my (late) 2008 STi review!

[wrxtreme06]

alright. so, i'm one of those people who always bash the new STi. i dont want to beat a dead horse... but its not the best looking car in the world. however, i decided to look past the exterior and see what this thing was working with.

i get to my local subaru dealership and look at an 08... lightning red.. yadda yadda.

the salesman asks for my license, hands me over the keys, and we're off.

interior: 9/10!
holy jeez these seats were comfortable. im used to my crappy TR seats so anything is really an upgrade but... im impressed! i also liked the gauge cluster. it was very nicely done, however I HATE THE SHIFT LIGHT and the noise it makes. please, diaf.

exterior: 4/10
alright, the front of the car isnt bad at all. looks sharp actually especially if you get it in the right color (white...) the back.... needs a lot of work. of course, as everyone always says, the taillights need to be tinted. the red one i was looking at also had the blocky 5 spoke wheel... eh...

handling: 8/10.
not bad! it was pretty stiff.. felt good around the turns. compared to my wrx it was a dream... my car feels like its going to tip over everytime i take a turn at 30mph+ but this felt nice and stable.


and finally performance: 2/10
i was horribly unimpressed with the power of this car. the whole time i was thinking "300hp? really? where?" i had it WOT in 3rd gear......... nothing. even my dad said when him and my brother went to drive it a few months ago, they thought the same thing. i know with the older sti's its just RAW power. you step on the gas and the car flies. with this, i felt like it was very conservative with the power and not all of it was.... "unleashed"

overall- my thoughts were confirmed. nothing to write home about. i would never in a million years trade my 06 wrx for the 08 sti, and i would also never in a million years pay 32k+ for it.


thanks for reading. haha =)

[SRM]

Interesting. What was the SI-Drive set to?

[Micah]

Originally Posted by SRM

Interesting. What was the SI-Drive set to?

Apparently it was set to "SUCK"

[lordcon]

Originally Posted by Micah

Apparently it was set to "SUCK"

/sting

[wrxtreme06]

im pretty sure it was on the "epic failure" setting.

[nsvwrx]

the old sti had power just snap on,.. with the new one it comes on slowly so you cant really tell..

[Weasel 555]

back in dec '07 when i got to drive one , i thought seats meh for fat azzed peeps, wheres my mad tyte recaros !
(its a performance car if yer fat drive a legacy or a F150 with a bench seat so u can play happy inbred family)

suspension softer than 04,05 and 06 STi's , i want stiffer
(again the whiney bastids spoiled a performance car) if i wanted to roll around like it does i'd by a cadillac land yacht or find a loose woman and a motel room !.

p.s. the rev/shifter beep/alarm can be switched off

scoobies like evo's will never win the looks/beauty comp but were buyin em for the awd and performance and compared to the new 08's (sti's and evo's) the low 30's or less price tag.

[TheJ]

I'm afraid to test drive one.

[cavallino333]

I sat in one at a car show and it seemed quite nice inside, didn't get to drive it though. If I had to buy a hatchback I couldn't think of a better one.

Originally Posted by Weasel 555

back in dec '07 when i got to drive one , i thought seats meh for fat azzed peeps, wheres my mad tyte recaros !
(its a performance car if yer fat drive a legacy or a F150 with a bench seat so u can play happy inbred family)

This seems that is a problem with a a lot of cars. Companies put all these nice side bolsters around the seat but then they are so wide that it defeats the purpose unless you're an elephant and or hippopotamus.

[Raven Logics]

Originally Posted by nsvwrx

the old sti had power just snap on,.. with the new one it comes on slowly so you cant really tell..

That's my issue with the WRX - there's a lag between hitting the gas and the ECU deciding to do anything about it. I thought the STI had the different drive modes where you could set the car to have instant or softer throttle response. If it doesn't react in the sports mode then I am disappointed. The other thing I notice with my WRX is that it "learns" to drive softer if you haven't been tooling around in it - if the STI does this then you probably had to drive it hard for a while before it reaches it's full potential. Again, this would disappoint me - I don't understand why Subaru would build a fast car then have it go slow. Why can't it just read what I do with the gas pedal and act accordingly?

[wrxtreme06]

Originally Posted by Weasel 555

back in dec '07 when i got to drive one , i thought seats meh for fat azzed peeps, wheres my mad tyte recaros !
(its a performance car if yer fat drive a legacy or a F150 with a bench seat so u can play happy inbred family)

suspension softer than 04,05 and 06 STi's , i want stiffer
(again the whiney bastids spoiled a performance car) if i wanted to roll around like it does i'd by a cadillac land yacht or find a loose woman and a motel room !.

p.s. the rev/shifter beep/alarm can be switched off

haha well i've never driven a stock for stock 04-07 sti to compare it to. the only one i've ever driven was an 04 sti that was pretty modded. so i was pretty much just comparing the handling and everything to my car. haha

[STI_KLR]

Originally Posted by TheJ

I'm afraid to test drive one.

you might get lost without your google maps on your iphone.



oh wait..

[nsvwrx]

Thats not what i men, as in the power curve is more even i think, ie power comes on and stays rather than in the older ones the same power is snapped on at 3300 and it feels like your taking off...

[Integra96]

Performance = butt dyno?

[RayfieldsWRX]

Originally Posted by STI_KLR

you might get lost without your google maps on your iphone.

oh wait..

Nice...though I'd be careful; I'm sure Jay's current phone is capable of issuing a ban.