To some, giving a 16 year old a WRX as a first car is a really dumb idea. So I got one when I was 17. You’re welcome to pause and voice your displeasure now 😀

Got it all out? Cool, on to the rest of this shit.

The car was originally imported into Arkansas, and we found it at a Ford dealer in Tennessee, as the cheapest VA WRX in the nation with a clean title back in 2018, for around $16,500 with ~62,000 miles. It lived the next four years in Florida and North Carolina. The car was eventually traded in at 150,000 hard miles in 2022, after the AC had failed for the 4th or so time, for a 2018 STI. Tighten your assholes, this will be a long one.

I named the car Caligula, after that emperor. The one who lasted two years, started off fine and then made his horse head priest. Was also a running joke at the time. The name was fairly fitting.

Yes, I did launch it a bit before replacing the clutch at around 90,000 miles. I was a little bit of a young dipshit in a WRX. But that’s not where this car shines, as every compensating Subaru owner will tell you, as much as that initial launch makes you think you’re a AMRAAM missile being fired towards the next stop light, that Camaro will still give you trouble after paying respects to the IAG gods and selling your soul to the children of the corn for an e85 tune, courtesy of Cobb getting deep access into all your ports. No, a WRX best shines outside of Florida, at least on pavement, where you’ll learn how well the car can be forced to corner.

So, what’s it like asshole?

Pavement

The car was not stock. One of the prior owners had modified the car, there was a Perrin master cylinder brace, some exhaust with no resonator, and a most likely a tune. It only backfired between up or down shifts, and it pulled a little harder than the stock car I drove before, but how accurate is your ass dyno really? I added pretty aggressive stoptech pads, drilled and slotted rotors, and high temp brake fluid to the car after being pissed off at my performance and the brake’s temperature while in the mountains.

On tarmac, the car will plow through a corner like that one friend who talks big game then understeers off the first corner in a go kart race. But look how far forwards the engine lives, so no shit it understeers. Plus it’s got two open diffs. However, while the car wants to push, it can be persuaded, with decent success, to corner like an absolute maniac. A little trail braking, bit of rotation though the apex, and then ride the exit as wide as you dare, as the boost enters in fashionably late. It takes practice but damn was that rewarding. Does an STI handle better? Yea obviously, and if you want the best you can get outta that platform, go buy one. You can slap coilovers, a strut brace, bigger brakes, 18” rims, and 245’s all round and be faster, but the drivetrain will eventually limit you and you’ll wind up driving like a bit of a loony.

Aside from that, the feedback from the electronic steering was fine, a little bit heavy but take it as a note and not a complaint. Brakes eventually became really confidence inspiring, and the whole car was able to communicate well between my hands and my ass. The car rolled and pitched enough for you to feel the weight transfer while remaining stiff enough to keep its composure. And the shifter was an absolute joy to use. A fun throw, nice and notchy, though it did lose some of that feel by 150k. It’s notchy, somewhat long throws that just felt right to send flying around the center of the car. Yes, I know the transmission can’t take that much power. Yes an STI short throw feels better. But as far as a stock shifter, it’s great for an entry sports car. The clutch was oddly heavy, but not weird to understand like the STI.

The fa20 D I T isn’t the letdown I’ve felt in a stock BRZ/FRS/GT86. While it did die off around 5000-ish, the engine was happy to rev out till then, and when the boost finally did arrive (around 3000 or so RPM), it hit you with an entertaining amount of aggression. There’s no use going to or past 6k really, other than it being fun to do so. The exhaust note isn’t the greatest. It’s not as annoying as an in-line 4, but it does lack the anger of an ej… although my fa20 didn’t blow up at 56k and strand me in Mechanicsburg, Pa… The stupid pops it made between shifts (but not on let off or reving) brought out your inner 5 year old, though you’d quickly become 65 and cranky with the drone you’d get on the highway.

