Drove a Subaru STI today... it's fast.
 

We are finishing up work on a 2007 Subaru STI. I took it for a decent test ride after the alignment was finished and to safety check it. My driving impressions are as follows:

1) The car feels very fast through third gear. Acceleration is head snapping when
the turbo kicks in. The turbo arrives at about 4k and pulls strong till the rev
limiter.

2) The car handles very well. I like the all wheel drive feel and didnt experience
as much understeer as I thought I would. The steering is tight and there isnt
any play in the wheel. The ratio feels close as well.

3) The transmission is decent... a little mechanical and notchy feeling. I thought
it could be geared a little taller.

4) The brakes are excellent. This particular car has Brembos all around. I was
impressed.

5) Creature comforts... fails miserably.. crappy interior, uncomfortable seats, not
great driving position. Buttons are in funny places and it looks very cheap
inside.

6) The worst part of this car is that unless you are driving with your foot mashed,
it doesnt have a thing going for it. It is like driving a 4 cylinder econobox.
The suspension is so taught that your can feel a dime if you hit one in the
roadway. I didnt get that special feeling you would in a great car. I was
very impressed with the power of the car throttle on and then after long
thought, very un-impressed with the rest of the package. Keep in mind, this
is a 30k plus car. For that amount of money, you could buy a very well
appointed Boxster s with low miles!

I am sticking with the Box! I can only imagine with the 996 and 997 turbos are
like..... Someday!

Just thought I would share!

Valid points, this car is half the price of a new boxster S however. I drove my friends older style 2004 STI and it impressed my particulary when we abused the clutch a bit and did 5k rpm dumps! My gosh with all that grip, breathing was difficult in first gear. One nice thing also is that 11 sec quarter mile slips are just a few upgrades away. It's a bit too boy racerish for me though with the big wing and hood scoop.

i haven't driven an STi but did test drive a brand new EVO X before getting my used 2.7L 2000 boxster.

the STi/EVO cars are fast in a straight line, have AWD "magic" to make them handle, but they don't do a thing for me. i test drove it and left feeling let down. i had ZERO interest in buying one.

a boxster may not be as fast, but I wouldn't trade my used boxster for both the STi/EVO. besides, the boy racer image is a big no no

I'm biased because I have an Impreza, but I think these are really great little cars. The chassis is lively, the grip is tenacious, the engine is torquey and winter traction makes it an all year around toy.

I agree about the interior and would add that the quality of the exterior isn't anything to get excited about either. Appearently the new gen cars are supposed to be better. But Subaru put the effort into the things that a gear-heads care about and made a 30k car that can do 0-60 in 4.5 seconds and burn up an autocross course.

To echo what blue said, I'm glad they spent the money on the engine and brakes rather than making the "interior lush and plush." The car isn't meant to a to be a benz for 30k no less.

while i didnt have an STI, i had a tweaked wrx, i wasnt impressed with the car at all and sold it after owning it for a month or so.
the tranny in those cars is brutal, it jerks like nothing else, almost makes you feel like you dont know how to drive a manual car, and when asked this Q on the forums, they all said you will get used to it...well no thx i dont want to get used to it, i couldnt even drive it daily from all that nonsense. yes it was uncomfortable, cheap interior, and you are right, the buttons are so funny placed.
the only thing that car has going for it is that it is AWD and turbo, and that is where it stops.
sorry, not all that impressed, its got power, but thats all... :confused:

I have a 2004 WRX wagon... not an STI, but I have to step in and defend the car a bit. :matchup: :cool:

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... ;)

I wouldn't expect the Subi to get a totally unbiased review on this forum.

for a daily driver or a more "practical" car, a WRX, STi is surely a great car. lots of power, great AWD grip, and back seats/trunk.

but most of us didn't get a boxster for DD or practicality. we got it for fun.

in the fun dept, I think the boxster is hands down better.

in defense of the STi/WRX and other little turbo econo/ricer rockets - they are fast little cars that can keep up with $$$ cars.

i just know that I drove an EVO X and to me it wasn't "fun". it might have had impressive specs, but after I drove it, I ddn't want to buy it. as a point of comparison, i test drove a mazda RX8 the next day - a car with half the power, no torque, but an amazing gearbox, high redline, and true sports car soul - and after I got out of the car, I wanted to take it home. it was SO much fun to zip around in even though it really didn't go that fast.

the boxster is the ultimate "fun" car - at least to me. :)

money wise, ill choose to have a chevy than subaru. with chevy i wont have hard time finding parts. subaru parts are hard to find whether its a used one or brand new one. But subaru are great.

I own an evo X and prefer my boxster S . The Evo is a great performance car , it will tool a 986 with minimal effort , it is much more hardcore than the STI and the tuning potential is incredible . The problem , it just does not inspire me . it has a lack of feel compared to the box and just has no soul like most japanese cars. The good is they are tough and can take a beating all day long and want more ( something porsche can not deliver on) ! i had an evo 8 that i beat relentlessly and not one problem with it with 30k of driving. I am not a Suburu kind of guy. i always associated the brand with lesbians from Vermont. :)