2016 Subaru WRX: Five Thousand Miles later - You may remember my decision three months ago to replace my aging Cadillac STS with a new...
You may remember my decision three months ago to replace my aging Cadillac STS with a new 2016 Subaru WRX. The "avoid highways" was selected from Google Maps, as evidenced by reading the odometer higher than the average of the WRX. It's not my fault that the Subie control a winding road every time I start up.
However, the relationship between the WRX and I was not without its quirks. After a few payments and driving 5,000 miles, I came out of the honeymoon period to take a step back and evaluate this new marriage. Let's take a look at the good, the bad and the boring.
The WRX beat the Ford Focus ST as my daily driver choices on the basis of the availability of all-wheel drive, better seats, and some loyalty sprinkled brand. I deposited the Caddy and picked up the WRX about an hour from the house on a rainy night in October. It soon became obvious that I had abandoned my sofa on wheels in exchange for an all-access pass to Six Flags. The handling of the WRX was tight and the Dunlop Sport Maxx RT tires cut through the steady stream of water over the rain-soaked tarmac.
The coming weeks consisted of some local travel and a trip to Asheville, NC to give the WRX some room to stretch his legs. Four adults and a couple of bags were packed in the WRX we left the mountain. The first step of the journey involved a driving route and a stop Cracker Barrel, then we fueled and explored the twisties leading to the summit of Mount Mitchell.
We hit the Blue Ridge Parkway and went up the mountain with ease. The winding roads are a challenge for the chassis and suspension, and predictable power band of four flat FA20 confidence provided when vehicles pass less. According to the onboard computer, we averaged just a tick over 30 mpg for the part of the road from our car and dropped to 26 mpg as we climbed the mountain.
Fuel economy has been generous in its entirety. road trips operating at 75 mph will return an average of 30 mpg. Spirited readers on local roads bring closer to 22 mpg. Commuting around the city returns 25 mpg.
The interior plastics feel cheap and love surfaces to collect dust and other particles. I am very happy with the driver's seat, especially now that he was completely broke and proved his worth on 300 mile trips. The rear seat is expectedly tighter than the STS, but it can accommodate two adults comfortably. The addition of a third person is possible - but not recommended. The only element inside I really miss the Cadillac is the auto-up windows for all four doors. The WRX not automatically allows the driver's window. Flipping the coin, the small quarter windows on the front doors are fantastic in the WRX. They are not something I paid attention to during my search for the car but I have come to appreciate how open they make the cabin feel
most of the car of pain .: infotainment system Starlink base spec. Fortunately, I'm not much of an audiophile because the system is crap. It is slow to start and the selection of a programmable buttons brings me back to the time of wanting to knock Bill Gates for the disaster that was Windows ME. The Bluetooth interface is buggy and takes 30 to 40 seconds to connect to my phone once the car is started. Most of my listening is dedicated to podcasts with the occasional song thrown. Bluetooth often falls into the middle of podcast and fails to reconnect or reconnects with a loss of quality.
The volume control things starts at 0 and ends at 40 things (take that, Spinal Tap), but it must be turned up to 25 things before whether his play anything. anything from over 34 units of thing will cause the speakers to emit horrible crackly tones. Adding a new Bluetooth device requires the car to be stopped so make sure all your friends are synchronized prior to traveling on the road. The auxiliary and USB connection in the center console are at hand, but I phone relegated the imposition of duties on cigarettes adapter because the USB port is integrated underpowered and plug anything into it brings the head unit to panic if the same device is already connected via Bluetooth. The star shines in all the infotainment system is the rearview camera: he quickly arrives and shows a clear picture, day or night
The infotainment system stands out as my biggest pet peeve car .. There are some other elements that could be improved, but they are mostly trouble. The resulting cable shifter sometimes feels sloppy and me to explore upgrade options that will change sharper and shorter throws already. The clutch pedal is firm and not unlike my Legacy GT. However, over the last few hundred miles, he developed a granularity that I plan on putting up with the service advisor when I take in for an oil change. I fear that the throwout bearing could be the culprit as I experienced similar symptoms with other Subarus with this particular issue. It could also be as easy as cleaning the dirt and debris from the pedal assembly and shed some fat.
Once you get past the sloppiness of the gearshift lever, the transmission is quite enjoyable. First gear is short and took a little getting used to. The car takes off to a quick stop and torque comes on smooth as you go through the first few gears. Some may complain of the torque curve is too predictable, but I learned to appreciate it, even with the occasional dip in the power delivery system in the range of 4000 to 4500. I am very pleased with the power purchase of shares of the WRX, but change my habits are still alive and well. COBB Tuning calls my name.
The brakes are employed parts bin and are almost completely removed from the legacy of the previous generation GT. I found them to be competent in inheritance and they did a good job in the WRX. They even stayed cool as we dropped 4,000 feet. I have aspirations to get the WRX on the track once it warms up and will be trading at grabbier pads for a little insurance by recommendation runner resident Jack Baruth.
The WRX puts a smile on my face every time I drive and I look forward to many miles this year. I have plans for mountain trips and track visits than time permits. The WRX gets a little more attention on the road than the Cadillac and waves of other Subaru drivers are almost daily occurrence
And as far as the horrible infotainment is concerned, there is a cure :. Switch off. four flat sounds better anyway.
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