Newbie to Subie with questions

[MightyP]

Hey all. I signed up for the forum because I've decided I'm getting a Subie and I can't find the info I need to feel like I'm making an educated decision. Hopefully you can help.

I'm looking at one of 3 options. 1. 2011 WRX 2. 2008 STI or 3. Waiting until my wife finds a job at getting a 2011 STI. I put 15k-20k miles a year on a car and replace it every 2-3 years, so buying new doesn't make sense for me.

So here is my dilemma. An '08 STI with 40k miles runs only slightly more than an '11 WRX with 10k. Having driven both, the '11 WRXs feel like they pull harder than the '08 STIs. The numbers suggest otherwise, but the WRX just feels quicker to my butt speedo. I'm also a bit concerned about what I've heard about the engines on the STIs. Seems a number of the shops I've talked with said they've had STIs come in with issues in one of the cylinders. Last, is the '11 version of the STI that much better than the '08-'10 version?

Ultimately, no matter what I get, I'm not looking to do a lot of power mods. Probably a Stage 2 power upgrade is it. I'll be doing some suspension mods (for autocross), but nothing crazy.

Thanks for the input!

[MightyP]

Wow, nothing but crickets... Hopefully there is more activity on here than this or I might have to stick with Scion forums. :P

Anyway, I was able to answer my own question. I just didn't understand the SI-Drive worked. As soon as I realized I needed to be in S# to get real performance, I was good.

So here's my "new" 2008 STi. I picked her up yesterday and am very happy. Kartboy short shifter and Pioneer AVH-P3400BH head unit are on order. LED interior and license plate lights will be ordered later tonight. I'm not new to modding or forums, but I am new to Subie, so I look forward to learning from everyone!

[KronosPerformance]

First time I saw your thread. Yeah it took me a couple times of driving my STI to figure out that was there.

[Tizza Dean]

Nice car! Newbie here so not much help Welcome though and enjoy your "new" car

[ctsubaruboy]

Hey congrats on the new car.
But to answer your question on why the wrx feels faster than the sti is due to many reasons. The rex and the sti have 2 different turbos. I know that the 2011 wrx has a vf52 turbo and if I'm not mistaken the sti has a vf48 turbo. They are both different and stock for stock the vf52 is a stronger turbo. That is an advantage that the wrx has and the sti doesn't have. The wrx is faster in a straight line, for example 0-60. But in the top end range the sti is faster, and it is a better handling car on the track. 2 factors that contribute to making the rex faster than the sti is that the wrx has a 5speed compared to the sti's 6 speed. The gearing ratios are larger that the sti's therefore you will have more power distributed to the wheels in the wrx than the sti because the gearing is a little different. The last factor that contributes to this topic is that the wrx is lighter than the sti which has a big effect on performance from a dig. The sti sedan is somewhere in the range of 200lbs heavier than the 2011 wrx sedan. But weight plays a big game in performance.
Hopefully this answered your questions. Forgive me if I'm wrong I'm not really sure if I'm accurate about the turbo models but i could be pretty close

[Calvinball]

Welcome and congrats!

[rage-wrx]

Welcome & congrats on the new car.

[96accord]

Welcome & Congrats!!