oh and by the way i use a combination of both, first i let off the clutch slowly then when it grabs i dump it. no burnt clutch and a decent amount of wheel spin off the lin (mainly due to crappy dunlop tires)

i hit a 1.74 60ft on a bone stock STi, though ended up with a 13.4 1/4 mile time due to my granny shifting

 

the WRX transmission can and will be destroyed by hitting 1st gear too hard. I've seen more than one tranny with all the teeth off 1st gear drive and driven gears sheared off and sitting in the bottom of the transmission case. sure must have been fun to do, but cost the kid many hundreds of dollars to get it repaired (total rebuild). you want a tough-*** tranny? get an STi

 

i'd be less worried about 1st and more worried about 2nd:

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=702049