My old 370z vs. my new 2012 WRX

Red__Zed

Paint looks great....love the blue!

edub370

dont get too boost happy. subie ringlands and high hp dont get along very well

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LakeShow

Looks good. What's a Opti-coat? How much and where to get it done?

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|2013 Audi S4|Ibis White/Black|S-Tronic P+|
|2013 370z|PearlWhite/Persimmon|Touring/Sport/Nav|F.I. CBE 18" CF|
|Sold|2011 370z|Gun Metallic|Touring/Sport/Nav|

Methodical4u

Opti-coat is sort of like putting on a sealant or wax... it's a semi permenant coating that nothing will adhere to. When it's fully cured it has a level of 9h on the hardness scale. I read that's about as hard as pencil lead... pretty good. Bugs, tar, etc etc don't stick though.. you use the hose and the stuff just sprays right off. For many it works for 2 years... depending on conditions in your area. I really like it. You can get it pretty much at any auto place... autogeek, etc and can apply it yourself, but you really should polish the paint or have someone do it. 1 syringe of it costs 60.00 and you only need about 15 cc's to do a car. You can do headlights, wheels and plastic as well. The car MUST be cleaned with an alcohol/water wipedown before applying as well. I have a youtube video on it... look it up, you'll see the blue WRX on there.

Augustus

Nice car. Enjoy your WRX. Ignore the haters. Some won't be able to understand why you'd want to trade-in a RWD "sports car" for an AWD "econobox". Especially in a Z forum, what'd ya expect? I owned a 2005 WRX, and I still miss it from time-to-time. Especially when it snows.

Seriously though, if you've going to mod, be aware of the warranty implications. While no manufacturer embraces mods, Subaru is especially vigilant about denying claims for modded WRX's. They know that people mod them. At least, that was the big hubbub back in 2005-2007 when I was into the NASIOC scene. Maybe it's different now.

Good luck!

Methodical4u

Oh i'm not worried about them... I know the car is a very good car. I'm not planning on going to some super high power level... 300 whp or a little over would be fine and not that expensive to do... but i'm in no rush. Most of the guys on here that give the WRX a hard time are mostly upset because the car... as much as I like the Z, just isn't that fast... not as fast as they would like it to be.

gsxr750

I stand corrected I got the HP from wikipedia and took the lower of the 2 ratings, so its a 2.5 Liter 4 cylinder boxer rated at 224 HP and 265 HP.

Right from the start its down, almost 70hp on a stock 370Z and it has 4 doors, there is really no getting over that.

As you stated you still have drop $2k into it just to get it approaching a 370Z's stock numbers.

If anything you should have went for something that more HP than the 370Z, unless your getting to old to handle a more powerfull car.

I learned a long time ago that once you are spoiled by a more powerfull vehicle, going backwards never really satisfies you.

The only reason I could really see to down size in HP would be to get greater gas mileage, lets say 45-50 mpg.

Face it you went from Catrinel Menghia, to a life with Snooki.

Methodical4u

and this right here is your entire problem from the get go... you're an uneducated wannabe gearhead who really knows nothing about cars. The Z has more HP sure... the problem is that 310-315 whp is all you're going to get out of it and about how much wtq? I said 2 grand will get me over 300 WHP while ALL the NA mods on the Z will net you the above numbers... get a clue dude. This wasn't to turn into a who's faster or who has more power. If you come up on a new WRX i'd think twice about running it if I were you... i'll leave it at that.

christian370z

I've used Opti-Coat, Opti-Coat V2 (a nice improvement), Cquartz and Aquartz and semi permanent coatings are the future in my opinion. The Subie looks great btw! I love seeing clean cars.

It isn't that fast? A 300whp WRX might have the advantage to 60 or slightly above but power/tq starts to drop off at the top end, especially when tuned. From experience, my Z pulled on a cobb stage 2 Sti, even more so in the triple digits where the subie started to struggle. It may feel faster from the additional torque, but the Z is hardly "not that fast". Anything with a 3.7l V6 (w/ minor bolt ons) that can keep up with the likes of an E9X M3 is fast in my opinion.

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-320whp / 259wftlbs-
SP Rays -- RE-11s -- SpecialtyZ Tune -- Swift Springs -- Stillen 25R Oil Cooler -- Stillen G3 Intakes -- Berk HFCs -- F.I. 12" CBE -- Stillen Sway Bars -- Es14 Spring -- INGS+1 lip -- CF Spoiler -- GTR Start Button -- VLED Parking Lights -- PWJDM V2 shift knob

Methodical4u

I'm not talking Cobb maps here man... i'm talking a protune that's going to give you 15 or more whp than any OTS map. Cobb makes great stuff don't get me wrong, but with all of your mods for instance I need 3 simple, less expensive mods to get about the same power... a downpipe, a thicker top mount IC and a pro-tune.

Thanks for the compliment... yes, I love the opti-coat ... just use the hose to wash the car and that's it... blow it dry, or drive it and you're done lol. Of course now i'll be bored and wish I could polish my car once in a while. Oh well, more time to detail other cars and make a little extra money I suppose.

gaveup

You really don't have much of a clue do you? Gear head for X number of years and still have no idea about the specific car which you are knocking.

Before I had my Z I had a 2007 WRX TR. For what it was, it was a great car. Even stock it was pretty quick. Basic stage 2 bolt ons (exhaust and tune) and the car was running low 13's and put 240whp down on a MUSTANG dyno. Once I got bored with it at that point I ordered a VF39 and friend gave me an STI intercooler. Installed them all on a weekend, had a friend email me a tune (a tune that costs me $75 for the cable, since everything for those cars are open source). And in a few hours improved my cars performance a crap ton.

On that configuration my car went 12.7 with a garbage 1.8 60ft (I really needed to raise the 2 step up to 5500rpm). After that, I got a MBC and used that to control and hold boost MUCH better, but never took it back to the track and decided to get a Z.

You can talk all you want about the wrx, but in my mind sometimes I wish I still had it. All the mods I had into the car was less money than pretty much test pipes and an intake for the Z.

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2010 Magnetic Black Metallic 370Z 6M
stillen gen 3 CAI - topspeed test pipes - invidia gemini CBE - UpRev tune
301whp (HP Logic Mustang Dyno)

dpmdc

I had the WRX STI Special Edition which came from the factory with Spec C suspension. Did autox and tracked it on a road course and was real happy with how it did "out of the box"

Methodical4u

There's a video on youtube with the Z, the Spec C, I think an Audi maybe and something else... that light goes green and that spec C was GONE lol. They are quick man.

enkei2k

This is a great comparison, thanks. I don't think you mentioned it, but why didn't you look into the STi also?

I considered the STi before getting the 370 because the pricing was so similar and I did kinda want the 4 doors + AWD. But something about the Z just made me pull the trigger. I think it was the push start button

Methodical4u

The STI is one of those cars that was out of the price range I was looking at... and unless you track the car... you really don't need all the car comes with.