Is this a good Autox car? 2.5RS
 

http://images.autotrader.com/images/..._A.562x421.jpg

I see WRX's all over the place at the autocrosses I've been to. I can assume they're great autox cars. But how about this one? My friend is buying a car in the next few months and might autocross with me. He wants something sporty, really likes the WRX, but can't afford it. For some reason I'm drawn to this car. It seems light and agile enough to perform well in an autocross. Any thoughts?

That is a 1998 Subaru Impreza 2.5RS (awd)

i dont know much about auto-x but i can tell u that in my view i think subarus kick ass in auto x since they have the advantage of being AWD... The 2.5 RS are not as powerful but they have great potential. BTW love the car...

Yes, it is a good autox car. I don't know how competitive it is in its class - whatever that is - but there were a couple at the last race that sure smoked. This one especially was just awesome. I think they were both in STX.

The 2.5RS used to be the car to have in STS, but now it is dominated by the EF Civic Sis.

Locally they are pretty quick especially in the rain. Guy locally has a 2.5RS that is fully prepped to the STS rules. He usually gets me by about 1/2 or so. IN stock class they are pretty quick (G stock), but the Minis are much faster.

Yeah I don't recommend racing in H or G stock long term. They are dominated by mini's. You'll want to go STS with that car if you plan on autocrossing competitively.

i used to take race driving lessons with a guy who had a 2.5rs - he swapped in (can't remember exactly) a wrx turbo setup (these are getting cheap as people upgrade to bigger turbos and intercoolers) pretty cheaply into it and had a 2 door version of a poor man's STi

pretty cool car if you can't afford the wrx. def competitive locally in STS..

I think Jeremy Foley in Dallas is the only person still flogging away at making it a GS contender.

Otherwise its only" really good" as an STS ProSolo contender where its 1.6-1.8 60ft times, give it a nice edge over the EF clan... I watched Croey Ridgick and others do amazing things with it.

I got tromped on at Nats by an STX version in the rain, which is the other place the car shines.