2015+ WRX/STI Review: Comparison to FRS/BRZ

[raven1231]

Originally Posted by ramiram1984

Very nice.

I'm eyeing that nameless axelback 4" muffler and tips.

That's probably all I'll do.

Check out the stage 2 WRX vs Stock Sti same year on youtube.

Yeah I saw that lol good video! The nameless axle back sounds mean!

[tyrantcf]

Originally Posted by raven1231

Thanks I love the color too lol that's why I had to wait so long. I don't mind the EL sound honestly. I think my only complaint is how quiet it is stock. You can barely hear it at all, although a j pipe/exhaust/and or intake will fix that quickly. I love the twin scroll turbo though . Car is an absolute blast to drive. Should be even better with a tune and TGV deletes!!! Getting the perrin shifter stop and cobb accessport first though!

I could not get over how quiet the 2015s are in stock form. I mean you literally can hear nothing, in comparison to my car at least. An axle/catback and a tune to smooth out the powerband a little would be the first mods I'd do I think.

[raven1231]

Originally Posted by tyrantcf

I could not get over how quiet the 2015s are in stock form. I mean you literally can hear nothing, in comparison to my car at least. An axle/catback and a tune to smooth out the powerband a little would be the first mods I'd do I think.

protune even on a stock car makes some very significant gains and makes a much nicer powerband up top (doesn't drop off)

[TylerLieberman]

@raven1231

Congrats on the purchase. The WRX is a fantastic car for the money. A little more exhaust note would be nice and a couple basic parts and ProTune will transform the car.

I agree on what you said about the shifter in that car; just horrendous. However, there's bushings and various other things to form the assembly up and I think that would be the first thing on my list if I had gotten the WRX.

[tyrantcf]

Originally Posted by TylerLieberman

@raven1231

Congrats on the purchase. The WRX is a fantastic car for the money. A little more exhaust note would be nice and a couple basic parts and ProTune will transform the car.

I agree on what you said about the shifter in that car; just horrendous. However, there's bushings and various other things to form the assembly up and I think that would be the first thing on my list if I had gotten the WRX.

I too think the regular shifter in the WRX is shite, but seeing as I was given an extended test drive, I was able to adapt to it pretty well. Did you get a chance to drive one with the STI shift kit?? My dealer doesn't have a car with it right now

[TylerLieberman]

Originally Posted by tyrantcf

I too think the regular shifter in the WRX is shite, but seeing as I was given an extended test drive, I was able to adapt to it pretty well. Did you get a chance to drive one with the STI shift kit?? My dealer doesn't have a car with it right now

Yes, I did. It felt exactly the same except shorter throws. There's still a good amount of slop and play. The bushing and shift stop seem to be the answer to the common complaint and everybody says it's well worth it.

I can see why too as a local friend did it to his and the shifter feels 100x better.

[raven1231]

Originally Posted by TylerLieberman

Yes, I did. It felt exactly the same except shorter throws. There's still a good amount of slop and play. The bushing and shift stop seem to be the answer to the common complaint and everybody says it's well worth it.

I can see why too as a local friend did it to his and the shifter feels 100x better.

Not to mention they are both cheap !

[thill]

Originally Posted by raven1231

Not to mention they are both cheap !

And you can do both yourself in about 30 minutes total.

[JZA61]

Heyo,

4 weeks ago, I traded my 2014 BRZ Limited for a new Rex. Broke my heart, loved the BRZ to death. Now love the Rex even more, though I reeeeeeeally miss drifting literally everywhere.



I now have 1300 miles on the car, and I love it. I'm going to try and be as thorough as possible highlighting what I believe to be some important things to know for all sorts of people.

Performance:

It goes without saying that straight line performance is much better. Going from a 450whp 85' Celica-Supra with a 1JZ (JZX100) I was begging for power in the BRZ. There's a catch to this though which many people do not know.

The throttle of the car is tuned to make you think the car is faster than it really is. If you put down 50% throttle, you're actually putting out near or at 100% throttle. So if you put your foot down expecting more, there is no more. This also makes economy driving very finicky and really drags out the learning period. I find this extremely annoying and thankfully, most tuning solutions fix this.

The car is officially rated at a 5.2-5.4 0-60 time. As always, this depends on the driver. My car is also equipped with the STi Short Shift Kit and the same Voodoo Shift Knob I got for my BRZ. The throws feel very similar to my BRZ except with more freeplay (Sloppy I guess? You get used to it). It also has a modified clutch and the catching point is now very comfortable on the floor. (This is a free mod that is also possible on the BRZ/FRS. It's just adjusting a bolt on the clutch pedal.)

