2005 Subaru Impreza WRX
I’ve been a fan of the Imprezas for years, but I (along with many others) wondered why the US market never got the WRX, well until 2002. So the Cherokee was aging and had its fair share of gremlins. I was beginning to question its reliability, so I begun the search for a new car.
I knew that the WRX was something that fit the bill (I specifically wanted something peppy, four door, and good in the crappy weather), but I felt that deciding on the Subaru without looking around a bit more would be too impulsive. After more investigation, and a number of test drives, I found that the WRX was still the car for me.
Stock Specs
- Horsepower
- 227
- Skid-pad
- .87G
- Displacement
- 2.2L
- 0-60
- 5.2 seconds
- Cost New
- $24,500 (2005 dollars)
Modifications & Future Plans
I’ve made a pledge to keep the WRX stock. I figure this means that I can’t make any modifications that both: can’t be easy to reverse, and don’t replace perfectly good car parts.
This pretty much means that the only modifications I may even consider are a stereo swap (unlikely unless the stock unit totally ceases to function), and a wheel and tire package (which I’ve done under the guise of “summer tires”).
The “summer tires” swap was done with a limited budget in mind. I purchased the cheapest rims I could find on Tire Rack and wrapped them with a nice set of BFG Comp T/As (ironically I would have purchased 17″ rims, but the 18″ rims were even cheaper).
With the tires I also “upgraded” the brakes to cryo rotors (the stock rotors were suffering from warping when hot), and performance pads. Again, this upgrade was done on a budget. I decided against slotted rotors because it would have doubled the cost, and it really didn’t make any sense.