Saturday I took my wife to Downtown Subaru in Oakland just to peek in and see if they had a STi yet. Earlier that morning, we got up at 5:45 to watch Motorweek on KQED at 6:00am (battle of....you guessed it, STi vs. EVO). Anyway, Oakland had a silver STi, marked up to $38k with NO radio. The car is startling in person, very menacing looking. But that hood scoop is too much!!!! I hope they come up with a more refined inlet sooner or later. I can just imagine what that gaping mouth does to the car's drag coefficient!!! The interior is cool, I like the new instruments. In any case, she just stood there with her back to the car......she firmly against any consideration!!! I have to admit, it would be cool to own, but, man, everytime I look at or drive my WRX I see no reason to trade up. The WRX is still the king.

BTW, I tried the boost-solenoid restrictor mod. It does WORK! Man, my car responds noticably quicker now. At first I noticed the engine would not quickly spool up in 5th gear under wide throttle, but after about 15 miles the symptom was gone and the new-found response came in. I was skeptical until last week when I met a guy with a wagon at a party and showed me his car. I noticed the vacuum hose and spotted the 'snake swallowed a whole-rat' look to it, giving away the 3/16" fitting! He told me it did make a difference, so I figured what the hell. For $.76, I could try it. WOW.

 

I like the STi too, but I don't think I want to tackle another car right now.

BTW, I think the 3/16" mod works until the ECU learns to make up for it.