That launch was fucking brutal. Motorweek does not fuck around.

Craigslist be like 180k miles 10k FIRM no lowballers

Love that snazzy early 2000s lounge music in the background. Reminds me of good ol' Gran Turismo.

When I test drove my 2002 wrx a stoplight turned green and I punched it...my wife thought we were being rear ended. That is when she realized why I wanted that car.

Owned one...loved it...probably the most fun I'll ever have in any car. I own the new WRX but I'm too old to be as crazy as I was in 02. Those were good times. I miss that car.

2000-2005 was a bonus stage to the 90s

2002 is "retro" now? I feel old.

I still drive an 02 WRX WRB that I bought brand new in May of 2001. It's only 16 years old. I'm doing timing belt/idlers/tensioner/water pump for the second time very soon, and putting in KOYO aluminum radiator. (181k miles). The 5sp. manual has been rebuilt at 150k miles, the motor is fine. The car is stage 2 tuned, for the last 10 years, with original oem TD04 turbo. I need new shocks/struts in the rear.

The classic bug-eye, probably one of the best looking imprezas there were

'02 hatchback, 198K , bought new and still and great car. Game changer in 2002

5.6 to 60!?!?! In 2002!?!?! ON 205s!?!?!?

lmao, "almost as cool wagon is available".....my dear John, the wagon is where it's at :)

Need more early 2000's episodes!

@2:54 that was one hell of a turn

My brother's had one since new (2002 5-speed wagon), still practically stock and low miles, I've driven it a lot. I was driving my 2004 MkIV GTI 1.8T for most of that time, and I preferred my GTI for a lot of it mostly just due to how much more grip and turn-in the GTI offers than the WRX, and a lot of the feel of it, but now my GTI is gone and I've learned to drive his car more properly, it is a blast of a thing. It feels like a rollerskate and it has LOTS of power, the 227/217 rating is deceptively light for how fast it feels. The brakes didn't quite hold up to track work awesomely when my brother joined me at a trackday with it (it was a hot day at Buttonwillow, which is a pretty tough track on brakes), the shifter is notchy (but nicely direct), the clutch is tough to be smooth with until you get a lot of practice and it's easy to induce whipping drivetrain lash, it's economy-car loud inside, the interior plastics are not soft touch...but they are durable, and it's held up very well, and it feels exciting and mechanical and grounded in the act of gripping the road. They are great cars.

I bought my bugeye wrx brand new in 2002 and still have it today. Although it is far from stock anymore...😈

This was a brilliant car to drive ! Subaru engineering was in the zone when they made this wrx ..

What I always loved about the 00's WRX was it actually looked like the rally car, even more so if you got one in STi spec. It was like a matchbox car for adults almost, made you feel like a kid with the way it drove.

A solid review that holds-up. Go, Bugeye, Go

This car probably made me the car enthusiast I am today. Heck I still have the two 2002 WRX diecasts in my room back home today.

I’ve had some great cars in my life, and this is the best of all. Fun to drive, interesting and solid engineering, utilitarian, and great in snow. Still driving it.

One of my all time favorite cars I had.. I miss it greatly,..

This car still looks so good. I always wanted a bugeye wrx.

I love my bugeye wrx, great video!

When a review from 2002 is considered retro, you realize how old you actually are...

It was sure worth the wait, John.

Awesome review. Every bit what I have experienced myself driving my modded 2003 WRX. What a car!

The description is true.

Ah, the “bug-eye” WRX, those were the days. Subaru timed their introduction to the car in America perfectly. Before 2002, the Japanese performance car market in America was lacking at best. The Nissan Z car, the Toyota Supra, Mazda RX-7, and Mitsubishi 3000GT were all dead. The NSX was on its way out, and the Integra Type-R had just been discontinued. Then Subaru comes along with the WRX and all of a sudden we had a potent performance car that the working class could afford. Then in ‘03 we got the EVO and in ‘04 we got the WRX STI which was all the rage in the car world, almost like the Mustang vs. Camaro debate in the late 1960’s.

the most beautiful thing to ever come out of japan !!!!! it blows my mind some of the sweetest angles on this car

A forever classic.

Man, seeing that interior like new is crazy lol. I've own one used.

I was quite relieved that Subaru USA & Canada got the message that American and Canadian drivers wanted the WRX; which overseas drivers got to enjoy for years before it came to America. I remember my first encounter with this car (this design) at the 2001 Detroit Auto Show and thinking to myself; "AT LAST!"

Hands down, one of best cars ever in made this Century.

Seeing this labeled as a "retro" review sure makes me feel old...

I purchased my 2002 Bug Eye 5 speed manual in Summer of 2002. Wrote a check for $27,500 and walked out with the title. I shopped a few dealers and the best I could do was knock $700.00 off of list price. With options such as the rare gauges mounted up on the dash by the dealer if my memory is correct...I think the gauge option was $700.00 Ouch! No wonder hardly anyone purchased those. $27,500 sure was a lot of money for 2002 but I planned on keeping her for a long time. That didn’t happen. The synchros went in the transmission at 31K. The clutch had a recall or TSB, YES, I know there is a difference and that needed to be replaced under warranty. The plastic attachment points that held the front bumper on broke about 15+ times per side! Requiring me to go back to the dealership countless times. The sheet “metal” was so thin that dents just happened out of nowhere. A small branch fell out of a tree and landed on that expensive aluminum hood...3 dents. Anything that came in contact with that thin sheet metal left a dent. I have owned a lot of cars and non of them had this problem. I would love to hear from other REX owners who had the bug eye and what they have to say about the beer can thin body. I had so many problems with this car that I had to Lemon Law it. The only time I ever sued anyone for anything was Subaru over this first model year car in America. Yes, it was that bad. But strange as it may seem I would still buy another Subaru because they have a fantastic reputation and I see many old Subies on the road with hundreds of thousands of miles on them.

