Impressive performance, not so impressive styling.

Ok, so this is one of those cars you either love or hate. Before you read this, let me just give you my caveat: while I love cars, and I can act like I know all there is to know about cars, I'm not going to do that. I'm simply going to give you my honest opinion with as little technical talk as possible.

So on to the show . . .

Evo v. STi? (sigh)
It's pointless to go through an Evo v. STi comparison. If you want that, pick up any car magazine and they'll tell you the same thing over and over. Both cars are fast but each have their own different advantages. So I'm not going to waste my time here.

Unwanted Publicity
Let me tell you that the minute you pick up this car, it will attract a lot of attention. Specifically, you'll be king among the teenage kids who have fixed up Hondas & Acuras. I had no idea the car would attract as much attention as it did. Before I took the trunk wing off, I would get little racer guys tailgating me, coming up beside me for a look, and just trying to provoke me into racing them. More than anything, I think people are curious and think to themselves "Is that REALLY an STi? or is it some fool perpetrating like he's got an STi by adding a wing & hoodscoop to his WRX?" So, the morale of the story here is, if you don't like that kind of attention, and I DONT, it's probably not a good idea to buy this car. Or, you'll need to do some modifications to stealth it out.

Styling
We all know that the most controversial thing about the STi is the crazy big hood scoop and the trunk wing. Yes, they're totally ugly and make the car look like something out of Fast and the Furious, but Subaru insists that they're functional. I will vouch for this. Once, I was going extremely fast on a trip from LA to Vegas one day and I noticed that the car got totally and completely stable at higher speeds. In fact, it felt even more stable than at low speeds. Since removing the wing, I felt that the car does not stay as stable at high speeds.

Anyhow, if you hate the wing, you can buy a standard WRX trunk that matches your paint color, re-key the trunk lock, and swap it out. The only problem is the trunk shocks on the STi trunk are really strong because the wing is so heavy. So, you may have to buy WRX trunk shocks too. But, removing this wing really did help shake off some of the attention the car was getting (see above). Plus, it's irritating that you can see the wing obstructing your view.

The hood scoop is just obnoxiously big. It's literally the size of a mail slot and it obstructs part of your view. You can change it up by adding a front-mount intercooler and swapping the hood for a standard WRX hood, but that's a lot of cash. Anyhow, it's functional for the intercooler so you'll just have to live with it. It doesn't have a screen to prevent leaves from falling in so you do have to clean it every once in awhile.

As far as the other styling elements go, the headlights are sort of strange-looking, but still an improvement from the bug-eyes of the old WRX. There's not much else to say except that the styling is probably the least positive thing about this car. Everyone tells you the same thing about Subaru's: "ugly, but fast"

Speed
One word: WOW. Yes, this thing is fast. I've driven Ferrari's, Porsches, and other exotic cars and while the STi is not the same thing by any stretch of the imagination, the torque on the STi is impressive and brings back the reminiscent feel of such exotics. Off the line, the STi takes off like a bullet. There's horsepower to spare everywhere and it's not just at the low end. You can go from 70MPH to 100MPH in a blink of an eye. Truly impressive. Everyone knows this is the greatest attribute of the STi. Rumor has it the next STi will have much greater horsepower to compete with the upcoming BMW M3, but I don't know anything more than that. Speaking of which, I'd say the STi would give the M3 a run for its money at the very least. Some people will say "no way, the STi will spank the M3." Ok, maybe in an ideal environment with someone who shifts at perfect intervals. But, in the end, just know that it has comparable power that's all over the entire power band.

Suspension
The handling on this car is really really stiff. Try to rock the car and you'll see that you can't even move it. Although it's pretty bumpy, it's not as bad as you would think. It is only a problem when you drive on rough roads. In fact, a common problem with the STi is a rattling steering column that's probably the result of the stiff bumpy suspension.

Anyhow, the car totally hugs the turns effortlessly. You can weave in and out of traffic, conquer that mountain road, or just burn through turns like you've never done before.

Wheels
The wheels on this car are BBS, but what nobody tells you is that they're PAINTED which is totally lame. I can understand the gold one's being painted but why the silver ones? So, inevitably, the paint on the wheels chip. Also, note that this car comes with high performance summer tires. They don't last very long and are outright dangerous in the winter. So, plan on spending about $600 on a new set of tires within a year of purchasing the car (add $500-1000) for new rims if you want to keep your summer tires separate.

