A couple oldie but goodies for RX-8 TX

In the snow

http://eric.myimprezawrx.com/video/firststart.wmv

In the sand

http://www.uvm.edu/~cbalduin/clips/cartrouble2.wmv

Originally posted by IkeWRX
A couple oldie but goodies for RX-8 TX

In the snow

http://eric.myimprezawrx.com/video/firststart.wmv

In the sand

http://www.uvm.edu/~cbalduin/clips/cartrouble2.wmv

Darn it! I'll look through my archive..wait! heck, my archive is made up of flicks you posted! Sheetz!

Love the sand music... boob-da-daboob, da-da-boom.... :cool:

the second link doesn't seem to be working

Guess it got to many hits, I'll see if I can dig it up from another source later.

Ike

didn't work for me either

Ike what the hell is that thing in your avatar

does any one know what song that is for the one in the sand?

If you're asking for the soundtrack in firststart.wmv, it's:

rob d - clubbed to death (kurayamino mix).

It can be found in the Matrix soundtrack.

thanks man :)

Hmmm looks like the link is working again...

Originally posted by mikeb
didn't work for me either

Ike what the hell is that thing in your avatar


You act like you've never seen humping bananas before...

lol

oh I see it now

Man, I'd never do that in the sand to any car I owned....maybe if it was a rental (hee hee). That stuff is virtually impossible to get rid of once you let it into your car....and if it gets anywhere where it can work itself into a bearing or joint.....I don't even want to think about it.

Originally posted by o_town_racer
Man, I'd never do that in the sand to any car I owned....maybe if it was a rental (hee hee). That stuff is virtually impossible to get rid of once you let it into your car....and if it gets anywhere where it can work itself into a bearing or joint.....I don't even want to think about it.

Some people just value fun over some pesky sand and bearings :)

Originally posted by IkeWRX


Some people just value fun over some pesky sand and bearings :)

Until you have to deal with the regional rep.

Here's a few from when I had my wrx 2 years ago, mostly road course though.

http://wrx.swankmonkey.com/video/

Originally posted by syntrix


Until you have to deal with the regional rep.

Here's a few from when I had my wrx 2 years ago, mostly road course though.

http://wrx.swankmonkey.com/video/

Did you see the guy's engine, I don't think he'll be bringing it to the dealer for servive :p I'm curious about the link on your site, where are the Godspeed videos clicked the link but didn't see them.

Ike

Originally posted by syntrix


Until you have to deal with the regional rep.

Here's a few from when I had my wrx 2 years ago, mostly road course though.

http://wrx.swankmonkey.com/video/

So you traded up to an 8? How do you like the car?

Originally posted by IkeWRX


Did you see the guy's engine, I don't think he'll be bringing it to the dealer for servive :p I'm curious about the link on your site, where are the Godspeed videos clicked the link but didn't see them.

Ike

They are offline, as he posted the vids EVERYWHERE. I guess I could unlock them ;)

Originally posted by syntrix


They are offline, as he posted the vids EVERYWHERE. I guess I could unlock them ;)

Nah I can find em somewhere but thanks, it's Dan from Godspeed though, correct?

Originally posted by klegg


So you traded up to an 8? How do you like the car?

I went WRX to [another] GTI (2003 1.8T), to the 8.

I was on a quest to find a RWD car.... I've been the full gamut, all over AWD to FWD, lots of BMW racing in the past (about 12 years), as well as wrenching on them. I'm what you call a privateer in racing ;)

So I did NOT want to go the AWD route again. RWD owns for full control of the vehicle, street AND track. You might have your own opinion, but the last track event 0 people passed me, and I was able to even push s/c'd miatas on slicks in the corners.

Not much else is even close to the rx8. Even heel/toe and double clutching is not only some of the best on the market, the rx8 does it with a DBW throttle.

I guess in a nutshell.... I love this car! It's simply amazing! (a bit more power would be good, but what it does in corners is purely AMAZING).

Originally posted by IkeWRX


Nah I can find em somewhere but thanks, it's Dan from Godspeed though, correct?

