I have a 2004 WRX wagon... not an STI, but I have to step in and defend the car a bit.
My '05 987S is an amazing car. It torches a track and is a dream on wheels with the top down. With the right tires it almost sticks to walls and ceilings. It gets lots of looks and commensurate attention from the police. It seems everyone is racing you off the line at stoplights. Even when you don't realize it. It makes valets grin, Prius drivers smirk, and spouses fall in love again when it's time to go away for the weekend. Yes, it is all that a $60k car ought to be. It also can run you a lot of money when it breaks. Like $12k for a new engine, which is at least a fair possibility over the life of the car.
My WRX is an even more amazing car, really. It kicks the crap out of >95% of the cars on the road in power (with a little software assist) and is very cheap to modify across the board (power, handling, brakes). It has a fabulous steering wheel (Momo), has good grip if not great overall handling (too much roll), is amazing in the rain, and takes you places you can scarcely believe in the snow. It also holds my kids in the back seat, my music gear in the rear, and my bikes on top. Police don't even notice a silver wagon, even with the scoop... compared to driving the Box, it is like complete stealth with radio silence. Oil changes are $23 or something like that at the dealer (I do it myself anyway), the car rarely breaks at all, and even if the engine craps out, I've been told that a new one is something like $2-3k (don't shoot me if that's not completely accurate... it isn't $12k). The car rags said that Subaru got the engine the handling and the brakes right. The rest isn't spectacular, but then that is why I bought it for $19k a year old with 12k miles. The one terrible flaw is that you cannot shift into first gear unless you are nearly at a dead stop (otherwise, grind city), leaving you stranded in second with turbo lag now and again. If they had fixed that design issue, I could claim the car doesn't have any serious flaws.
Yes, I love my Boxster, but it couldn't be my only car. For the price and cost of ownership and the utility, the WRX is a fun drive and clearly a better value. At least to me...
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