2009 Impreza WRX: Lancer Ralliart eat your heart out..

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http://www.autoblog.com/2008/07/31/2009-subaru-impreza-wrx-265-hp-retuned-suspension-sti-tweaks/

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2009 Subaru Impreza WRX: 265 hp, retuned suspension, STI tweaks

It's official folks. Those of you that picked up a 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX have been had. The road-going rally rocket gets an update for 2009 and with it comes a retuned 2.5-liter boxer four-pot producing 265 hp and 244 lb.-ft. of torque – a 41 hp and 18 lb.-ft. increase over the outgoing model. Power will be sent to all four wheels through a five-speed manual – the only transmission available -- with low-profile 225/45R17 summer tires replacing the 205/50R17 rubber of the 2008 model.

The suspension has been revised to include stiffer springs, uprated dampers, upper strut mounts cribbed from the STI and larger anti-roll bars fore and aft. The Aero package is no longer an option – it's standard – and includes an STI-inspired grille on both the sedan and hatch, while the five-door receives the STI's rear spoiler and underbody diffuser.

Impreza obsessives that ran out to buy a 2008 model might be miffed, but Subaru had to make adjustments to keep the WRX competitive, particularly with the Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart becoming a serious contender in the turbo'd sedan segment.
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Sucks if you bought a 2008 WRX... The 2009 Impreza 2.5GT have the same 224hp engine found in the 08' WRX.

Subaru had to do something with the Lancer Ralliart and Mazdaspeed 3 getting all the attention. 👍
 
This does make Subaru more relevant for me. The whole brand.
 
I guess they have been reading through the forums. I mean manual transmission only...
 
Holy cow! They listened to the fans!

Still... I don't love it. I've never loved the WRX to be honest.

That's right kids, I'd still have the "pansy" Lancer Ralliart or VW R32!
 
Still looks like a Corolla. Until the STi Sedan comes out, I'm not convinced.

Stupid Europeans ruining the Rally Twins.
 
What sort of road going rally car has low profile summer only tires?
 
the fact that the front end is bad ass whereas the rest of the car isn't.
 
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Bones Brigade
the kind that probably wont see a rally in its lifetime.
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Then why market it as one? If I'm going to buy a Subaru it's because I want something that's fast and handles well in all weather conditions and road surfaces. Summer only low pro tires hardly suggests that to me.
 
Joey D
Then why market it as one? If I'm going to buy a Subaru it's because I want something that's fast and handles well in all weather conditions and road surfaces. Summer only low pro tires hardly suggests that to me.
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This is true. I'd rather them have a performance all season tire than summer only tire.

Subaru did that with the 2004 STi too. My cousin has a 04 STi and his first mod was replacing the Bridgestone Potenza summer tire to an all season performance tires. He claims the Bridgestone Potenza was horrid in the rain but great for dry roads.
 
The particular Bridgestone that Subaru put on that model STi was a crap tire in general. There were numerous choices that did everything better than that tire at the time, but they didn't use them. In general, summer tires in that class perform superbly on wet roads. Obviously they're not for use in any cold weather, though. Personally, after experience with real winter tires on an average front drive car, I'm not content using the same set of all-season tires year round. They're bad in the heat and they're bad in the cold.
 
superberkut
Which Lancer Ralliart is the rival here?
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That'll be the 235 BHP one that runs the Evo IX AWD system with a few of the Evo X overrides. I'd be willing to bet the Mitsu will cost less, but I could be wrong. At least that one is good-looking...
 
lol im the complete opposite. Why the hell would I want a car like the impreza wrx without low profiles. I mean the whole purpose is to drive the car fast on the road. I dont want to ruin the paintwork drifting about in gravel and sand.
 
Joey D
Then why market it as one? If I'm going to buy a Subaru it's because I want something that's fast and handles well in all weather conditions and road surfaces. Summer only low pro tires hardly suggests that to me.
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Most all of these kinds of cars tend to come with summer biased tires that aren't ideal for dirt.
 
homeforsummer
Europeans like Prodrive? :sly:

What's wrong with the Lancer then?
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You've introduced an ugly hatchback version of that one, too. Granted, I'm glad it's not the only option when it comes to the top model, but I'm still not happy.
 
It's kinda like buying a laptop in reverse. I wouldn't buy a new one because they all have Vista on them. With Subaru it's because of the retarded exterior. But everything else is good...
 
If they at least fixed the fact that it drove like an AWD Camry, then I'll be happy. If these suspension changes just make it ride stiffer rather than make it the way it was a couple of years ago, than Subaru shouldn't have bothered. It would actually be more like Subaru missed the point that much more. I also wonder if they will repair the torque split problems (whatever idiot felt that 50:50 was good should be fired) that made the new car (including the STi) understeer so much. It wouldn't be that impressive if the WRX was faster going straight if the new sub-Evo manhandled it in the twisties like the Evo does with the STi.
 
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I always thought that sounded stupid, when it was announced they were actually giving the front more of the torque. Audi smartened up and finally started doing 60/40... so Subaru decided to move to 50/50? Why?!?!

Since it's getting a bunch of STI parts and now is only 40hp short... I see Subaru selling less STI's now, unless they decide to bring that 380hp concept into production. Worldwide.
 
Didn't the 2004/2005 STi have the ability to set torque split to 35/65? And it was driver configurable with like 35/65, 40/60 and 45/55?
 
35:65 was the default split, and the split changed automatically to 50:50 depending on whether the fronts needed more grip. For some reason Subaru thought the split would be better if it defaulted at 50:50 and then changed to 49:51.
 
Toronado
35:65 was the default split, and the split changed automatically to 50:50 depending on whether the fronts needed more grip. For some reason Subaru thought the split would be better if it defaulted at 50:50 and then changed to 49:51.
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Which is quite unlike the EVO, which has a front heavy bias by default last I checked. :dopey:
 
Toronado
Except the 50:50 bias the Evo has can be sent anywhere from 0:100 to 100:0.
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Really? Find me the source because I can't seem to find it. The out going Evo only managed to get 50:50 split, with up to 100 front and 0 rear.
 
Ah, its 20:80 or 80:20. My mistake.
There will be a new all-wheel-drive system with a perfect power split of 50/50 to the front and rear wheels, but up to 80% can be sent to either the front or rear wheels, which is impressive.
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As I understand it, the JDM Evo VII-IX (and the 2005+ USDM Evo) had a very similar system, though I don't know of the specifics of the percentage of torque distribution for those cars.
 

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