Novice with a WRX. (Rant)

I have a buddy who just bought a 2011 WRX. He has had the car two weeks and is already talking about engine mods, acceleration, and top speeds. He has never owned anything with 300 hp, turbo, and AWD. When he told me he wanted to bump it up to 320 to 350 hp, I jokingly made the comment: "What, so you can end up in the ditch?".

Well apparently that rubbed him the wrong way.

I suggested to him to get some time out on the track to get to know his car before he makes decisions like that. What he should do is start with brakes and suspension, then move on to engine mods later.

I don't know if anyone would make that suggestion to a novice like what I have, but I feel I'm giving him better advice than what he has come up with for himself.

The reason I like this forum is that it is one of the few places that realize that the biggest fix any high performance car needs is a better driver. You are definitely right as I am sure that the car stock will most certainly out perform his driving abilities. If anything, I would adjust the handling and get used to the power before adding more. Just try to hold back from saying 'I told you so' when the thing ends up against a tree.

as a caveat to that i would add that he should drive the car to its potential on a stock suspension and KNOW what he wants to change, what he thinks it will do, and why that's good, before throwing parts at it.

My good friend went from a $400 Saturn to a 2007 G35 RWD. He keeps going on and on about how he is going to supercharge it. I've chirped the rears going 70 MPH at the top of 2nd gear, the thing does not need any more power. He's only 21 and not really a good driver.

The sad thing is that I have taken him to an autocross. I don't understand this need for more speed when you can't even handle the speed you have. I had another friend tell me I needed to turbo my Miata... Guess what, I've spun it on almost half of the autocross runs I've been on with it. More power is NOT what I need right now.

I have the same issues!! That's why i love forums like this.. real car guys, not birds with show cars with more money into motor mods than my racecar..

A good friend of mine went from a Del Sol (which was quite quick and paced my 2.2turbo legacy on one occasion) to a 95 Talon TSi AWD- 14b turbo from a 1st gen and exhaust, its quite the quick car, faster than my legacy to say the least.. I drove it one night with him and just flogging it in a straight line i had the boy squirming and grabbing for dear life.. these kids need to learn to drive slow cars fast.

I wouldn't hold back on the verbal abuse, i dish it out equally hard.

honestly I have rallied and done some time behind the wheels of a car that can handle. but the abilities of an WRX would make me pause... I am sure there is a steep learning curve.

He does not need more power. He needs good training.

Ask him how much it would cost to add power. Ask him how much faster it will actually allow him to go. Hand him a brochure for Skip Barber, Bondurant, etc. Inform him that training will cost less, make him faster, transfer to any vehicle he's in, and ultimately save him money by keeping him out of a ditch.

I generally have a low opinion of Evo/STi/WRX drivers on the track. Mondo power, AWD, and fancy computers cover up a lot of early mistakes and train bad habits. After a year or two, they end up being the worst drivers in "advanced" groups.

Don't get me wrong. They are GREAT cars, and I would love to have one. I'm sure a good driver in one would do pretty awesome things. I just think they are the wrong platform to begin learning in.

would it be a bad thing if he wound up in the ditch with his WRX? isn't that what they were built for?

Maybe I can find the pictures of the WRX that a 20-something bought ("his dream car", according to Mom) that wound up torn in half and scattered across several yards after he lost it going in a straight line. He's no longer among us here on planet earth. Nah, it won't help. Stupid people will just do stupid things, continually proving Darwin's theory of survival.

I have a friend who recently went from a Subaru Impreza wagon thing (sloww) to a lightly modded Acura RSX TypeS. And it was just non-stop "Supercharge or turbo? etc". Then I got him out on a track with it. Now it's "tires and brakes, just a little more power". It's a start!

Hey, when he totals it you can be the first on the drivetrain for a wicked swap. Let him roll.

I guess I'm the only one who wonders if this guy is just dreaming out loud?

I mean, would you buy a Corvette ZR1 and then start talking up all the mods you would make to the brakes or suspension?

For most gearheads there is never such a thing as too much horsepower. Sure, your own car has limits that you NOW recognize, but I'll bet the first few weeks after you bought it and BEFORE you found the boundaries of it's limits, you dreamed about "what this car could do with just XXX more horses".

IF, if, this guy has money to burn, I would try to steer him towards brake and suspension mods and a good driving school. But why rain on his parade when it's mainly a dream at this point?