Gravel

Alright, it’s time to live out your rally-boy fantasies. You’ve eaten up all the subie lore your mind can take, and you’re essentially Collin McRae by this point. Time to take that WRX to some dirt, and live out that dream or crash horribly trying. Once that car meets dirt, the whole thing changes. The steering is light and the car can dart around like a spaz. You feel some weight, sure, but it’s not the 3400lb car you know and tolerate. It rotates, and you’re steering with both the gas and the wheel. It’s fun, it’ll egg you on like it does on the road to keep going, but most of all, it made makes it all easy. Sliding the car around in the dirt is super easy and confidence inspiring, as is the odd amount of grip it will find on a loose surface. You still need an idea of car control, but between the AWD and the feedback the car gives you, it doesn’t scare the driver when the ass comes out. Play with the gas, be quick on the steering, and watch your big shit eating grin take up all your face’s available real estate. It gives you immense confidence to be a complete doofus behind the wheel, while being easy enough to control so that the real saftey net you’ll need once TC is completely off, is the width of the road relative to the size of your confidence (or BAAALLLLZ).

Moving swiftly along….

The car’s interior is cheap. You get the sense that they spend their money under the car vs in it. The sound system that comprises of two still working 20 year old speakers in my z3 was better than all of the ones in the WRX, it was a base model after all. That didn’t bother me, but it and the interior will piss people off who expect a lot better, and too an extent they should. What you’d pay for on the surface is a bit lack luster. The base model had cloth everything, a squishy dash, fake leather on the doors, a leather wrapped steering wheel (it started to peel after about two years), a leather shift knob (which peeled and was replaced after about one year), and ample room in the back. Seats folded down too. Enough room to carry a set of 315 slicks and tools for track days support, but nothing comfortable enough with room if you intend to get a bit uh… frisky… in the rear… better off literally anywhere else. Also no rear armrest or rear AC. And all VA WRXs minus the 2015 came with an updated infotainment system, and the facelift added a little more aggression to the front end of the car. Other trim levels obviously had better interiors or features (sunroof!) or even performance parts (brembo my beloved!). But it’s mechanically where the money, for the most part, was spent on the base model.

And for a modern car, that was a bargain for what you got. Fun, “chuckable” through turns, fast enough, and a joy to drive. An SI may have a nicer shifter and both it and a GTI will be nicer places to be in. But as far as a car that makes you laugh like a complete idiot in the dry, wet, and dirt, this works really well.

The car followed me to Daytona for school, and up to NC for my first stint at the team I’ve been interning with out of Kannapolis. Through all that, the biggest issue I’ve had was the AC compressor, and I think most of that was due to buying used ones since I’m a cheap bastard, and a vacuum line that popped outta the turbo on the tail of the dragon one year. It left me stranded in my apartment parking lot for a few days when the bearing for the compressor exploded and seized the whole belt. Other than that, no issues.

Eventually, the car was nearing 150k, the AC condenser was dying, the Florida summer was approaching, and I needed to be in North Carolina again about a week after classes ended. So the car was traded in. And even after all that car went through, it was still driving with the same ferocity as it was back in 2018.

So are we ending this with a stupid WRX / STI comparison and setting up another review?!

Yes. Fight me. I’ll probably lose but you’ll be the one who punched the cancer patient.

An STI is a better performance car, that’s not a surprise. But a WRX might just be a bit more fun on a far more sane level. Getting behind the wheel of an STI, you’ll feel the difference in how it handles, they’re a lot sharper and the engine is more vocal. But it also feels more serious of a car, even with that stupid wing. You get on the gas, and it just yells back “ya wanna go!? Ok fucker, I’ll go, how far do ya wanna push this huh? 4K? 5k? 6k? Redline? I don’t care, I’ll fucking do it, let’s go!”, while a WRX is more of a crack dealer getting you hooked on boost and noise, egging you on like that one friend to keep being stupid. An STI will go fast and have an odd indifference compared to the eagerness a WRX has when the turbo finally shows up late to the party (and he brought food too, how nice).

With all that being said, I wouldn’t give up my STI, because overall, I think it’ll make me giggle like an idiot, more now over the old car. The precision in handling and anger in its demeanor will eventually win you over if you value performance and raw fun over more practical concerns like fuel economy and comfort. But an STI won’t get you mid 30’s in Highway mpg, be soft enough to only jiggle you over a bump not punch you, and still let you go wide open throttle without risking jail time.

An STI has a selectable “Intelligent” mode. A WRX just has a TC off button.