That one is not half bad!

 

Got to take a quick 30 minute ride in my friend Dan's STI today. Any misgivings or doubts that I had about it are most certainly squelched. I mean, I know what I've read about how tremendous it was, and I knew my WRX was not as well outfitted, but I have thrown about $8700 into my $21,600 wagon so I wasn't really expecting too much. (Mainly power, but suspension and a little bit of looks as well. No brakes)

For reference, in a nutshell, I've got a TXS UTEC stage 4 with Tein Flex coilovers, rear swaybar, and today I had my 92's on (I've got 225/50/16 BFG KDW's but haven't had them on because I've mainly been dragracing lately)

4th gear is monstrous with obviously much more potential. I pulled away pretty easily from another friend's newly converted st4 WRX, who was doing a 3rd gear pull. I know. Apples and oranges, but the torque in the STI was impressive.

After all of the tuning that I've done to my car, I wonder about how beneficial tuning the STI would be if an owner was inclined to. I know that there is always untapped potential in a brand new car, but I'm assuming that the tune that Subaru put into the STI ECU has to be pretty darn aggressive already while still maintaining it's very 'daily drivability'.

Which leads me to how well tuned it is. No more studder/shudder when either letting off the clutch from a complete stop or decelerating in 3rd or 2nd while the clutch isn't engaged. (Hopefully everyone knows what I'm talking about with the studder, or else maybe I should take my car into the service department.)

1st gear engages so smoothly, much like the Ecutec 'reflashed' WRX I've driven before (another new STI owner's 'other' car). On the highway, maybe it was my imagination, but it really seemed as if there was little or no lag. I don't have a clue how they were able to overcome that. I doubt that it's the due to the merits of Subaru's turbo selection. What is it? VF33 or 35? All that I can say is that there is much distinction between the STI turbo and my VF30.

We haven't cracked the code on the DCCD, so we didn't play with it too much, but Dan did experiment with trying to 'lock it in'??? I'm not really familiar with what capability the DCCD gives you, but when he adjusted it, it really seemed to act more like my car. It seemed like you could hear the familiar drivetrain 'whine' moreso when he adjusted the roller switch.

The RE070's on BBS are just gorgeous, and the tires really held the road like they had VHT on them. He drove up a road here on the island called 'Tantalus'; I don't think I heard one squeal.

Lastly, the steering is so nice and touchy. I read someone's comments about it. They said something like how it was very responsive on the track, but they had driven it a few hundred miles to get there and it is very tiring on the highway. I will agree that it responds to the slightest movement.

Awesome.

 

Reading through that old post makes me sad.

 

Wow, nice review Pat.

 

Your cool dude!

 

I've driven one...but let me give you a little background on my 99 RS. I have BozzSpeed coilovers, Cusco front and rear strut tower bars, STi 20mm sway bar and 4-pot brakes up front. I also have been racing SCCA Solo II for over three years now.

The STi handles just as good, if not better than my car with all the suspension and brake mods. I drove it on a twisty road on the test drive, but never got it above 4000 rpm. Even at that rpm range, it was still hauling butt, and I noticed no problems in handling.

The STi is a little noisy as far as stock cars go, but most of it is road noise from the tires. It's not a big deal. Once a stereo goes in, you won't notice it much.

The ride is very stiff for a stock car. Like I stated earlier in regards to the handling, it is not as bumpy as my coilover setup (with pring rates of 9kg/7kg and 5- way adjustable dampening set at 2, which is softer), but it is still. If you were to push on the car on the passenger side, the only movement the car makes is from the tires giving...it is stiff, but no to where you will need kidney dialysis after driving it. If you have driven a car with aftermarket or still suspension, you will be ok. If you haven't it will take some getting used to. Hope this helps.

 

That sums it up, good job Joey.

 

 

When under heavy acceleration... expecially in a sharp turn(like merging into traffic)... you'll notice it pulling with a feeling much like torque stearing in a powerful FWD car. But it's quite easy to get used to and very predictable once you know what to feel for.

Time for my first oil change and then it's ballz to the wallz.

 

I still can't think of anything bad to say about the STi yet. So I guess that's a good thing.

Anyone have any other questions?

 

It's just like any other WRX/Subaru. It's not a German car.