Subaru – The Carmax Unicorn Blog

October 17, 2024October 16, 2024

Quick Hit – Zoom Zoom. Last Year Mazdaspeed3

“Mazdaspeed” started in 1967 as an independent racing team (per Wiki) and later ran a pair of Group C Junior cars in the 1983 24 Hours of Le Mans, finishing 12th and 18th overall. Surprisingly, I was there in 1983, and these photos of the 717C’s are mine. The Mazdas ran with the 13B Wankel rotary engine that was also in the first-generation RX-7. Another coincidence….my first grown-up car was a 1985 Mazda RX-7! It’s below, albeit with a 12A carbureted motor, not the 13B. A little-known fact is that when you’re young and buy your first two-seater sports car, your wife will become pregnant in months, and the car will be jettisoned for a sedan. Anyway, in 1991, Mazda won Le Mans overall. Wasn’t there for that.

What’s the point? Mazdaspeed was to Mazda what AMG is to Mercedes, and Alpina is to BMW, I guess. In 2003, the first retail Mazdaspeed Protege was offered, followed by the Mazdaspeed MX-5 Miata in 2004, the Mazdaspeed6 in 2006, and finally, the Mazdaspeed3 in 2007. The Mazdaspeed3 continued in production until 2013. And that brings us to the unicorn below.

The first generation Mazda3 was introduced to the USA in 2004 as the successor to the Protege. The Mazdaspeed3 was imported from 2007 to 2013 with a 2.3-liter four-cylinder motor, turbocharged and intercooled. The second generation, launched in 2010, had bigger brakes and stabilizer bars and a number of engineering upgrades to the motor. And the hood scoop was legit, dissipating heat from the too-hot engine.

The Mazdaspeed3 also had a six-speed manual transmission and limited-slip differential powering the front wheels. It zoom zooms to 60 mph in the low five-second range. The top speed is an impressive 155 mph.

The interior of this 2013 model is sparse, though. Bose sound, CD player, Bluetooth, a USB and aux port, and cruise control. CarMax rated it 2 out of 10 on features. Decent seats and a stick to row your own gears. A driver’s car, I guess.

The Mazdaspeed3 has a big old trunk and can haul some gear as a four-door hatchback.

The fun stuff is below a 2.3-liter, 263-horsepower motor with 280 ft-lbs of torque. Reviews suggest some torque steer, although it’s not horrible. It handles well. It’s a bit of a sleeper.

The 2013 Mazdaspeed3 sold for maybe $28,000 new. It’s only lost a third of its value in 12 years. My Mercedes GLE63 has lost a third of its value in the 16 months I’ve owned it! The 2013 Mazda 3 Mazdaspeed is here at the Dulles, Virginia store. Wait a minute! That’s my store! It looks like the car was sold by the Lancaster, Pennsylvania, CarMax and returned a few weeks and a hundred miles later? Wonder what that was about. I wouldn’t bother with MaxCare, really. Just drive.

Stock No: 25925209 VIN: JM1BL1L34D1824997

(By the way, if you’re into the Mazdaspeed3, take a look at this 2010 model I spotted in 2018. It was $19,998 and had only 10,000 miles on it!)

Care to see how the Mazda 3 Mazdaspeed stacked up against its rivals back in the day? Scroll down a bit.

June 10, 2022June 10, 2022

1 of 25 2015 Subaru WRX STI “Red Dragon”!

I wouldn’t normally stoop to pix of models with cars so bear with me. The 1 of 25 2015 Ali Afshar “Signature Series” ESX STI Special 10TH Anniversary “Red Dragon” Edition WRX STI unicorn being offered by CarMax (#46) was one of two used by ESX for the photo shoot when the car was rolled out in 2015 – #52 being the other. Brings some authenticity to it. Right up front I’ll say for the life of me I can’t solve why if only 25 cars were made the numbers on the intakes and the fenders are higher than 25. Perhaps there were 25 street and 25 off roaders? The car is not as fast as the 1 of 209 models of the 2019 Subaru STI S209 I covered back in August 2021, but it is more exclusive and the S209 sold for almost $70,000 used.

I don’t know much about Subarus and thanks to a kind reader for bringing this to my attention. What I’ve learned is Ali Afshar is an experienced Californian Subaru racing guy who founded Easy Street Motorsports (also known as ESX Motorsports) and an accomplished actor. In 2005 Subaru authorized Mr. Afshar to develop and sell the original limited edition 425 hp WRX STI, with 40 made in the initial run.

In 2015 Subaru again authorized a very limited run of 25 Ali Afshar 10th anniversary WRX Red Dragons. Two versions were made, a 355 hp street legal car and a 425 hp off road model. The cars are serialized with plates in the engine bay and a logo under the left front headlight. Are the cars any good? I can’t tell. Haven’t found any motor car magazines testing the Red Dragon versions. I have found WRX STI enthusiasts throwing shade saying it wasn’t worth the additional cost and not all that much better than a regular (as if there was a regular!) WRX STI.

The above two shots of the plate in the engine bay are from ESX Motorsports web site. The plate below is from the CarMax photo shoot. Really not as big a deal as I’m making it but still a little cool?