One of the original tuners of the wrx. Yeah, the guy that sells wrx aftermarket stuff, too.


There's solid tuners in the WRX world, I've had a lot of phone and AIM conversations with them. Good stuff.

I agree with you about RWD, but having owned 2 AWD GSX's, They did have an advantage in some areas......but of course, the 8 is a whole new level...How would you compare the wrx in quality and regular road use..The 8 is all over the mistsu in every area..except radio. Mitsu does a stero right!

Originally posted by syntrix


One of the original tuners of the wrx. Yeah, the guy that sells wrx aftermarket stuff, too.


There's solid tuners in the WRX world, I've had a lot of phone and AIM conversations with them. Good stuff.


Yeah, Dan is a great guy and very helpful. I will be taking a trip to Michigan for a run on his dyno next summer. He just got a White STi (drools) and is in the process of developing some goodies for it.

Ike

Originally posted by klegg
I agree with you about RWD, but having owned 2 AWD GSX's, They did have an advantage in some areas......but of course, the 8 is a whole new level...How would you compare the wrx in quality and regular road use..The 8 is all over the mistsu in every area..except radio. Mitsu does a stero right!


Hahaha, IkeWRX is gonna kill me for this independent review ;)


WRX is a decent car, not much can touch it for the price! They did have some tranny issues in the first two years (whole new USDM tranny) and there have been a lot of problems with them. The new WRX's have different replacement parts for the tranny, so the consensus is that the tranny is redesigned for '04.

I went through everything on my wrx.

http://wrx.swankmonkey.com

First complaint: Stupid low quality fasteners. Pretty much if you do any replacment of stock parts, ie turbo, exhaust, tranny mounts, engine mounts...... GET NEW HARDWARE. Each nut/bolt in that range is junk. Very low quality indeed. Granted this was on my 2002 WRX, first year model.

Second complain: Gearbox. Lot's of syncro issues, people with stripped gears, etc etc. Don't believe me? Search on http://www.nasioc.com in the forums. I have moderated there for a long time, and I still do. In fact, I still help out the locals with their WRX's.

Third complaint: Warranty repairs. SOA (Subaru Of America) must authorize every major repair, and they have a history of voiding warranty work for various stupid reasons.
Example: Clutch decel noise was a common problem, and very easy to diagnose. Friend got denied on a BONE STOCK WRX because he put some better tires on (same size as OEM). Reason from the regional rep.... He changed the driveability of the car with a new brand of tires, so there was nothing they could do.

First Bonus: Easy power for cheap. Add a new turbo, unichip, and injectors (about a 2 hour job for a skilled mechanic) and you instantly have 340HP. Can the other internals, like the gear box handle it? Probably NOT, but my WRX did handle it. I was the exception.

Second Bonus: IT's not a WRC/Rally car, but on the dry lakebeds out here, the car is hella fun! Even going up snowboarding, it was great!

Third Bonus: The car is cheap $$$ wise for what you get. No other car can touch it for the price!

Those are my '2 beers' tonight assesment of the WRX. Early models had issues, but the new ones... time will tell.

BTW, resale really sucks on them ;)

Wow!!!! That is one hell of a review! It is a lot of bang for the buck, and I think they look real sharp in blue. I heard about the tranny issues, but not the other things..

They are alot like the GSX, of course, with a lot more grunt

Eclipes had some strange "cost saving" issues.

Leather package (only ones I could find had it) only on front seats, back seats were vinyl, and not a good kind.

sunroof on my 1st gen was hand cranked, and rattled like hell

2nd gen had power roof, got stuck up all the time.

interior parts fell off like the car was made by GM

BUT, the engine was trouble free, and the car just pulled stronger as it aged, and I got $5,000 off of sticker on my last one

big fun in snow and rain. And god, what a stereo. Only thing I have heard close to it was in my brothers SVX

By the way, you are a perfect example of someone who has owned several diffrent cars, and are honest with your assessment. A true gentlemen in my book.

thanks klegg!