In reply to integraguy:

And why I understand what you are saying, He's not talking about brakes and suspension, only engine mods. He couldn't stop talking about getting this car for 3 months (he had to order it and it got delayed because of the earthquake in Japan). He came from a base 2004 or something Sentra to a 300 HP WRX. He doesn't even have the engine broke in, he's babying it until then, and now it's like the car isn't even good enough, even though he hasn't driven it to it's potential.

And me personally, I wouldn't be telling people out loud about engine mods at this point, it would just make me look like a fool. If I had bought that car and started telling my dad everything I wanted to do to it two weeks after I bought it, he would tell me to cool my E36 M3 and probably give the same advice to me that I gave my buddy. I would definitely drive the car for a few months before I even started making any decisions on brakes, tires, and suspension.

It's not that I want to rain on his parade, it's that he's 30 years old and he needs to think logically before he makes a teenage mistake.

I will first echo the earlier comments of learning to drive, etc.

That's being said, I have a 2011 WRX (260hp stock, btw), and if he HAS to spend money on making more power, he should just get a Cobb AccessPort. The stock tune runs a bit lean in the midrange, and the tune fixes that. Plus, if he goes go other mods later (downpipe, etc) he can tune for that and not blow up his car. Subarus are really fickle about mods without a tune.

That being said, I spent my money on a big front sway bar, some wheels, and some 275 Hoosiers. Betcha mine's faster than his.

I have not owned a car prior to the Freestyle that I didn't want to add hundreds of HP to. Seriously. Some I did.

In reply to Gimp:

Are they only 260hp? My bad, for some reason I thought they were 300hp, am I thinking STi?

A few years ago I had a chance to pick up a used Z06 that was setup for autox and track. Price was right, and I knew the car. I finally thought "go from a normally aspirated Miata to a Z06. Do you really want to test your medical and life insurance policies?" I'm happy with my pedal car, no drama, low cost and lots of happy laps. Power is not always the answer.

As an enthusiast, HPDE instructor, racer... and long time proponent of more training I should wholeheartedly agree with you but... some guys do not live for the finer points of car control. The little victory of that first perfect corner or the giggle you make when you adjust attitude in the middle of a drift are lost on them. Sometimes a guy justs want to launch a missile down a straight piece of highway, hang on and then tell everyone at cocktail parties they went 150 mph.

If he is that guy... suggest he sell the WRX and get a Hyabusa. It will make him E36 M3 a brick.

As the owner of a 2009 WRX, I'll be first to say that the power is not lacking on these cars in stock form (265hp on the regular WRX, btw . If I wanted to spend money somewhere, I'd bring the brakes and suspension up to par with the power output.

The biggest problem on them in stock form is the brakes. They are really terrible, but they are really easy to upgrade. If he has money burning a hole in his pocket, tell him to get a new set of decent pads (like a set of of Hawk HPS's), some braided stainless brake lines, and some good hi-temp fluid.

These cars can get you in trouble fast if you don't know how to drive. They understeer really bad in stock form. The rear of my hatch in stock form felt a little squishy in the corners, so I threw in a STI rear swaybar. It helped, but it still needs more dampening all around. Since its my daily driver and not a track car, I'm happy where it is.

Another upgrade I did is wider wheels and tires. If he has a 2011, it should have 17x8's. Those are more than enough for these cars, and that's what I have on mine. His should have a 235/45/17 tire, but you can go with a 245/40/17 on those wheels. I did on mine, and it made a big difference in handling from my old 225/45/17's that came stock on my 2009.

Have him do that stuff, and then see if he can handle an increase in power. Last thing I need is another noob to crash one of these and have my insurance go up even more.

Knowing your car's braking and cornering limits will get you a lot more off a lap time than more HP. More HP only helps in the stoplight drags and bragging rights, which is important to some people.

Just remember, horsepower is an addiction.

Agree, learn to drive first.

That said, the WRX isn't exactly a monster at stock power levels. Hell, the STi is tame in stock form. It doesn't take godlike driving abilities to handle the extreme power output.

In reply to novaderrik:

I agree,

They're rally cars aren't they? Don't rally cars jump over embankments, hit trees, and catch on fire everyday?

So I say let him, thats not a car to learn autox in anyways

novaderrik wrote: would it be a bad thing if he wound up in the ditch with his WRX? isn't that what they were built for?

I must be a minority (even here) when I state that I really to do not see the need for more power. At least not "hundred and hundred" like said above. I prefer momentium cars

nah, you are not at all that ditch and tree will love that gift of a new wrx....