a friend of mine said he saw it on edmunds, but i could not find it, im also not very good at navigating that site.

what he told me was that they were going to come out with a stripped down WRX with steel wheels and basic interior for thousands less than the standard model. anyone here about this? and are they just using the 2.5 in all wrx models now?

 

They've added variable valve timing to all the Impreza's and yes with the 2.5 liter engine.
The N/A sedan puts down about 170 HP and the WRX's put out 230 HP with 235 ft. lbs. All Impreza's get a new front bumber. And the STI gets a bumper all it's own.

The WRX TR (Tuner Ready) is basically stripped down in that it doesn't come with the amenities n' sht. And yeah it's a little bit cheaper. It's by far the lightest Impreza and with WRX power it's a huge step over the N/A car. But I don't really see why they would market it as the tuner's car because the STI is by far the most performance oriented of the line-up.

 

the impreza TR starts at $23,995. the standard WRX is $24,495 - that's a $500 difference, not several grand. among the items it'll be missing from the standard WRX are: auto climate control, fog lights, 140-watt six speaker stereo with in-dash six-CD changer, rear wing, moon roof (missing as option), the seats are different, and it comes with black mirrors (eg, not body colored). it still comes with 17 inch alloy wheels, and the weight is still the same.

with all that equipment gone and only $500 in savings, this isn't much of a deal. actually it doesn't make any sense at all. who would buy this??

 

well 2nRs of course! who else!

 

the remove $2k in amenities and equipment, no decrease in weight whatsoever, and then charge $500 less???

is there a better active diff (like on the evo), etc. on the car to make up for the difference???

similar performance increases like the evo RS / MR editions is what i'd expect from Subaru but did GM make this car into a bomb?

Edit:...just looked it up at subaru.com and the normal wrx and the tr have the same 2.5 liter turbo engine...you get different seats (woohoo) and maybe the suspension is tuned for more speed

 

I'd like a WRX engine, no alloy wheels, no power windows, locks, radio, ac, rear seats, carpeting, sound deadening, no moonroof, no hood scoop, no fog lamps, no cruise control, no tach

-$4000 off sticker, or have it a tad about R.S and only comes in WHITE

 

I'd spring for that, although for the love of God give me some sort of alloy wheel, I cringe at steelies.

And the hood scoop needs to stay because it allows the top mount intercooler to breathe.

 

according to autotrader.com, the 2006 WRX is about 150 lbs. heavier than the 02-current models. Whats with that?

 

maybe it is the 2.5?

 

Primarily it's more electronics/amenities, larger chassis for cabin space, and larger engine (although I think the 2.5 is just a bored out 2.0, but I'm not sure). It isn't surprising really, an Accord from the late 80's weighs less than today's Civic. People want more stuff and safety features in their cars, and that weighs something.