The struggle is real
 

Hello, I am new to these forums!

I love cars, and I am very fond of taking care of them.

I currently drive a modded 2004 Subaru Impreza WRX, it is a beautifully mechanic car, and gives me a thrill to drive it everyday, but behind that trill is the fear of expenditure :(

i.imgur.com/sDqy7ho.jpg

While I love my car for the aesthetics and performance, I do not love the fact that every time I go to school, or to visit friends, i spend $10+ on gas alone, I am a college student and I do side jobs here and there so the gas money really drains a hole in my pocket.

Right now I am not sure what to do, but I decided to join these forums in hope that I can convince myself to get rid of my car lol. Something about modding my car to get better MPG intrigues me.

When I was in college I put the bulk of my miles on bicycles and a CB450 Honda. When I needed cars I had some that got 30 mpg or so (Corolla SR5, VW Bug, etc.). At one point I lived four miles away from school; it became a personal challenge to beat one of my roommates to class, he in a car vs me on my bicycle. With the bad parking situation on campus, he never won by much.

Something tells me you won't want to add coroplast mods to a car that looks this good. So study the driving techniques. If your car has a manual transmission, then learn how to do engine off coasting effectively. Boost your tire pressure to at least max sidewall. Consider a stealthy (behind the grill) partial grill block. And slow down at cruise on the freeway.

http://i.imgur.com/sDqy7ho.jpg

Thanks, I am considering selling the vehicle though, this car would never get me good MPG with the turbo and awd

You weren't exactly thinking ahead then when you chose your user name. ;)

In the late 70s, Subies were good MPG, but the modern ones are notoriously bad. Max-effort STi 2-door versions are cool, but I'd prefer an Evo if they had ever been offered in 2-door. The flat 4 gets the weight down, but it's still entirely in front of the axle centerline. Also, a decade ago, when I was still machining used engine parts all day every day, nearly half of what came in was Subaru heads, even more than SBC 350 stuff. So there's the other big reason against Subie.

Hi,

There aren't a lot of Rexes on here, but there's a few:
2002 Subaru Impreza WRX Gas Mileage (!Rally) - EcoModder.com
Details: Odie2 - 2004 Subaru Impreza WRX Wagon Fuel Economy - EcoModder.com

That's a couple that seem to be current in the fuel logs. The ones that show up but don't see much activity I won't bother about.

It looks to me like you aren't going to break 30 mpg unless you're driving a Legacy or new Forester (maybe), or perhaps a Crosstrek.

I have a '98 Forester and while it's a good car for bad weather, and very roomy, it's a gas pig. PIG. Between that and the endless list of niggling engine problems, I will never, ever buy another one. Here and there you hear of a magically oil-tight Subie that is still running with its original head gaskets, but that has not been my experience. For your sake I hope you have the 2.2l engine which by all accounts is a MUCH more reliable mill, but I'm thinking by that model year that may not have been an option for you.

I know you have an enthusiast's car, but if fuel mileage is your goal you have a very difficult, uphill row to hoe. Late model Subies don't respond well to hypermiling in my experience and even if you're good at it, you'll be pushing hard to achieve what is merely average in a different car.

I don't generally recommend it because the name of the site is EcoMODDER, not EcoBUYER, but this time (and since you already mentioned it's on your mind), I would suggest a different car entirely.

Welcome to the world of applied high performance driving.

Getting mileage is a constant challenge that's fun and engaging- and you can do it all the time. Tearing it up with the Subaru turbo is fun and engaging, but the chances for doing it for real are actually quite rare. Even pulling yourself back from 10/10 to simply "having a lot of fun," you're still devoting more of your attention to watching for cops than you are to the actual driving.

Driving one of those beasts for mileage is fun, especially knowing what you still have under your right food at all times. Until you've been donig it for a while and you realize that now you're doing high performance driving all the time. Traffic may keep you from keeping your foot in it and watching the needles move, but it'll never stop you from moving as efficiently as you can. Every corner requires exacting attention to detail and the measurements and rewards are way more than "yeah, it was a good ride in today." Heavy traffic? Who cares, I'm still working the hell out of it.

The beast is a purpose built car, though, and you almost never get to use it for its intended purpose. It works against you instead of helping you and rewarding you. I miss my LGT. A lot. But as much fun as I had tearing it up whenever the opportunity presented, now I get to do it every time I get in my Fit.

The smart move is to grab a beater for as little as possible and then sell the Subaru. Then get a car that you can rock all the time without worrying about radar, insurance, theft or vandalism.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...mpg-30489.html

You can get something reliable and good that'll get good numbers for a lot less than you'll get for the Subaru, and once you're settled you can ditch the beater.

Why, WRXes score high when it comes to smiles per gallon :)

And there should be a law against mentioning a WRX on EcoModder without reference to Jedi_Sol, see http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...log-26612.html :thumbup:

There is a law. I didn't have time to search for it so I avoided actually saying WRX. :D