Listened to this while driving down the road in my 2022 WRX

Best first car a kid could have asked for. I worked so hard to buy mine

Love these videos with older cars!

"almost as cool wagon" psh. I love my 05 saabaru

A car for people who always have a can of NOS in the cup holder.

"...almost as cool WRX Wagon..." SMH

Amazing how little the WRX has changed since then.

Im still lusting over it....and its in my driveway!

What a great looking car. What a performer! Worth every dollar you pay for them!

2:10 That skrrt off the line tho 👍

What flavor vape came with the blue models?

I had a 02 Impreza 2.5 RS 5 speed manual. That car was fun to drive. Now I have a 13 Impreza premium wagon automatic transmission with 6 speed Manual. With paddle shifters on the steering wheel. This car is a blast also fun to drive. Maybe a little more. Both cars are silver.

This car help me buy most of the cars on the SONY PLAYSTATION GT game.

Hurts that just 15 years ago is considered retro.

Wow! Think I need one of these. Now to convince the wife. Thanks MW.

one of last good Subarus ever made

my 06 wrx puts down 334 awhp at 180k still, im amazed everyday

I have an 03 with 6spd, MapDCCD, 20G, suspension and brembos. LOVE IT

Hey this is my car!

Might be the best car ever made

I had an 05' with a 5 speed manual I bought new. For the guy(s) moaning about sticks, my wife would take it into NYC (Brooklyn) to visit her parents and had no problem driving it in heavy traffic. It was a great car. I cant wait for the WRX to be built on the new global platform.

16 years later 2018 still do the same 0-60 time.

I remember the first time I saw one of these. I was driving my 91 5.0 and I heard someone reving their motor at me. I look and it's the guy behind me, it sounded cool and I could hear the bov. light turns green and I take off with all that my 5.0 had, before I could reach the speed limit this white wagon bugeye wrx just Flys past me. I was impressed.

5.6 seconds to 60 in 2002 is damn good. Even though they may have not been the most reliable, they were good cars, Its too bad the prices are gauged to hell for one these days.

I like watching the retro reviews up to the modern, I can track the guys full head of hair to various stages of baldness! lol!

Still loving these retro reviews!! Notice a little flub though when John states that the car comes on full boost by 4K and pulls hard the rest of the way to the 6000 RPM redline. I was like huh? Thought it was 7. See later in the vid, yes it is 7. Ehh, nobody's perfect!

People complain that cars are too expensive, but accounting for inflation, this cost nearly $40k USD in today’s money!

I'd never seen the original steering wheel in one of these!

I wish i could go back in time and buy a wrx sti with only 5 miles.

This is the car that started the craze in the US, amazing

Super cool car! Its unfortunate that this generation WRX is very rare where I live.

Bought a 2002 wrx wagon new. Still have it, love my bug eye has 114,000 miles

2:09 DAMN! Look at that little "bug-eye" JUMP!

This was me first car! Loved it!

That drift at 3:00 😱

Best Subaru ever!!! Bug eye 😍😍🔥🔥

Still got my 2005...never letting it go.

Still a great looking car even with the Bugeyed headlights, I liked them. 😀👍

Best Daily Driver

Man, how I lusted after this car during the FATF days...

It’s cool and all till a few years later the Sti came out few years later. That really put people in awe

We compared these to a Holden Commodore ss in 2002 , similar 0 100km hr times

Just wow. I watched the 2018 wrx vid before clicking on this one and they have the exact same 0-60 time and just about the same quarter mile time. How is Subaru still in business.

Love this gen of wrx.

This car is as fast as the 2018 WRX why hasn't the performance improved over the years?

Love my bugeye! Redline is 7000 btw, go back in time and fix that.

I'm still kicking myself for not buying one of these when they came out new.

I'm a proud owner of a 2016 WRX but I wish I was old enough to buy this one brand new back in the day

I remember watching this or Car & Driver TV about the WRX four-door, and one of their issues with it was with the legroom in the back, and they called it "a four-door coupe" for that reason. Anyone else remember that episode?

Things faster than my '02 Maxima. Sweet!!!

They used the wrong image for the WRX wagon, the one shown is the impreza outback sport

A simpler time...a treasured past.

Remember the tv commercial ? I wanted one so bad was 19 in 2002

Looking at them now, I am struck of how fucking small they were. Literally, sub compact dimensions if not worse. I owned a 1999 RS and still don't remember how truly small it really was.

Damn that small sedan takes off like a 911 Porsche

Whether actually behind the wheel or via a gaming console, we've all driven this legend.

That DUB YA r x is a sweet ride

I remember watching this on cable!

Bug eyes are cool

Does anyone ever wonder if someone still owns these retro review cars? Like the exact one in the view. I’m sure this WRX has quarter panel rust and been owned by 10 different owners- assuming its not already dead.

Very surprised the price hasn't jumped that much in 18 years, only about $3000 in 2020 than 2002. BMW on the other hand.....

It’s not a ‘poor man’s’ M3. This WRX is more bang for the buck. Anyway to put inflation to perspective, a manual WRX of 2002 costing $24,520 would be $34,473 in 2018. The base 2018 WRX manual is $27K, or $7K cheaper.

I wish I had a license back when cars like these and older were new..

I got a 2003 and love it