Monthly Archives: February 2014

Press Release Review of 2015 Subaru STI

http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1090383_2015-subaru-wrx-sti-first-drive

Motor Authority and a few other e-mags have gotten their hands on the 2015 Subaru STI, conducting driving sessions on Central California roads and Leguna Seca. I’m not sure if I like Motor Authority’s article, though, because they talk more of the WRX than the STI. Car enthusiasts are already aware (or should be) of the WRX’s capabilities…we don’t need to hear of them in an STI comparison and the same thing didn’t occur within the WRX’s review.

Also, note that this isn’t a full review…this was still more of a glorified press release (the gamut of typical review tests were not run).

Of note, the review didn’t hint of overly abundant understeer or any glaring problems that should’ve been sorted. This actually wasn’t a bad review to read if you can focus solely on the STI-specific content.

GT86 with 2JZ engine – Quarter-mile run


I saw this on G+ and when I read the initial caption, I immediately said to myself, that’s not a GT86…

It is, but in shell only, as it has a 2JZ engine (Toyota Supra). When you start swapping engines, your car is no longer what it once was.

As well, the video was rather boring…it had two minutes of fat that shoudld’ve been trimmed by the author (mostly drag strip posturing/posing). The car ran a low 10-sec quarter-mile, but I expected it to, with a modified 2JZ.

Motor Trend’s Mini-Video of the 2015 Subaru WRX

Now, this specific video irritated me.  The other Motor Trend reviews (the WRX and Focus ST comparison and the CVT WRX review) were much better and he didn’t go off on some media vendetta in those videos, although there was a bit of it in the CVT review of the WRX.  This one irritated me so much that I left a rather nasty comment on YouTube about it:

+Jonny Lieberman kinda irritating that you keep mentioning the lack of a hatch in your video.  You wasted a LOT of time in that video harping on shit that has nothing to do with the car that you’re driving in the video.You’ve a rather subjective hangup and it marred the review…if you can’t stay objective about things, maybe you need to let someone who doesn’t have a Subaru background review the car?  Review the freaking car and not Subaru’s motives…if I wanted that, I’d keep reading the B.S. on NASIOC.  We already know the hatch is gone and we already know Subaru’s decision on why…no need to keep stirring that pot (too much stirring screws up the dish).  Loved you in the other reviews of this car…hated you with a passion in this one.

I don’t expect everyone to agree with me on this, as I know the hatch fans have been bitching about the lack of a hatch since last November.  It’s time to move on, though.  It’s kinda late for Subaru to change their minds and it will probably take a very long time to get another hatch on the drawing board.  No, it is not as simple as most people say it is…those people have no understanding of designing a product and this isn’t as simple as cutting up or adding material to the sedan’s structure…trust me, if that were the case, there wouldn’t be the issue of a lack of a hatch.

Lieberman pissed me off because he immediately went on this “no hatch” tirade and wasted valuable video review time.  Then he was saying like, “Subaru alienated 50% of their buyer base”.  No matter what decision they made, they’d have had to cut some fat somewhere…it it weren’t the hatch guys that would’ve been pissed, it would’ve been the sedan guys.  With my project management experience, I understand that in order to have a bang-on end result, sometimes we have to give up some things as the price for success.  Too many people (and journalists, obviously) live pipe dreams and tend to want things their way, without compromise or exception…that’s sometimes a real problem in today’s society and is probably why us Americans have so many issues that most countries don’t have.  It’s sad.

I hated Lieberman’s whining so much in this video that I feel he tainted the whole video.  I was iffy on if I would even publish it here…I hated it that much.  For someone with his background, he’s awfully whiny about the lack of a hatch.  He claims he owned the original USDM WRX (which, ironically, wasn’t a hatch, although they did have wagon versions).  He also beat the fuck out of the proverbial dead horse by mentioning how ugly the 2015 WRX was (another highly subjective comment).  You know, I’ve seen better reviews on Jalopnik (and that isn’t saying all that much).

STI-specific Walbro Fuel Pump

So, I’m currently conducting research on the parts I want to install before I go to get tuned.  One of the parts is a Walbro 255LPH fuel pump.

In my quest of knowledge, I decided to check several import shops for this part.  I found this link.  It’s a $98 part that comes with an install kit.  It also has a customer review section on that page.  There are several reviews that mention that the factory housing had to be modified a bit for it to fit.  Dunno if I like that, but if I can understand what area of the housing needed grinding, I can fortify myself with that knowledge when the time comes for me to swap out the stock part with the Walbro.

One of the reviews also stated that the install kit was a waste of money and wasn’t needed.  He’s probably right, as I remember doing a direct swap when I bought a Walbro for my Talon back in the day…it was a direct swap and no install kit was needed then, either.  This link is the Walbro without the install kit.  it also has a linked video (which I’ll embed in this post) and a review that states there are YouTube videos that show how to modify/grind the factory housing.

 

EDIT:

That video was LONG and INVOLVED! Good grief. I don’t remember the Talon’s swap being that complicated. The video didn’t show the modding of the housing but did state that IWSTI had a write-up in their How-To section about modifying the housing. I looked for it and found it here.

Jalopnik Reviews 2015 WRX!

So, I discovered a recent review of the 2015 WRX by Jalopnik. It was an ‘okay’ review…read as a bit amateurish, IMO. There were a few comments I didn’t like (I left responses), such as, “this car looks boring” when they were discussing the Detroit Auto Show debut. When all you have to do is look at cars on display, that whole day can be boring, no matter what you’re looking at.

The review is here. I linked it because I’ve linked many others as well, but to be honest, this really wasn’t an exceptional review…it’s not that the car was “boring”, but more that the author’s comments weren’t really descriptive. They really didn’t test anything about the car…they just drove it around in snow for a week and commented on that experience. Meh…that’s not what I look for in reviews.

2015 VW Golf R – R&T First Review!

Item of note: the DSG model of the 2015 Golf R will supposedly do a sub 5-sec 0-60…the 6-sp manual will be in the low 5s (5.3s or so).

As well, apparently, this car won’t ship until very late this year or early next year, due to the fact that this car is being built exclusively in Germany (the GTI is built in Mexico, and ships to the US quicker).

R&T also states that the 3-door version may actually be produced for the US. That’s not particularly a big deal for me (I’m not really interested in a VW at this point in time), but some people are wanting that model.

Next Generation Subaru Legacy!

2015 Subaru Legacy!

 

More information on this car can be read @ http://www.caranddriver.com/news/2015-subaru-legacy-photos-and-info-news

Also, take a look at this page to see the difference between this car and it’s concept…the similarities are very striking. I wanted to include that page because I’ve seen Subaru fans ranting that the car doesn’t look anything like it’s concept…they couldn’t be more wrong (the rear end does differ but the rest of the car is pretty close to the concept).

Older VW Sciroccos

While the VW Scirocco is a far cry from a Subaru WRX, they are definitely highly sought-out cars and are rather rarely seen in public…in fact, I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen one in person.  A friend had one when we were in high school and I loved to ride shotgun in that car.

Here’s a good link to view pictures and read about them.