I am also very familiar with the dsm issues, too ;)

there's more that I could post, but people have short attention spans on forums ;)


Back to the thread topic.... nice vids ;)

Originally posted by syntrix



Hahaha, IkeWRX is gonna kill me for this independent review ;)


WRX is a decent car, not much can touch it for the price! They did have some tranny issues in the first two years (whole new USDM tranny) and there have been a lot of problems with them. The new WRX's have different replacement parts for the tranny, so the consensus is that the tranny is redesigned for '04.

I went through everything on my wrx.

http://wrx.swankmonkey.com

First complaint: Stupid low quality fasteners. Pretty much if you do any replacment of stock parts, ie turbo, exhaust, tranny mounts, engine mounts...... GET NEW HARDWARE. Each nut/bolt in that range is junk. Very low quality indeed. Granted this was on my 2002 WRX, first year model.

Second complain: Gearbox. Lot's of syncro issues, people with stripped gears, etc etc. Don't believe me? Search on http://www.nasioc.com in the forums. I have moderated there for a long time, and I still do. In fact, I still help out the locals with their WRX's.

Third complaint: Warranty repairs. SOA (Subaru Of America) must authorize every major repair, and they have a history of voiding warranty work for various stupid reasons.
Example: Clutch decel noise was a common problem, and very easy to diagnose. Friend got denied on a BONE STOCK WRX because he put some better tires on (same size as OEM). Reason from the regional rep.... He changed the driveability of the car with a new brand of tires, so there was nothing they could do.

First Bonus: Easy power for cheap. Add a new turbo, unichip, and injectors (about a 2 hour job for a skilled mechanic) and you instantly have 340HP. Can the other internals, like the gear box handle it? Probably NOT, but my WRX did handle it. I was the exception.

Second Bonus: IT's not a WRC/Rally car, but on the dry lakebeds out here, the car is hella fun! Even going up snowboarding, it was great!

Third Bonus: The car is cheap $$$ wise for what you get. No other car can touch it for the price!

Those are my '2 beers' tonight assesment of the WRX. Early models had issues, but the new ones... time will tell.

BTW, resale really sucks on them ;)


The tranny issue seemed to have been fixed on the 03s, far far fewer problems but that may have a lot to do with them being newer as well. Though on the 02s the tranny problem was apparent pretty fast, the 03s seem to be holding up rather well so far (crosses fingers).

I believe a regional rep must approve any repair over $2,000, my area rep must be pretty different for some around the country because I know he doesn't crack down on most bolt-on mods much from what I've heard. There are also a few dealers in my area that carry extensive lines of aftermarket parts and will not deny warranty based on those parts. In fact my wheels and tires were put on by the dealer and financed right along with the car. So your experience with Subaru will certainly depend on your regional rep and dealer, but I don't deny there are some bad stories/experiences out there. One good thing is the STi 6MT tranny is now available for less than half the price it was a few short months ago which should in turn drive the aftermarket gearsets down in price as well.

It seems any higher hp awd turbo car out there has some tranny issues, it's just the nature of how they work. I'd like to think I know how to drive one since I ownded a 90 DSM for several years. I thought the backseat material was pretty good, the leather on the front seats was crap and wore through :( I did blow some valves on the car due to a timing belt but later found that I never received a recall so it was fixed free of charge. The tranny was great and I went through my first clutch at 90k, though I know crank walk and tranny issues were fairly common. It seems the EVO may be heading down the same path with it's tranny based on some early reports.

Out of curiosity what size wheels and tires did your friend put on his REX Syntrix?


Ike

He put potenza's on, stock size tire, on the stock rim.

Go figure.

I was the only high HP WRX out here, and I was the one without majour issues. I guess you have to drive it like you stole it?

Either way, wrx is a great car. Just do some homework, and I'm sure you will be just fine!!!!

Originally posted by syntrix
He put potenza's on, stock size tire, on the stock rim.

Go figure.

I was the only high HP WRX out here, and I was the one without majour issues. I guess you have to drive it like you stole it?

Either way, wrx is a great car. Just do some homework, and I'm sure you will be just fine!!!!

