This is sad...

[Jay 02 TA ws6]

Originally posted by 99WS6TA
In one of the auto mag a couple of months ago they had the WRX STi up against the 03 cobra and it ran head to head with it. it beat the cobra by like .09 in the 1/4 mile and kicked its but on the course. so i got to give it up to the wrx

I believe the article you are referring to was in Hot Rodding, but I am not sure.

What I AM sure of, however, is that that was no regular WRX matched up with the Cobra. The car in that comparison was the WRX STi. The difference in performance between the WRX and the WRX STi would be like comparing a standard Z28 to a Berger SS. There is a MAJOR difference between the standard WRX and the STi.

[AmericanZ28]

Originally posted by TraceZ
I gotta disagree. Toyotas and Hondas run forever. I have 2 frineds with over 150,000 miles on Toyota trucks (1991 & 1992) with *no* problems whatsoever. No bad alternators, waterpumps, *nothing* except typical maintenance. Another friend with 215,000 and he just had to have the heads rebuilt and the oil pump replaced. Cylinders still look good compression is good.. All 3 of these trucks have the original transmissions in them.

Launching a f-bod abuses the drivetrain as well. I hear of transmission problems all the time on our cars. We fix them, and keep going just like the import guys will. 10 years old is not really old for a car today. My 1994 is 10 years old, and still smells like new. A 1994 Honda, Toyota or other quality import is still a good car. These cars are not falling apart at any higher a rate than american cars of the same years.

Here is where I'm sure we will agree.... Import cars are not destined to become classics. When was the last time you drooled over a classic Toyota? Maybe some time in the future, when the current kids are in their 40's they will put some value on a nice old Honda. I kinda doubt it though. Our American pony and muscle cars represent a passion and love that is not found in the imports.

I think you mis-understood what Joe was trying to say. I think he was refering to AWD imports, and not imports in general. Also, keep in mind that a turbo-charged AWD import is even less likely to last as long as a regular AWD car. I think the WRX Sti is running what, 18#'s of boost? Thats a whole lot of freaking boost!

[Joe 1320]

To clarify what I said......... yes imports can run forever, so can a small block chevy. What I was referring to was AWD cars take a huge amount of abuse to generate those numbers and that means broken parts. Expensive broken parts. That means used parts are going to command a premium, new parts are going to be priced to the moon. The end result is that in 10 years, these great performing AWD cars will be nowhere to be found. When it takes $5000 to put it back together and the car's value is $1000, what do you think people are going to do? Same thing they do now, but another new car. I was not refering to all imports, I was not suggesting that imports don't last, I was not attempting to imply that american muscle lasts longer. Having seen it before, history merely repeats itself.