Shifting
The short-shifter is not really as short as it should be. The shifts are still relatively long and a little notchy. But, in the end the car is relatively easy to drive. There is a shift light/tone that allows you to set the RPM for shift reminders. Kinda neat at first, but it gets annoying quick.

The only thing to note is that the steering is really sensitive on this car so you have to be careful. One time, I was driving on a mountain road and tried to pass a semi while taking a turn and when I simultaneously shifted and passed, I inadvertantly jerked the steering wheel a little bit, but that was enough to give the car a pretty massive jolt. If I had jolted it anymore, I might have crashed.

Interior
I'm pretty disappointed with the interior. If I didn't know any better I would have thought that the interior came straight out of a Datsun B210. Yup. Plain and ugly. Even the faux carbon fiber kit can't help curing the generally cheap feel to the interior. Low grade plastics, odd round climate control vents, and little more than that, make the interior akin to an economy car.

The blue/black STi seats are surprisingly comfortable though. I can't say that they feel that good after 2-3 hours of driving, but they really do serve their purpose in helping you stay in one place during cornering. Only problem is they're manual.

Another gripe is the color of the illumination on the buttons. Subaru makes them green while the dash is illuminated red. Why? I have no idea. The green is not only a bad match, it's tough to see during the daylight.

The steering wheel feels great. It's got a nice sporty feel to it and is just the right size.

Warranty
The great thing about this car is that it's fixed up but it's all under warranty, right? Wrong. Subaru has been known to void people's warranty for adding additional modifications to their car. I've even heard of some people getting voided for adding things like boost gauges and other seemingly innocuous things. The only sure way to keep your warranty intact is to have your dealer perform all your work for you. Dealers vary and some are stricter than others so be forewarned.

Roominess
While the rear seats are pretty cramped and it IS possible to fit 4 people in there. Believe it or not, 3 of my friends and I went on a snowboarding trip in this car. We packed all our gear in the trunk (which is medium-sized), threw our snowboards on the roof via my roofrack, and crammed into the STi. The 200+ pound guys in the back were sitting comfortably but just didn't have any room to move around.

Problems
There haven't been any major mechanical problems but dealing with service is like pulling teeth. It really depends on the dealer you go to, but the bad dealers are really bad. This is especially a problem with the STi because they immediately suspect that you did something to your car before they even check it out.

Test Drives
One final note. The most disgusting part about buying this car is simply test driving the car. I went to Sierra Subaru in Monrovia, California and had the worst experience, EVER. I wanted to test drive the car and they insisted that they could not give out a test drive unless I filled out a credit application. This was shocking to me because I'd never heard of such a thing. I explained to them that I just want to see what it's like before I go that far. After giving it some thought and realizing that they do this to keep punk kids from going on joyrides, I agreed to fill out an application. But, when I was filling out the application, the salesman got irritated when I told him that I wasn't ready to purchase. Of course I wasn't ready, I never even drove it! So, he then tells me "hey listen buddy, we dont give joyrides on this car." Wow. I was speechless. I was honestly interested, but I just got treated like a was a punk kid. The worst part about it is, after I yelled at them and left, after I complained to Subaru, they did nothing about it. I ended up purchasing the car from another dealer who wasn't so disgusting, but if there's a lesson to be learned here, setup an appointment for a test drive and tell them exactly what your intentions are first.

Overall Impressions
Ok, so now here's the juicy part. What do I think of the car in general? Well, it's tough to say that this is a suitable daily driver. If you're in traffic all day long, just the fact that it's a manual transmission alone is sort of a drawback. But, in the end, I can safely say that it's not that bad driving this on a daily basis. Driving on surface streets, the car just wants to take off every time you get a green light. And, it's hard to resist the urge. But, it's still possible to tame it down. Surprisingly, the exhaust system is not obnoxious and you really don't get too much of a roar out of it. So, that's a plus for daily driving.

All I can say is that I was deciding between the BMW M3, Audi S4, and the STi. In the end, the STi delivers similar performance in an "all go, no show" box for about $20,000 less. It's a lot of fun to drive this car and I think it was worth the money. Many people have a problem with its $30,000 price tag because for the same money you can get a BMW 325ic. The BMW is more refined and a better daily driver, but the STi may be better suited as a secondary car. Nevertheless, your ideal description of the car you want to buy should be: a fast awesome-handling all-wheel-drive car. Not luxury, not comfort, not looks. So long as you go into it with that mentality, you'll love it. It's probably the fastest car on the mountain when I go snowboarding. :)