Feel, Acceleration, Steering, Sport ride without harshness, Turns heads

Some rattles. Alarm Arm/Disarm horn a bit loud, but it does get you noticed.

Very little to report with 130 miles, but so far very impressed with the solid feel of the whole car. Doors take a few tries to shut because the interior is so airtight. Power mirrors are the fastest I have ever tried. Excellent visibility all around, windshield is so big that our large sun shield from our trade-in can not be held in place with the sun visors. The WRX is very hard to keep from going over 4000 Rpm's during her 1000-mile break-in, the engine is that responsive. Turbo lag is almost non-existent. My wife is only five feet tall and she can find a perfect seating position without being too close to the airbag. This alone would have made the purchase worth it. Clutch is very smooth and forgiving, very easy to start up from a hill. A few rattles, but the car has almost no wind noise at highway speeds. Very happy with Scooby-Doo.

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Compares very well to our '98 1.8-ltr Turbo Passat, and Feels sporty like my supercharged '95 Miata. Put the Passat and Miata together you get the WRX!

AWD, Handeling, Power, Steering

Looks

The WRX is one of the best car values on the market today. It combines great acceleration, world class handeling, all-wheel-drive traction, with a championship rally heritage and a great price. The car is also very reliable. If you are in the market for a car which will equal or beat the performance of a Audi S4, Porsche Boxter, or BMW M3, at a reasonable price, than this is the car for you. A great aftermarket only adds to the car's appeal.

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All Wheel Drive, tossable, stealthy

No low end torque, daytime running lights

Very good experience with 3000 miles on the car so far. Probably one of
the best all around cars for around $25000.

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Eagle Talon TSi AWD - Very similiar, a lttle more roomy

I am a proud owner of rare "blaze yellow" Impreza WRX. I have owned/driven cars like Lexus GS 400, BMW M5 and BMW M3. This is the best car I have driven at ANY price, period. No it is not the most beautiful or luxurious or roomy car in the world. It is not the fastest or best handling sedan in the world. What it is, is a pocket rocket that is tested on WRC circuits and still does everything a car will do to pump your adrenalin. It boasts 0-60 in 5.4 seconds (Autoworld), can sit five, is built like mercedes, handles like bimmer, has awesome all wheel drive and NVH close to baby Lexus!! It is safe in snow, ice, rain ,mud, dirt or anywhere you can go! It costs less than half of most sports car built this tough and exciting and still is ever "upgradable" (HKS just anounced a kit upgrading HP from 227 to 350 with 18" wheels and tires and other upgrades). It has all necessary amenities and safety features you want. And by the way, Blaze Yellow gets lots of looks and routine inquiries from people where ever you go!!

Turbo lag but if learn to keep needle above 3500rpm and push upto 7000rpm, you can blo off a Boxster S! Shifter is less imprecise. Took a lot to learn how to "tame" this cat for most fun!!

As said earlier, the best car owned/driven and thrilling experience every second, every condition and every where you go with it!!

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BMW M3, Audi S4

handling, pure wow factor, sleeper look. the fact that the closest car performance wise, costs at least 1000 more PURE UNADULTERATED FUN

poor stock tires. hot film sensor that is prone to problems (at least from last year RS)

this car is just fun straight out of the box. with acceleration that this is capable and the distinctive styling, was a must have in my book. the fact that an audi quattro would cost at least another 10K was another plus, the same with bmw M series. handles great, can do tighter turns than any other type of vehicle (front or rear drive) thanks to the true and tested AWD. Active rear end makes it able to kick out the rear end if wanted to. with the right set of tires, easy to predict slide.

if you're looking for fun without a huge price tag, I think 25K base is reasonable. buy only if your're willing to overlook some flaws that are inherent in any vehicle, especially subarus, but then again those same flaws add to the cult following, nothing handles better in the price range.
don't buy the car if you feel that it should be perfect, because I hate to tell you, but no car is perfect, even 80k mercedes (though pretty close)

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for the money, marvelous

All wheel drive. Great performance. Funky look (I have the wagon). Price is exceptional for the performance. Reliability (based on past Subaru experience).

My dealer is 45 minutes away from where I live. Not as refined as a car that costs 5 to 10K more.

I like the combination of performance, all wheel drive, and the convenience of the wagon. This is my third Subaru; I previously owned a 1992 Turbo Touring Wagon and traded it for a 1998 2.5 RS. I would never go back to two wheel drive. I am very happy with Subarus and am thrilled that the performance line has finally made it to the states.

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No comparison in price range. All wheel drive plus terrific performance is unmatched in class.

Power, Handling, AWD+ABS, Interior refinement (compared to older model Imprezas), unique styling (the "bug eye" looks much better in person than in some photos).

Requires Premium fuel. No 6th gear. The drivetrain is unchanged from the previous year, making the wheelbase, hence the size of the doors a little on the tiny side, especially the rear ones. The sunroof is missed.

