I loved the feeling of the Miata but i live in the Northeast and the Miata wouldn't make it up my hill of the driveway in snow. So I def will get something along those lines as a summer and spring toy.
@@daniellanzotti2391 WRX is a great car if you love it for what it is and don't try to put a ton of money and mods into it imo. Can't beat a Subaru in snow as well!
He's not only driving "high-end" sports cars. He drives every day Joe sports cars too. So he definitely knows what he's talking about. Your problem is you're comparing your WRX to a Mazda 3. Compare it to an s2000 or something that's actually a sports car.
I take it that you are considering the S2000 and BRZ/GR86 are high end sports cars?
Those brakes are an embarrassment
You are pretty spot on. The straight line is quite bad too. Horrible stock powerband and tune.
Almost all the driving dynamics is awful - powerband, seating, gearing and the worse is the steering.
Seriously dont see why people keep buying these and keep modding them.
People keep on buying them for a couple reasons. My reasons for justifying one would be I can only have one car, I need AWD (mountainous snowy terrain IE AWD and snow tires will eat anything else’s lunch), and I want a manual. The only other option is the golf R and it’s too expensive. The GR Corolla is coming out but dealers are going to kill it before it arrives because of the markups.
U have to realize it's not your car he might like the lag he has it set up for him or he dosen't know whag he's doing
it's a time bomb
Imma say no