2014 WRX?

[cody]

Is this what it's going to look like?

http://www.motortrend.com/future/con...u_wrx_concept/

[Kevin M]

Sort of, but not exactly. Which is what can be said about every new concept, even the ones for refreshes of current cars.

That said, it looks good.

[sperry]

Uh, WTF is that?

Is that what they meant a while back when they said "the 2014 STi won't be based on the Impreza"? I assumed that meant they were going to ditch the Impreza WRX STi and make a BRZ STi instead. Not that they were going to make the WRX into its own model separate from the Impreza!

That said... it looks pretty sweet. Kinda like they took a refreshed Impreza from the belt-line down and slapped a sports car roof on top of it. But I'd be pretty torn picking between something like this and a turbo-BRZ. Frankly, I think I'd rather have the BRZ, especially if it's cheaper than the WRX.

[k-dogg39]

It kind of looks like a mix between the BRZ and an Audi to me. Looks like it could be pretty cool.

[AtomicLabMonkey]

No hatch option? I'm glad I'm getting a '13.

[sperry]

The NYAS display looks like a Scion TC.

[Jeikun]

I'm totally in for one of these. I don't think the head lights, brake lights, and turn signals will make it to production but I really like the body style of it.

[Bob Danger]

I like the first rendering, but the actual photograph ruined it. The front looks like a Dodge, and I have no idea what they're thinking with those rear arches. It looks like a shelf on the rear fenders.

[SpamMan]

It looks like a beefed up scion!

[sperry]

Originally Posted by Bob Danger

I like the first rendering, but the actual photograph ruined it. The front looks like a Dodge, and I have no idea what they're thinking with those rear arches. It looks like a shelf on the rear fenders.

I'm hoping it's just a side effect of the distortion from a guy standing close to the car with a wide-angle lens. Because yeah, that thing has a bulbous front-end and odd rear belt-line in that picture.

Here's to hoping it looks better in person.

On the other hand... when was the last time there was an Impreza made that wasn't ugly at first sight that required growing on you to become nice looking 3 years later?

[Nick Koan]

Green exhaust tips? The new hotness, I guess.



More photos here: http://jalopnik.com/the-subaru-wrx-c...eyeb-461441647

[MattR]

I actually like where they are headed with their design. The tail lights are weird, but the rest of it I'm liking. I'm kinda liking some of the new weird lines on new MY cars, like the Mercedes Benz AMG CLA45, it's bulbous looking but it works...Owning a MINI has obviously distorted my viw of what looks normal...

[rory_a]

I'm a fan. If I had the money, I'd be waiting for the waiting list. If it comes with the brakes and BBS. And Recaros.

[Double_Rs]

I actually like it as well. I want to see a version with a wing maybe. It almost seems like a two door from the angles the pictures were taken from.

[A1337STI]

From someone who hated the 08' Hatch redesign (and still does)

I really like that new design.

I really hope all 4 wheel bearings are bolt off, and that it has McPherson all around. Supposedly it was a from the ground up redesign for auto sport ... so they better not have "trunk space boosting - rear suspension)

hopefully they move back to beefier rear stuff. , the change in 08 caused a lot of Bent and broken rear suspension parts compared to an 07 ...

stiffer chassis , and its < 3000# curb weight...

I think i can hear someone linking me to Lead Zeplin dream on , already ...

[sperry]

Originally Posted by A1337STI

From someone who hated the 08' Hatch redesign (and still does)

I really like that new design.

I really hope all 4 wheel bearings are bolt off, and that it has McPherson all around. Supposedly it was a from the ground up redesign for auto sport ... so they better not have "trunk space boosting - rear suspension)

hopefully they move back to beefier rear stuff. , the change in 08 caused a lot of Bent and broken rear suspension parts compared to an 07 ...

stiffer chassis , and its < 3000# curb weight...

I think i can hear someone linking me to Lead Zeplin dream on , already ...

The current rear-end is better than a McStrut, geometry-wise. And the current cars all have unit-hubs. That doesn't stop the hubs from failing more often than the press-in hubs did.

Ideally, they'd go to double A-arms front and rear with the bolt-on 5x114.3 hubs (not going to happen). But there's no way that car will be under 3k lbs. That's a 3500 lb car... more if it comes with a 6MT.

This car will likely have the same rear-suspension as the BRZ or Impreza, and the same front-suspension as the Impreza.

[AtomicLabMonkey]

Originally Posted by A1337STI

hopefully they move back to beefier rear stuff. , the change in 08 caused a lot of Bent and broken rear suspension parts compared to an 07 ...

stiffer chassis , and its < 3000# curb weight...

Bent and broken by whom, doing what?