Once I hit 1000 miles and break-in was solid, I went batshit. I tried numerous 0-60 runs with a passenger at the stop watch (My 100 pound fiance). My average was around 5.1-5.3 with heavy clutch abuse. My fastest were 3-4 runs at 4.8's (Maybe a 4.7 without a passenger yeah?). I did maybe 15 pulls. I feel my clutch modification and STi shift kit greatly assisted in the faster runs.

Handling:

I'm very please with the handling of this car. I've driven an Evo X hard, and a 2nd gen STi hard. This car well outperforms the old STi's imho, though it's not really near Evo level (Did you really expect it to be?). I can definitely feel the influence from the BRZ. Driven at the limit, it's very comparable to the BRZ. I'm sure we've all seen that video from years ago where a stock FR-S gets on stock gen 3 WRX track times with a nice set of Dunlops. I highly doubt that is still possible. The "fake" torque vectoring system really shines through. (Real torque vectoring actually sends variable amounts of torque to wheels that need it the most to achieve godly handling. The new WRX and STi use the breaks instead to achieve this. Look at it like Voss vs. Dasani Water.)


OFF-ROAD handling

"Yay! I bought a rally car! I'ma be so pro on the dirt!"
This is not the case. It is and will always be a street knock-off of WRC legends (Not saying it's a bad thing). Can you have fun in the dirt? Absolutely. But don't expect it to last forever.

My parents live in about 1000sq miles of dirt roads in the middle of no-where 45 minutes away from where I'm at in Las Vegas. As part of my go crazy tests, I had a lot of fun up there. There are sharp turns, long straights, hills, you name it. These roads are very flat and relatively well maintained though. The car felt amazing. Whether it was a "Scandinavian flick" type stuff or a 110MPH straight (Why yes, I did <3), the car always responded well and felt very controlled. These roads were flat and relatively smooth for Arizona dirt, and if that weren't the case this would not have happened.

Real rally cars have an insane amount of suspension work and chassis upgrades, and they break all the time. From inverted coil-overs to full body roll cages. If you run off-road aggressively several times monthly, you will destroy your car very quickly. (Not as quick to wreck the drivetrain as an Evo at least.) I may be sounding to harsh though. This car will absolutely drive on the dirt better than most and take you all sorts of amazing places. Just don't push it.

Interior:

Overall I'm satisfied. I don't have to bust out my emergency chainsaw to fit an anorexic child in the back, and I can probably fit at least 10 fat kids in the trunk. Happy. The stock base stereo is garbage

My favorite thing about the interior is the steering wheel. Very comfortable. I also no longer need to break my arm to use the center cup holders like I did in my BRZ.

The seats? Picture the BRZ seats with a touch of SUV. It's not as bad as it sounds. They're a little bigger and a little less grippy with a more upright position, but they're still pretty sporty feeling and hug just fine. The "squish" is more comfortable. I'm 6"3 and 170 pounds so I actually use most of the seat. If you're 5'8 your opinion might be very different.

The most important part: Aftermarket

This car is down-tuned like the chicken at Panda Express. It puts down around 220whp and 240wtq. Buy a Cobb Accessport and Brentuning's Protune. The Cobb Accessport is a community trusted OTS Flashing tool. You know all those wonderful orgasms Open Flash Tablet brought us? Cobb gives us that with the Accessport, with like 1000 years of experience on the same 2 cars.

A Cobb Stage 1 tune will yield you about 20whp and 30wtq gains with no other mods. Meh I say. The PROtune Brentuning offers gives you 50whp and 70wtq with basically no mods. The Cobb AP is $650. The Cobb AP with a Brentuning Protune is $800. (That's 150 for the tune when you buy the AP with it) Stage 2 just adds to the fun.

These cars are not like the BRZ/FRS. You cannot just add an intake and exhaust and call it a day (For those less familiar with boo0o0st)
The FA20DIT has shown some incredible numbers on minimal mods so far. But considering we're dealing with a turbo version, modifications without a tune can blow your motor very quickly. This means you can't be a Honda guy and just buy the ETS CAI, toss it on, and claim 15whp gains and that the car runs honkey dory. If you can't "Gitgud" and get a Protune from Bren or Ecutek or something, at bare minimum if you want some bolt-ons, you're getting a Cobb or a blown motor. (Or a different engine management. Tons out there)

Pick your mods, buy em but don't install them, buy a tune of some sort, and you're all set. Simply plan ahead.

