I think $30K is not cheap for a car, but you you cannot buy a better AWD architecture no matter how much money you spend. Not sure what Im giong to do when my lease is up on the Rex in 18mths. Im thinking STi maybe but I dont think I want to spend $30K. I may end up buying out the WRX or perhaps looking for a 928 or old Range Rover County LWB.

 

As the resident rally driver, I guess I'd be remiss if I didn't chime in here.

As a guy who's spent a fair bit of time at the wheel of turbo AWD cars - both on road and stage - I can only say that you have to drive a WRX (any flavour) in any kind of "weather" (the worse the better) to understand how truly brilliant these cars are. Until you've driven AWD in the slippery stuff (let alone learned how to drive an AWD car quickly) there's viturlaly no conveying the magic of having ALL the power put the road, ALL the time.

The STi is simply "great" made even better. And a total baragain for the money - largly because a) it has an outstanding AWD system, and b) 300 HP is JUST THE BEGINING.

Remember, this is a turbo car - so all you guys with 300 HP 951's, think what your tweaking will do to an STi.

Put an anti-lag system on these and turn up the boost and you've got more power than most will know what to do with.

I'd have to take exception to the "its' still just a subaru" comment - agreed - they do not have the prestige of may other makes - but the R&D goes in the making the car go, stop and handle. Hmmm, kinda like a Porsche - no?

RK

 

what i like best about the STi is the fact that it is bred from competition. the reason that the awd system, the suspension, and the engine are so good is that they have to be in order do well in the WRC. let's not forget how porsche got to the top . . . competition.

and it's nice to have a couple cars on the market with some true all wheel drive systems. unlike the subaru and the mitsu, most awd cars in america including the dodge srt-4 and all audis are basically front wheel drive with assistance from the rear wheels during traction loss. that's an ugly little secret that audi doesn't like to admit. (not that i'd choose an STi over an S4) the suby and mitsu have center differentials dividing power between the front and rear. the differences in the systems are not noticed in daily driving but pay huge dividends when the limits of traction are approached.

 

"and it's nice to have a couple cars on the market with some true all wheel drive systems. unlike the subaru and the mitsu, most awd cars in america including the dodge srt-4 and all audis are basically front wheel drive with assistance from the rear wheels during traction loss. that's an ugly little secret that audi doesn't like to admit. (not that i'd choose an STi over an S4) the suby and mitsu have center differentials dividing power between the front and rear. the differences in the systems are not noticed in daily driving but pay huge dividends when the limits of traction are approached."

its probably due to the fact that subarus awd system is mechanical and the Audi's is electronic.

 

Hey, another 14-year-old. What month is your birthday in?

-=Kenneth=-

 

march 2 1989.... u?

 

The sti is a badass car but what we got isnt what it should be. They gave us a 3.0 in ours (not rally-spec) and kept the same suspension setup as the jdm. This throws off the balance of the car so that they could claim 300hp in order to "out-do" mitsubishi. The result is a car that beats the mitsu in a straight line but falls behind in the twisties, and in a rally bred car i think handling should be favored over straight line acceleration.

Another note about modding the cars is that, at least from what ive heard, upping the power on that tranny isnt too hot of an idea. Its already weak from the factory and probably isnt capable of handling much more power.

 

(quote)what i like best about the STi is the fact that it is bred from competition. the reason that the awd system, the suspension, and the engine are so good is that they have to be in order do well in the WRC.
(/quote)

Well, uhm... sort of.

WRC cars are much closer to F1 cars than street cars. Nothing (save for "maybe" the body shell) typically makes it form the production line to the WRC stage. IN facxt the shells are typically supplied to the rally car builder - like ProDrive - as bare shells.

The suspension is all custom and very high buck, the trannies are totaly proprietary and the electronics that drive it all (ALL the difs are eletrconically controlled and then some) are custom written per car and reprogrammed PER RALLY or even stage.

The engines might share dimensions with the road car - but that's about all. Yes - some lessons learned in rallying trickle down to the roads cars - but it takes years and is rare. When was the last time you saw a barge board on a road car?

What DOES translate to the road is the enthusiam and enery of rallying. It's a brilliant sport and tons of fun - the cars DO have to be super tough and that plays well into Suby's "tuff" image - the things last forever.

Other than Porsche, few compnaies have leveraged their racing sucess as well as Subaru.

RK

 

Hate the rear wing, hate the new front end. Kick *** car but will never really be a timeless classic because of the me to looks. But great car even with a great price point. Plus the interior materials are kinda junk. The Momo wheel is great and the seats are great but everything else in there will be falling off in two years. My girlfriends WRX *01* is falling apart inside. That is what makes a difference to me.

 

Mine is August 17, 1989. I guess I'm younger than you. Whee, I'm still the youngest person around.

-=Kenneth=-

 

(self proclaimed) rally guy: everything you said regarding my quote was already quite obvious to all, but thank you for insulting my intelligence and that of those reading this post. do you honestly think that we are under the impression that production vehicles are the same as factory race vehicles? despite your condescention, i always have great respect for ralliers and would love to hear of some of your experience including what kind of vehicles you've been fortunate enough to compete in.

jaibeiber: it has nothing to do with the electronic unit in the audi, the evo has a wonderfully complicated electronic center diff distributing power. you may need to look into how the mechanisms actually work with both systems before making assumptions. "probably" is not the best word in the world of engineering. with the audis, power is sent to the front wheels first, traction is accounted for (electronically), then power is sent to the rear when needed. so the car is front wheel drive most of the time. with the mitsu, the power is sent to the center diff and power is distributed to front and rear depending on traction (determined electronically). with the suby, power is adjusted mechanically through the center diff. if you have the oppurtunity, get behind the wheel of the 3 mentioned vehicles and put them into a 4 wheel drift and you'll get the 'seat of the pants' explanation. i prefer the suby's mechanism as it is more predictable than the mitsu's constantly adjusting system, though both are superior to the audi's as the mechanism feels all too similar to an understeering front wheel drive unit with not enough power being translated to the rear wheels.

 

There are always a lot of STI's and EVO's at the Nurburgring. They are very fast. I was chasing down a EVOVII awhile back in my Miata, he had a full roll cage and all. Everytime he lifted off the gas a flame shot out of his exhaust!

 

jjmson20 -

Yep, the G35 is an awesome car. I just got one and love it more than any other non-Porsche I've owned, and I've had some fun cars. Perfect combo of sport and luxury.

 

I think we've missed a major point, I've driven in one, it is fantastic to be certain - but it's very brutal - there is no finesse or (for me anyways) pleasure driving it quickly.

also - in England anyways - the service intervals are rediculous, say 6K miles. and if you want to keep any kind of value on the car - you need FSH.

I think also that the engine being as tuned as it is, I doubt it will see over 100k without some serious moent being spent.

 

Yep, both the EVO and STI are a bit "rough around the edges". They mentioned the 6k service intervals here, too. Not very practical.