Okay...I hate been wondering about this: My Automatic WRX will take of like a bullet about 10-20% of the time and the other 80-90% of the time it will lag off the light and take off in second gear. My WRX is automatic and I can't figure out if it is just a 4eat thing or if it is a turbo thing or if it is a Subaru thing. It doesn't matter much about the weather or how long I have been driving the car for, although I do average 20% bullet and 80% lag when its colder out. What's everyone opinion?

its the car, and the way that subaru intended to respond. the part about it being laggy and being like a bullet all adds up to it making power (meaning how it compacts air; aka: the turbo). so since colder air is denser then hotter air (thats why we have intercoolers, at least one of the reasons why). another reason is it because you car is automatic, and since your transmission coresponds with your engine (gears spin with the cars engine, witch spin the flywheel to the driveshaft; confusing i know). the car changes gears without moving the turbos exhaust side (that what causes gear to gear turbo lag).

That and with your automatic setup, I'm sure Subaru put some kind of Torque management in place. I'm sure with some custom computer modifications you could be rid of the problem, but it probably wouldn't be worth the $$ involved on a stock WRX ;)

But why would it be quick out of the hole sometimes and sluggish other times? It doesn't even matter if I have "boost" built up or if I just pull out of the drive way I can never predict if it will be quick or a slug. I really wanna take my car to the track on Jan 26 but I am afraid that with my luck it would lag instead of take off. Brake torquing doesn't seen to make a difference but I dunno what will

But why would it be quick out of the hole sometimes and sluggish other times? It doesn't even matter if I have "boost" built up or if I just pull out of the drive way I can never predict if it will be quick or a slug. I really wanna take my car to the track on Jan 26 but I am afraid that with my luck it would lag instead of take off. Brake torquing doesn't seen to make a difference but I dunno what will
well i could think of somethings that could cause this. on the get go, automatic cars get torque almost automatically because if they didnt, the car would be horifically slow. another thing i can think of is octane levels? your car is not getting a steddy flow of octane level (usually happens when you go to some gas stations that don't check exactly what octane level the gas is at). another thing i can think of is a boost leek? (this happen to me when i started modding my car; the stock turbo hoses can't handle the boost that im running at or yours is worn down) i don't know actually until i would actually of seen it or felt it.

That and with your automatic setup, I'm sure Subaru put some kind of Torque management in place. I'm sure with some custom computer modifications you could be rid of the problem, but it probably wouldn't be worth the $$ involved on a stock WRX ;)
lol, well you could do light mods, such as: front mount intercooler (that would be awsome, boost controller, fuel pump, intake, exhaust. if you push the stock tranny (especially the automatic wrxs') to hard. you would start worrying about your torque converter. and other automatic components. plus your car wouldn't know how to respond with the extra mods, so a lot of tunning with be invloved (thats to damb expensive). :doh:

use your tach.. what RPM are you brake boosting to?

have to tried manually putting it into a 'low' gear?

when in second, do what RPM does it 'take off' at?

hmm

doesn't sound like skip shift...

Pretty simple really. Mike hit some of it. A big part is the engine management your car is stock and unless there is some work done.. Ie.. your power enritchment tables and the volumetric efficency tables.. it's never going to perform but the other thing is.. No turbo car takes off from a hard start without a good stall. Turbo's do not spool or develop boost unless they are under a load. Thats why a downshift feels so good compared to a dead stop launch. Basically what it comes down to is your kina stuck in the mode you are in unless you do some computer mods first. Don't be fooled by guys telling you to upgrade this upgrade that.. You will never see the gains unless the engine management allows you to see them. It's like putting your dog in a cage and then putting dante in a cage.. you let them out dante will kick your dog's ass.. but.. if you keep em caged up.. they both are wussy puppies.. think of your computer as the cage.. think of dante as your car with mods and your dog as your car stock =)

use your tach.. what RPM are you brake boosting to?

have to tried manually putting it into a 'low' gear?

when in second, do what RPM does it 'take off' at?

hmm

doesn't sound like skip shift...

I'll have to try the lower gear thing but my car takes off when it lags at about 4,500 RMPs just before it shifts into second. I am assuming that is when the turbo kicks in but I dunno how that would explain the bullet like take offs at other times randomly.

Yes, Frank I may think about some computer tuning in the future but I want those Evil Autostyle gauges. (I don't care how cheap you can get them...I WANT THEM! Iced-II please :D )