Also unlikely to drop 200+lbs without deletion of some equipment and/or noticeable increase in price point.

[Bob Danger]

Originally Posted by sperry

But there's no way that car will be under 3k lbs. That's a 3500 lb car... more if it comes with a 6MT.

I agree.

[khail19]

Originally Posted by A1337STI

I think i can hear someone linking me to Lead Zeplin dream on , already ...

I can't believe no one already mentioned the blasphemy you typed, but "Dream On" was Aerosmith, not Led Zeppelin.

Much more important to get that right than details about the car!

[Kevin M]

Originally Posted by khail19

I can't believe no one already mentioned the blasphemy you typed, but "Dream On" was Aerosmith, not Led Zeppelin.

Much more important to get that right than details about the car!

This. Although I've gotten into several arguments with people who don't believe that Steven Tyler used to sound like that.

[A1337STI]

Originally Posted by AtomicLabMonkey

Bent and broken by whom, doing what?

Also unlikely to drop 200+lbs without deletion of some equipment and/or noticeable increase in price point.

Broken a lot by SOA Rally team. (and the PWRC team as well) doing Rally!

but to be honest they don't really market it much, and even when they do, it doesn't matter how often they break down as long as they can get a few 5 second clips of a cool looking drift. and they pretty much always win in the US (helps a lot there are no other factory teams in the us competing against them, and they hire the best drivers)

Subaru as a factory effort competes in Rally-America Open championship and they also still compete in P-WRC
and to my knowledge Subaru doesn't have any other official factory race teams in any other motor sport.

so it would seem to be logical that if they are redesigning the WRX "for motor sports" they would focus on what they actively race in ... and the "crap in the back" is worse for durability. Yes it's better on the race track , but that's not where the WRX really belongs (IMO which will be bashed on here quickly)

the BRZ should get the track oriented suspension (which it has, now it just needs HP) , and the WRX should get rally oriented suspension.

But what we will probably see is the wrx getting all fancy (and weaker) in the back, and the BRZ staying low HP..

googled

[sperry]

First, I haven't seen anywhere that the WRX redesign is "for motorsports". Best I can tell, the redesign is to sell more cars by making it sportier looking. Subaru's involvement in Rally is actually pretty superficial ever since they pulled out of WRC. They *used* to design road cars specifically to succeed in WRC... that's where the STi came from. But now they're essentially just supporting the US rally guys with parts and calling it a "factory team"... I doubt there's any real thought put into the design of their cars with respect to US rally. Which is why the hubs are weaker, suspension is flimsier, cars are larger and heavier, etc. on the Imprezas. They're designing the cars for sales profits, not for wins.

Second, the difference between "track oriented" and "rally oriented" suspension is basically nothing. In both sports, the struts are replaced, the control arms beefed up, etc. The only thing that matters at the factory is the basic suspension layout, and both the Impreza and BRZ fail in that regards. If either were truly meant for motorsports, Subaru would have figured out how to cram some A-arms in there.

And I won't bash you for suggesting the WRX doesn't belong on the track. I think everyone agrees the WRX is a pig at the track. A fast, brute-force kinda pig. But it certainly doesn't have any finesse, and takes some manhandling to get it around a track quickly. Hell, my Miata has about 1/4 the horsepower of my WRX, and it's much, much slower... but it's like twice as much fun as the WRX at the racetrack. But that's because Mazda designed the car with fun handling specifically in mind. Subaru designed the Impreza with cheap build costs in mind... designs that STi (and Prodrive back in the WRC days) had to overcome in order to make the car a winner. Their only saving grace was that all their competition were also starting with econobox cars as their rally platforms as well.

The reason you got bashed about the rally thing is because you used to come off as suggesting that rally is the *only* thing the WRX/STi is good for. The reality is, just because the STi was modified from the Impreza with rally in mind doesn't mean that's the only thing it's good for, nor does it imply that the STi is all that perfect for rally. The STi isn't the best way over a dirt road... it's the best way over a dirt road under the Group-N rules. Setup a GT-R for rally, for example, and it would crush STis with it's better weight distribution, better power, better suspension geometry, better differentials, etc. All the same reasons why the GT-R crushes the STi at the racetrack. Dirt and tarmac aren't that different, from the perspective of car design... sure the extremes are on different ends of the spectrum, but the basic concept is still the same: getting the tires to grip the ground as much as possible, and give the driver the ability to control the car's slip angle easily. The only thing that's very rally-specific is that FWD tends to work a bit better than RWD, where tarmac the opposite is true. But in both sports, AWD (properly implemented) is better than either.

