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  Aug. 17, 2010 8:05 a.m. upwardlymobilehome New Reader

  REally thinking of picking up an '06 WRX. Anything special to look for in the way of issue unique to this year or model? Thanx!

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  Aug. 17, 2010 8:14 a.m. sachilles HalfDork

  Not really, just the usual stuff. Look to see if the heat shield is still on the turbo to get an indication if it had been previously modified. If it's higher mileage, see to it that the t-belt has been changed, as that can be pricey to do.

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  Aug. 17, 2010 9:30 a.m. Woody SuperDork

  My timing belt job cost about $700.

  Unleash the relentless power of her 1400cc Quadrozontal engine...

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  Aug. 17, 2010 11:23 a.m. SilverFleet Reader

  Look for previous mods, or evidence of previous mods. With any performance car, and especially these, improper installation of crap parts will destroy one of these cars. Check areas like the turbo (as sachilles mentioned), the BPV (if it has an aftermarket blow-off valve, there's strong evidence of improper modification), manual boost controllers, CAI's, etc.

  2006 is probably the best year performance-wise for the 02-07 WRX's. They had aluminum front control arms, the 4 pot-2 pot brakes, a better transmission, and of course, the 2.5L motor. Even a simple "stage 1" reflash will wake these ones up quite a bit.

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  Aug. 17, 2010 7:34 p.m. upwardlymobilehome New Reader

  When should the timing belt be changed?

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  Aug. 17, 2010 8:25 p.m. Woody SuperDork

  I think that on my '04, it was due at around 105k. Not 100% sure about that.

  Unleash the relentless power of her 1400cc Quadrozontal engine...

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  Nov. 11, 2011 6:35 p.m. BoxheadTim SuperDork

  Thread necromancy - do these still feel more like an FWD car when you're pushing them hard on the track?

  My CJ7 has just tendered another resignation (busted center diff vacuum switch by the looks of it and the switch is NLA) so I'm toying with the idea of scrapping the idea of an S2k and get a WRX for DD an track fun. Especially as the local Subaru stealership has one for sale with about 62k on the clock.

  Sanity is vastly overrated.

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  Nov. 11, 2011 7:21 p.m. Ojala Reader

  In reply to BoxheadTim:

  pretty much, are you talking autocross or hpde?

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  Nov. 11, 2011 7:29 p.m. BoxheadTim SuperDork

  HPDE mostly.

  And I don't like FWD, which is why I never was too fond of Subarus.

  Sanity is vastly overrated.

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