hey dudes - just sharing some news. I traded in my SS for a WRX. if you care to read the details as to why, here's the thread:

https://my350z.com/forum/other-vehic...for-a-wrx.html

here's a few pictures. it's a lot of fun so far, I am glad I made the swap to manual.

 

Wow, that was quick. How do you like it compared to the other car?

 

I was concerned that the lack of power would make it not nearly as enjoyable - but it's 800lbs lighter, they really feel comparable in power, though I know the Camaro edges it out a bit.

the fun factor went up dramatically.. the SS was an automatic. the manual mode in it was garbage.

where I like it the most isn't performance oriented at all .. the size is just way more manageable. 15 inches narrower in width. the visibility is much better. you had to really focus on changing lanes and parking in the Camaro. just doesn't make for a good daily driver when you have to navigate around tight / compact areas in Seattle. it inspires a lot of confidence and I am totally comfortable with it, I couldn't say that about the Camaro

it rumbles really good for a stock setup. I have to keep it under 4k rpms for another 300 miles or so, I can hear the turbo spooling and just wanting to go .. ahh, painful . I am really liking AWD as well - I hit up some familiar curvy abandoned backroads last night, ones I was familiar with the speed limits for the Camaro. I eased into it, but eventually started taking turns about 10mph faster and at no point did I feel like traction was going to let go. it's pretty fun, it might get me in trouble

 

congrats to you! i was considering buying the camaro as well before picking up the 370z, i love the wrx as well! so did you end up paying more for the trade? just curious.

 

^^
glad you got what you wanted.

 

Congrats! Good choice of car. Fun, practical, economical, great performance for the price. Sounds like you're already loving it w/o even going over 4k on the tach. Nice! I guess you'll be a NASIOC regular now if you aren't already.

 

thanks guys. I joined NASIOC a few years ago when I went on some subie drives in the Z. it was funny, if you looked at their 'event pictures' for the cruise there would be like 30 posted that has all of the subarus in it, then one random photo with my car in the background, haters! : P they were all cool to me though, and all asked me a ton of questions about the Z. they knew some awesome back road twisties to go play on.

hated - I put 3 grand down on the Camaro, no big deal, I essentially lost that value in the trade-up.. I put 3k miles on the car, it was no longer new, but their trade in offer was generous enough, and the wrx was at invoice.

I'm still gitty about the manual trans.. I didn't know what I was missing out on!

 

nasioc is a great forum, still read it to this day, my wrx was 12cars ago

 

Congrats on going AWD! Want to sell me your Stevens pass tickets?

 

Oh nevermind, just noticed you didn't buy the car from Carter Subaru :-(

 

**** why aren't they advertising that better? I think they would have struggled to pay as much as roy robinson did for my Camaro, I probably came out ahead either way. I haven't been to Steven's pass in 7 years - is their snowboard park pretty bad *** now? it was just getting started last I've seen it.

 

My buddy just picked up an STi at Carter and he seems to think he got a great deal on it. I haven't been to Stevens this season yet :-(. I do like the '11 WRX body style more than the '10, the wider the better :-)

 

Nice!! I really like the new WRX sedans... They came out nice, I wouldn't mind driving one either.

 

one of the funny parts about learning to drive a manual, I still don't have total left/right foot control so I over-rev at times when rolling from a stop, I've had at least 3 people think I was trying to get them to race me and they take off like a bat out of hell.

 

^ do you drop it into first?

 

Well, since your learning... you might as well practice your starts from an incline. You should go downtown Seattle during rush hour for practice

 

I work in Seattle actually. I did lots of hill practice on Sunday because of that LOL.

it has a cool auto-hold feature. if you're on an incline and you let off of the brake, it holds the rear brakes for about a second and a half before rolling backwards. gives me a little more time to get moving without worry. I found hills to be really easy after I understood the clutch engagement point and the amount of throttle needed on flat areas.

 

Oh thats a nice feature! Ya, inclines/hills aren't hard... its just a lot of people have never driven a manual before, so they'll pull right up on your butt not knowing that you can roll back just a bit. Thats the part that makes me nervous is other stupid drivers.