But anyway, I also don't expect the WRX to be anything spectacular in terms of a racing platform. It will likely be similar to the Impreza, since that's likely what will be underneath. The BRZ has a little more hope, because it's designed more in line with the Miata, i.e. as a fun car. It still has crappy suspension geometry when compared to the Miata, but it's much better than the Impreza. Also, there's very likely a turbo version coming, with the same motor that's in the FXT and this new WRX. A turbo and/or STi BRZ may be quite a good platform for racing, though RWD + rally doesn't work so well against AWD cars. But it would probably do well against other RWD cars in the dirt.

Edit: holy crap, I'm long winded.

[AtomicLabMonkey]

Originally Posted by A1337STI

Broken a lot by SOA Rally team. (and the PWRC team as well) doing Rally!

but to be honest they don't really market it much, and even when they do, it doesn't matter how often they break down as long as they can get a few 5 second clips of a cool looking drift. and they pretty much always win in the US (helps a lot there are no other factory teams in the us competing against them, and they hire the best drivers)

Subaru as a factory effort competes in Rally-America Open championship and they also still compete in P-WRC
and to my knowledge Subaru doesn't have any other official factory race teams in any other motor sport.

Dude. There is no high volume, low price point, production car on the market that has a suspension purposely designed to hold up for extended periods under the loadings generated during any type of racing.. period.

I guarantee that "Monte Carlo rally stage" is not one of the fatigue load cases that the Subaru design team used to validate the current car, nor will it be for the next design. That would be prohibitively heavy and/or expensive because component durability always carries with it a weight and/or cost penalty. These cars are designed for fairly normal street usage by fairly normal drivers, just like pretty much every other car made in a factory.

Expecting a mass produced vehicle to be an awesome rally car right off the assembly line is just a flat out unrealistic expectation.

[A1337STI]

Originally Posted by sperry

First, I haven't seen anywhere that the WRX redesign is "for motorsports".

“The first thing you must understand about our all-new WRX is that we have developed it from the ground up to win in motorsports events. That’s why we have focused so heavily on weight issues, not to mention a shorter wheelbase that permits faster, more precise turn-in. Marry that to our proven AWD system, and we think we have a winner,” explains our source.

http://rimrocksubarukia.wordpress.co...it-until-2014/

The source continued further: "That's why we have focused so heavily on weight issues, not to mention a shorter wheelbase that permits faster, more precise turn-in. Marry that to our proven AWD system, and we think we have a winner." Subaru plans on competing the new WRX in domestic rallies as well as in the Europe's World Touring Car Championships. Their sights are on a long-awaited return to the WRC.

http://www.carbuzz.com/news/2011/7/2...-More-7703925/

http://www.motortrend.com/future/fut...o_its_own_way/

Whether the WRX will stage a comeback to the WRC is undecided, but Subaru did say that we can expect to see the car in competitive events from road racing to rallying.

Read more: http://www.motortrend.com/features/a...#ixzz2PbkQYjsF

http://www.worldcarfans.com/111071534963/


Uhm the phrase "suck it trebek" comes to mind.

Originally Posted by atomicmonkey

Dude. There is no high volume, low price point, production car on the market that has a suspension purposely designed to hold up for extended periods under the loadings generated during any type of racing.. period.

I'm not expecting a car that comes off the assembly line with coilovers ready to handle stage events, or 24 hours of a track. (Nor did i say or imply that)

I'm saying a known geometry design of the suspension that causes a lot of failures should be avoided.
And some cars are designed to go racing (Ferrari , Miatas, Porsche)
http://carsnewstoday.com/porsche/tra...previewed.html

http://www.motortrend.com/features/1...a/viewall.html

you know the whole mazda "zoom zoom" and "more mazdas are raced on any given weekend than any other car"
the car designers are embracing the fact that their cars get raced. they are not designing race cars, but they are keeping motorsports in mind.

Am i saying that you pick up the keys from the dealership and your car is race ready? NO people, quite being ass holes to me


What i'm saying is certain cars have motorsports in mind when they are designed. you still have to swap out the dampers, springs, tires, brake pads, and add a roll cage. but some cars have thought put into them , so that its Easier to get into racing.

SINCE EVERYONE IS TRYING SO HARD TO READ INTO MY POSTS.. ARG!!! LET ME SPELL IT OUT

I WANT SUBARU TO THINK ABOUT MOTORSPORTS AND TRY TO MAKE IT LIGHTER, EASIER TO WORK ON, AND SUSPENSION GEOMETRY THAT MAKES SENSE FOR WHAT THEY RACE IN.

[A1337STI]

I'm not changing my mind, and obviously i'm not going to change anyone else's.

its fine to not agree with me (ever) but its pretty lame when you come across as disagreeing for the sake of disagreeing with me.