Coilovers are in about the same price range as the twins, so nice and cheap for some decent quality ones. (I chose the ISC N1's) The WRX also has 5x114 now, so all those 5x114 rims that look sick without a 5x100 version, you can finally get.

Lots of function parts out there, not many form ones. I'll be picking up the only reasonable lip kit, the $600 HTC one. Carbon Creations has a similar looking one for $2,300 that's all carbon fiber. Who the hell wants to daily drive a fragile 2-grand barely noticeable lip kit?

WRX or STi?

I had the budget for either, and chose the WRX>STi. Silly? Not as much as you'd think. Here's why:

DCCD? Nice, but meh.
The STi has the same motor (EJ) it's had for the last 15 years, and it still has ringland failure leading to blown motors. 2 things will happen. It'll stay that way and they'll actually fix it in later years, or it'll get a FA25DIT. (How sexy does that sound?) It's even totally reasonable the STi will get the FA20DIT. Stage 1 tunes, which simply unlock potential already there on a stock WRX, yield noticeably more whp and htq than a stock STi. And that only costs $800. The motor in the STi is a legend, but it's tired. I consider 15+ WRX owners Subaru's guinea pigs for their decision on the next STi motor.

I'm sure a ton of people in here love the FA20 DI, you will love the DIT version even more. The extra several thousand dollars for an STi suspension set up, EJ, and DCCD are simply not worth it. You were going to buy coilovers and strut bars anyway. For me, the biggest upside to the STi is the quicker steering ratio and interior. Everything else? Get a WRX.

On the flip side, because the EJ has been out forever, you want a 450whp 2015 STi in a week? Totally possible.

TL;DR
WRX>STi
Stock Performance: Certainly satisfying
Easily attainable tuned performance:
Handling: Very satisfied
Interior and sound: 7.5/10
Looks: <3

(I had another account on here and always went creeper checking out random stuff out here, but I pretty much never actually used the account. Had to make a new one lol)

[TylerLieberman]

@JZA61 congrats on the purchase, however:

The difference in price between the STI and WRX is much more than the suspension setup and DCCD. The STI also receives brembo brakes all around, 18" wheels/tires, limited slip diffs front and rear (compared to the WRX which has open front and rear), along with a MUCH better transmission and blah blah. The suspension is also deeper than just springs/struts; it's bushings, control arms, and more.

WRX is still the better bang for buck car without a doubt. Most people don't need a STI as all they'll do is drive the car around the street. Then again, most people with an STI don't need it either cause all they do is drive around on the street too lol. You definitely get your money's worth though when you spend the extra on the STI.

I always felt the previous gen WRX/STIs felt a bit sloppy and like they needed a good amount of work. The new ones are much better though. The WRX still leaves a lot to be desired though to me and while everything I had complaints about could be addressed through aftermarket, I've just grown so tired of spending so much damn money on building up cars.

The new STI though, f*ck dude... It finally feels like a complete car from the factory. I'm over a month in and by this point, I'm normally chomping at the bit to start modifying stuff. With this though, still perfectly content with being stock.

You can't go wrong with either choice, it's just a matter of what suits your needs/goals. The WRX and STI are definitely both worth their asking price in my opinion.

[JZA61]

@Tyler

You for sure I know there's a lot more within the STi, just tried to keep it short and sweet haha. The Brembo's I did forget about, the diffs, bushing differences, and tranny can be taken with a grain of salt really. Are they really needed? Meh imo. Definitely nice to have, but I can't really justify another EJ. I also feel it would be considerably cheaper to purchase aftermarket suspension components to match all the differences, and you'd probably get a better result. (It won't be cheaper if you don't install them yourselves though) I think the only big thing is the thicker control arms? (Pulling from memory here)

Tranny is for sure better, and that was a big thinking point for me, but I figured I'd be too worried about ringland failure to really get to use it at high horse.

I can definitely agree on the STi though! I was a brat and did several test drives in both cars before buying. The STi did feel really quite nice as is, extremely satisfying to drive in stock form, obviously more so than the Rex. I would certainly see how your standpoint on being tired of modding and mine dependent on it would decide the car.


As for the rims, those don't count! This car looks best on 19's.

[TylerLieberman]

Hmmm.. Not really a fan of the 19s honestly. Those cars look useless to me. I bought my car to drive it, not park it and take photos of it.

I'll stick with 18s

[tyrantcf]

Well I went ahead and put down a deposit on an incoming one

[raven1231]

Originally Posted by tyrantcf

Well I went ahead and put down a deposit on an incoming one

Welcome to the other family!