Question about the turbo lag on the WRX.

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Zee

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Hey guys,

I am asking questions all over the forum before i finally decide what car to buy. Seeing as the WRX is on my list of choices, i have a question for you owners.

- How bad is the turbo lag? I never driven a turbo engine but people keep telling me the turbo lag is bad? How does that work? Do i have to wait 1-2seconds before i get the juice when i press the pedal?

- Is there a way to minimize that turbo lag?

- Are the WRx faster than the Type-s?

All information is welcome guys. Keep in mind i have little knowledge on cars, getting there slowly.

Thanks
 
Zee said:
Hey guys,

I am asking questions all over the forum before i finally decide what car to buy. Seeing as the WRX is on my list of choices, i have a question for you owners.

- How bad is the turbo lag? I never driven a turbo engine but people keep telling me the turbo lag is bad? How does that work? Do i have to wait 1-2seconds before i get the juice when i press the pedal?

- Is there a way to minimize that turbo lag?

- Are the WRx faster than the Type-s?

All information is welcome guys. Keep in mind i have little knowledge on cars, getting there slowly.

Thanks

Are you planning on getting the 06 WRX or the 05? cause the 06 has a 2.5L engine so you won't feel as much lag. You just need to keep the needle in the turbo range, i.e. RPM 2.5K+. If you're talking about launching the car, just rev it up to 4-5K and go.

And yeah, it is faster than the type-S or the type-R, stock for stock. I love Hondas, great cars. I had an SIR and an RSX, but for about the same price as the type-S, you get AWD, more power, and 4 doors.

Best thing for you to do is to testdrive one. You won't be disappointed. If you have the cash though, go for the STi, it's a totally different beast.

Good luck.
 
Last edited:
Zee said:
Hey guys,

I am asking questions all over the forum before i finally decide what car to buy. Seeing as the WRX is on my list of choices, i have a question for you owners.

- How bad is the turbo lag? I never driven a turbo engine but people keep telling me the turbo lag is bad? How does that work? Do i have to wait 1-2seconds before i get the juice when i press the pedal?

- Is there a way to minimize that turbo lag?

- Are the WRx faster than the Type-s?

All information is welcome guys. Keep in mind i have little knowledge on cars, getting there slowly.

Thanks


uppipe solves the turbo lag issue with the stock td04. type s is a different animal- its slower in almost all respects
 
The NEW WRX is amazing for the price, 4 piston calipers, etc etc. Very well balanced.

A used (1 year) STI can be an AMAZING deal though if you just want to go fast though.
 
Sorry if i sound ignorant but when you mean td04 is that the engine that most recent WRX have? 2003-2005?

I am thinking of acquiring a 03-04

Thanks again for the help guys *tu*
 
Save your money and get the 06! It's really an all around better car.

The turbo is a TD04, on the STI it's a VF39
 
on a stock wrx setup the lag is flet on hot humid days, but once you change your full exhaust it helps a lot. if your looking into an 04 wrx and your want fast, think of getting an rs in good shape, then drop the sti motor/tranny into it. cuz of the weight saved your car will be faster than the sti if you dont go cheap on the swap. depending on how you do the swap, (sti motor/tranny mounts, exhaust etc) it will cost 25 to 30 thousand if you get it done by professionals. if you do this, forget the type s' you will be in the mid 12's
goodluck with your buy, but remember subarus are hard to find used and clean, any great deal has been in an accident. stay away from little dealerships. I was buying a wrx 03 from auto link in pierrefonds and it only had 26000km but the guys at subaru des sources found out that it had been smashed hard before i bought it.
 
- How bad is the turbo lag? I never driven a turbo engine but people keep telling me the turbo lag is bad? How does that work? Do i have to wait 1-2seconds before i get the juice when i press the pedal?
It's funny you mention this... I went from driving a 2.8L VR6 for 2 years to a 2.0L WRX 04 (different from the 03) and it took me awhile to get use to it... The VR6 felt much quicker then the WRX cuz of the lag and the AWD... You dont really feel how quick it really is compared to a FWD with all the torque steer. Now that i've been driving the WRX for 2 years, I can tell you it's MUCH quicker then a stock 12V VR6. Just today I was toying with my friends 03 TL Type-S from 20-150km/h...