I"ve been doing homework for far too long already :p As for the tire thing, that's absolute nonsense, something doesn't add up with the story. Subaru in no way expects you to replace your stock tires with the same tire. They even offer 17s as an option and those used to come without tires and the dealers had to have tires put on at a local tire shop.

Ike

Ike,

That's what has made any mods very difficult with the west coast rep (aka "Mike")

I agree, it doesn't add up, but they are selling the car and the S4 avant and buying two other cars.

I recommended arbitration per the warranty contract, but they would rather just trade the car in.

It just sucks that there's a known bulletin on the 2002 car, the local dealer master mechanic agrees with the problem, but since regional has had to step in, it has baffled us AND the local DEALER.

So this is just one case..... there are a few others that I'm NOT going to go into right now. Fortunately one local guy got an engine replaced before regional had to step in, or else he would have had to pay out of pocket. Bits of the rings were fused to the block, but other than that, I'm not going to go into the lack of clamps on vacuum hoses that might affect fueling.

Overall, screwy, probably illegal (moss-magnusson), but never has a local case gone to arbitration that I know of yet.

There is also the suby ruling in a cali court that is brought up over an over and over again. Basically it backs up what SOA is doing in denying warranty work. Search the nasioc forums, I'm too lazy right now to look that ruling up, but it exists and it has been upheld in courts many many times.

Originally posted by syntrix
Ike,

That's what has made any mods very difficult with the west coast rep (aka "Mike")

I agree, it doesn't add up, but they are selling the car and the S4 avant and buying two other cars.

I recommended arbitration per the warranty contract, but they would rather just trade the car in.

It just sucks that there's a known bulletin on the 2002 car, the local dealer master mechanic agrees with the problem, but since regional has had to step in, it has baffled us AND the local DEALER.

So this is just one case..... there are a few others that I'm NOT going to go into right now. Fortunately one local guy got an engine replaced before regional had to step in, or else he would have had to pay out of pocket. Bits of the rings were fused to the block, but other than that, I'm not going to go into the lack of clamps on vacuum hoses that might affect fueling.

Overall, screwy, probably illegal (moss-magnusson), but never has a local case gone to arbitration that I know of yet.

There is also the suby ruling in a cali court that is brought up over an over and over again. Basically it backs up what SOA is doing in denying warranty work. Search the nasioc forums, I'm too lazy right now to look that ruling up, but it exists and it has been upheld in courts many many times.


Thank god my local rep isn't like that. Seems like your friend could have just called SOA and gotten a higher up or national rep to straighten the whole mess out. Was it the clutch shudder thing, since I see you mentioned the bulletin. You had me thinking he had stripped a gear or something and they denied him because of the tires.

Ike

A gear did go out later on, but the problem was what is known as "clutch decel noise".

Basically lower rpms, say 3rd gear, get rpms up to about 4k, then just coast in gear. Literally sounds like a box of marbles.

Mine was affected, and I got in before SOA intervention, but I think the dealer was charged back for the repair cost.

I'm glad your local rep is good to work with. Our west coast rep (vegas at least) is pretty cocky, and has denied warranties without even looking at the problem.

Maybe it's a regional thing, and I know that plenty of people have complained to SOA directly. That has not helped the situation, as they defer to the local dealer and regional.

Originally posted by syntrix
A gear did go out later on, but the problem was what is known as "clutch decel noise".

Basically lower rpms, say 3rd gear, get rpms up to about 4k, then just coast in gear. Literally sounds like a box of marbles.

Mine was affected, and I got in before SOA intervention, but I think the dealer was charged back for the repair cost.

I'm glad your local rep is good to work with. Our west coast rep (vegas at least) is pretty cocky, and has denied warranties without even looking at the problem.

Maybe it's a regional thing, and I know that plenty of people have complained to SOA directly. That has not helped the situation, as they defer to the local dealer and regional.

I know of a few situations where people were denied by their regional rep (usually because of Mods), that were later approved once they contacted SOA directly. With the import scene so popular nowadays the mods issue is bigger than ever, so most car companies are trying to take a stand,but that tire thing is by far the worst I've heard.

Ike