The interior is a bit loud but I think that’s consistent with the car. Interesting that the seat belt is some sort of racing four point harness. Not sure the point of the bar below. A brace? Grab bar for panicking passengers? Hang your sport coat when commuting?

Wondering about the shift knob. On the lot in Florida car #46 has a conventional manual transmission shift knob, while the Red Dragons originally came with the special “ESX Red Anodized Aluminum Shift Knob”. Wondering if one of the two previous owners swapped it out and kept as a souvenir before selling it to CarMax?

CarMax still lists this car as a 305 hp WRX, but it’s not. It’s the 355 hp Red Dragon. What’s also good is that MaxCare is available up to 150,000 miles and until 2027. With only 27,000 miles on it now you can drive it real hard worry free.

The shot above of #46 from the ESX website includes the window sticker. Any readers from the imagery community able to blow that up for me? Some of the criticism was the price tag – some said as much as $76,000, but cars were available for as low as $56,000 from some of the few dealers who had them. Not sure how accurate any of that was. A “regular” WRX STI had 305 hp and sold new for under $40,000. This one is now available for $36,998 so maybe not so bad now? That’s about the same price as any used 2015 Subaru WRX STI.

The 25 Red Dragons were originally allocated to just 10 dealerships – one in Connecticut, one in Pennsylvania, one in Oregon, four in California (Ali Afshar’s home state), and three in Florida, including Jacksonville, where this car was sold. The car currently shows as not available because it’s being considered for auction. Track it here in Clermont, Florida just 25 miles west of Orlando. If you really want it you can sign up for notifications if and when it becomes available.

Stock # 22729573 VIN # JF1VA2U60F9809148

August 30, 2021August 30, 2021

#113 of 209 – The Fastest Subaru (A Lot Of) Money Can Buy

Thanks to fellow CarMax tracker and blog reader Cannon for bringing this track-ready, limited run 2019 Subaru STI S209 to my attention. There were only 209 made, and CarMax (of course) has one available. This one is #113 of 209 as far as I can tell – if you can make out the image below better than I, maybe it’s #115? No matter, it’s a rare and fast unicorn.

First, Cannon taught me the Subaru STI S209 was assembled by STI (Subaru Tecnica International), the motorsports arm of Subaru. STI takes possession of WRX STI’s and from the main Gunma, Japan factory, and then ships them to their shop in Kiryu-Kougyo, Japan to complete the S209 modifications. For starters, the power plant is beefed up from 305 hp to 341 hp from it’s turbo flat-four cylinder. Mated to the six-speed manual transmission, the car rips low four second 0-60 mph runs.

The 2019 Car and Driver review noted the “0.6-inch-wider track necessitated fender flares to cover the model-specific 265/35R-19 Dunlop SP Sport Maxx GT 600A summer tires. Bilstein dampers, stiffer springs, and a 20-mm rear anti-roll bar deliver a dog-pukingly stiff ride.” The sedan pulled 1.04 g lateral grip on the skidpad. The car brakes race car hard. I cannot get over that race car wing though.

The Subaru STI S209 has bluetooth, Apple CarPlay, seat heaters, and a rear view camera but not much else in comfort features. Not why one buys this car though. And the kicker? The S209 listed for $65,000 when new. That said, many sold for a premium above MSRP given the limited run. That price was also $25,000 above a regular WRX STI. As Cannon said, this is probably a decent collector car in the making. MaxCare may be cheap also, given that this low mileage car is still under manufacturer warranty. And be prepared – it’s still selling for above MSRP two years later! Find this little race car here in Plano, Texas.

April 6, 2021April 5, 2021

1 of 300 – 2020 Subaru BRZ TS ( and it’s 1 of 1,418 Twin Toyota 86 TRD SE!)

On one hand I don’t get the underpowered but surgically superior handling small cars. They’re just not fast. The Miata. The Toyota 86. The Subaru BRZ. All low powered four cylinders.

But a backroads spin in my 1971 Fiat 124 Spider, with only 110hp, reminds me of all that is right and salutary about a nimble sports car on a windy road. My apologies to these little sports coupes. So what we have here in the “Coming Soon” section on the CarMax website is a 2020 Subaru BRZ TS – of which only 300 were imported into the US. All in white. A true unicorn. And it’s not even on sale yet!

The 2020 Subaru BRZ TS is more than visual changes – it’s all about handling and braking. According to Motor1 – “The meaner version of the coupe uses Sachs dampers and coil springs with a tuned setup from STI. There is also a flexible V-brace in the engine bay. For sharper steering response, there are draw stiffeners on the chassis and sub-frame. Up front, Brembo four-piston brake calipers clamp onto the rotors, and there are two-piston stoppers at the back.”

The Subaru motor remains a 2.0 liter, 205 hp boxer four cylinder and all BRZ TS’s are 6 speed manual transmissions. The combo will only get you a 6.3 second 0-60 mph run, pitiful by today’s standards, but again it’s about the handling. The car sold new just last year for about $33,000, so truly amazing it’s selling at this premium, but then again it is just one of 300 in the USA! Skip the MaxCare – this car is under dealer warranty and no reason to expect reliability issues. Find it here in Fort Worth, Texas.