About the lag now... I find it horrible, coming from a 6cyl.... It's just a 2.0 4cyl (or you can wait for the 06 with the 2.5)... I calculated it the other day just for the hell of it.. If you let the clutch go and start flooring the gaz at 1000RPM in first gear the car takes about 2-3 seconds to reach 4000RPM and if you do the same thing in 2nd gear it takes up to 6 seconds to get to 4000RPM... You obviously never really drive like this but sometimes you have to downshift in 2nd gear to slow down and if you're going to slow... it's REALLY long (3-4 seconds) before you get some decent power. Like I said.. if you're used to a 6 cyl you'll have to adapt you're driving, now that i'm use to it i'm not sure I would want to go back to a VR6 ;) . What I would love to get is a 6 cyl turbo (S4) one day to get the best of both worlds.

- Is there a way to minimize that turbo lag?
Apparently the uppipe helps alot but you can minimize the lag by the way you drive the car... When lag bugs me I try to keep it above 2500RPM since boosts comes in just over 3k. Get ready to spend some $$ on gaz if you drive it hard tho...

- Are the WRx faster than the Type-s?
I've raced many Type-S with my WRX and all of them had a CAI which gives them a big advantages over the stock ones and it was always a good race. From 0-100 the WRX has a big advantage with the AWD so you're usually able to get a good car and a half depeding on you're launching skills... but from 100-200 the Type-S WILL PASS YOU! Slowly, but it definitely will!

Don't forget about the winter and rain with the WRX... It's stupid fun... You leave ANY car behind when it rains, not that I race in the rain, but who hasnt spun their wheels in the rain... WHen I first got mine I couldnt believe it, you floor it in first and you CANNOT get a wheel spin!! I remember how that was frustrating with my FWD cars... I dont think I will ever go back to FWD now! Cant wait for snow!!!

All information is welcome guys. Keep in mind i have little knowledge on cars, getting there slowly.

Thanks
*tu*
 
I'm very impressed about the honnest good thread here. My friend has a wrx (becoming modded) and if you want a 4 season beater, buy the wrx. It's true that it's not the fastest car in the highway but it's the only (with the gas consumption) disavantage. On a launch, snow, rain, wood, track, it's a very nice car. I like the sound of the boxer engine with af/mark catback. Also there are 3 catalytic converter so you may want to get high flow uppipe, downpipe, etc and get a less turbo lag, ****ing great sound and great performance.
 
Thank you for all your help guys and Thank you Jon for taking the time to write that.

I have decided to wait and test drive the new 2.5 wrx 06 before making any decision. I guess it all falls down on the feel i get from the car.

So far i am leaning toward the Wrx for the AWD and the fact that it will make my winters that much better.

But i have to admit that i am in love with the Type-s look.

I will give you on update once i test drive the Wrx *tu*

Thanks again!
 
Zee said:
Thank you for all your help guys and Thank you Jon for taking the time to write that.

I have decided to wait and test drive the new 2.5 wrx 06 before making any decision. I guess it all falls down on the feel i get from the car.

So far i am leaning toward the Wrx for the AWD and the fact that it will make my winters that much better.

But i have to admit that i am in love with the Type-s look.

I will give you on update once i test drive the Wrx *tu*

Thanks again!
NP! You won't regret you're choice the first winter you drive it... I promise you! Especially if you never drove an AWD car in the snow/wet before.. I would never consider a FWD car anymore... My next car will be either a older Talon TSI or if I can afford it... an S4 B5 ..

AWD all the way! ;)

oh.. and dont get fool by the test drive... after taking my first test drive I thought the car was slower then my VR6 since I was used to having torque everywhere with the 2.8L 6 cyl... For some reasons.. I find the WRX feels much more powerful when you're sitting in the passenger seat... it's weird..
 
don't forget that with 1000$ in mods you can have close to 300HP at the crank realtively safely on the WRX....not so much on a NA car ;)

open up the exhaust, add a bit of fuel and raise the boost a bit and you have a real ROCKET!

The WRX runs about 12.5lbs of boost from the factory but the engine will handle more boost than the stock turbo will provide you with efficiently....provided of course you supply adequate fuel and ignition adjustments!
 
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