Have been satisfied with the 1995 year model, and had no significant problems. The first time I drove the 2002 model, it felt familiar yet different. There are many similarities (beyond the outside appearance) in the cars behavior, and yet there are many improvements as well. Based on past experience with the 1995, I don't expect any problems with the 2002 either, except for the potentially higher insurance premium. The lack of sunroof option is unfortunate but justified (better safety and rigidity). The engine has more power than I'm used to.

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1995 Impreza L Coupe: Similar drivetrain, smaller engine & less sporty suspension. The 2002 is definitely an improvement. The AWD+ABS in the 1995 is great, now the 2002 adds more power, handling, and some more refined creature comforts. Not as much creature comfort as some all-wheel-drive german cars available in the US, but then again the price difference more than justifies it.

- Power
- All-wheel drive
- Handling
- Price

- Body styling (debatable)

This car is deceptively high-performing. Sheer fun on twisty roads. The combination of power, all-wheel drive, and price puts this car in a class all by itself. I own the wagon which is a beautiful combination of utility and performance. The uniqueness of a sub-6-second 0-60 wagon is cool.

Nitpicks: The seats are flat and can be uncomfortable without a lumbar support. The carpet on the floormats seems to shed a little. The 6-disc stereo is good for the most part but lacks midrange. Body styling is not very sleek (though owners seem appreciate the "sleeper", "anti-status symbol", "only for enthusiasts" idea behind it).

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Handling, high speed stability, versatile, lots of power for the $$$, decent sized trunk (golf clubs fit), not bad to look at altogether, very nice list of standard performance equipment including aluminum drilled pedals and a MOMO steering wheel, cool 6 disk in-dash cd changer is standard, good price for the level of kit, nice turbo engine with breathtaking acceleration in the midrange

Really bad stock rims and tires, certainly not worthy of this kind of a performance car, strange front end styling, a little noisy at high speed, stock alarm is a little too loud on arm/disarm

The WRX is a very competent high performance all wheel drive sport sedan with turbocharged power of 227hp from the factory. This car is in a class all by itself as it really compares in performance to something like the Audi S4 but does not really stack up to it in luxury or refeinement. It handles extremely well in the dirt and snow, has enough power under the hood to embarass a Mustang or two, but is still perfectly driveable on a daily basis when you dont put your foot down. I carry a family of 4 around in this car all of the time and we have never felt cramped or uncomfortable as we would in most of the other entries into this performance class.

Subaru in general is a very reliable automobile, even turbocharged as this car is. My family own 3 Subaru's currently and all of them are quite reliable, make good gas mileage and are generally very utilitarian. On top of this the WRX makes an excellent tuner car. There are many, many companies already producing aftermarket performance parts for this line of cars, many of which are direct bolt ons.

I must say though on a performance level that the wheel and tire combination which comes as original equipment on this car is pathetic. They are 16x6.5 inch wheels with Bridgestone RE92 tires at 205 55 16. I believe the reason Subaru went with such a combination is that they want us to buy their specially made BBS wheels for this car, which amount to $3000 a set with tires and generally drive the price of this inexpensive car to a higher level. I would recommend to anyone buying one of these to immediately go out and get a set of 3rd party or international spec 17 or 18 inch rims with Z rated performance tires to really get the most out of the very good suspension and handling characterisitcs of the WRX.

I would recommend this car to young people with families who want the performance of a sports car but still need to take their kids to school/soccer practice/gymnastics, etc. The WRX, for many reasons, is not a car for the status conscious. If you are really worried about what people think of you and your car, dont buy this one... you would be much happier with an Audi or BMW.

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A very good buy for the money compared with other high performance all wheel drive sedans like the Audi A/s/4 series, BMW's all wheel drive models and Volvo's all wheel drive models. It is certainly less luxurious than these other cars though.

Acceleration, handling, driver's position, all-weather capability, bulletproof Subaru reliability, price / value ratio.

Attracts traffic tickets. The engine is quiet and the ride smooth, so the speedometer needle will creep up to 80 or 85 with little warning. Also, cheesey silver painted bezel around radio & tinny sound when closing trunk.

The WRX is the very essence of a "driver's car." New owners will find themselves extending their commutes in order to race down twisty secondary lanes, and spending their weekends seeking out copless stretches of road to push their WRXes to the limit. Nowhere is the car's nature better exemplified than in the interior. Everything the driver touches to operate the car -- steering wheel, pedals, shifter -- is of the highest quality. Everything else is "economical", even tacky.

As a result, this car exists in a class of one (in the U.S., anyway). Others offering AWD and comparable power -- e.g. BMW 330xi, Audi S4 Quattro, Audi TT, even the Porsche 911 Carrera4 -- cost on the order of 50% more. Buyers interested in the pure experience of driving will choose the WRX . Those more concerned with image (and who have the means to purchase image) will look to Germany.

In short, the WRX is the performance value of the decade.

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Audi TT. The WRX outperforms this car in every way. I couldn't justify paying a $10k premium for leather seats and retro Euro styling.