Booooring! It felt big and bulky, understeer all over, and didn't pull anything like my evo...then again, my evo's had a lot of work under the hood. On the other hand, the seats are plush, dash is slick, and all the little dials and gauges look just right. Feels almost like a luxury car in comparison! I'm sure it's got just as much potential as any other STI....it's just no Evo! Classy, clean, solid car.

 

Oh, it was white. I'm sure the black ones are faster

 

the STI is a nice car. honestly the only reason why i didnt get one was because of the maintenance cost. (like having the engine removed to change the head gasket, ouch) and the cost of power to $ wise, im able to improve the evo w/ less money.

 

i saw one on the road the other day...kidna fugly ok kinda really fugly

 

I know the Evo takes it on the chin for it's chiseled mug from the shallow-minded from time to time ...

But that subie has a face only a mother could love. Corporations can make the dumbest decisions.

the 04-05's must be in high demand by now

 

I've never had any problems with my car feeling "big and bulky, and understeer all over." I'm sure the salesman let you wring it out on a back road, didn't he?

You state that you had a lot of work done under the hood of your Evo. Why would you even begin to expect a stock car to pull "anything like your Evo?"

 

^ no need to be defensive about it. That's just the way he felt.

 

I'm not being defensive, but Subaru dealers don't just let you take an STi out and wring it out. He probably didn't take it over 45 mph, and talks about how there's "understeer all over."

Then again, most of the people that claim how poor the apparent "understeer" in STis is are the ones that haven't driven them, and choose to go by what they heard from their "friend that drove an STi." STis handle at 0.90g on the skidpad, which is hardly poor handling. And then, you get the ones that always say, "Oh, you drive an STi. The top end on them sucks!" I wonder if they've tried downshifting?

I've driven Evos. They handle better than the STi, but not that much better. And as far as the top end on Evos, don't stock SRT-4s hand them their asses? I mean, after all, that's what "everybody says." I guess I can also lay claim to Evos not having any top end, because I only drove one up to about 75 mph.

 

mine did, and i didn't even buy it. wasn't for me, not like it's a crappy car, but......... just not what i wanted.
both the subie dealer and evo dealer let me really drive the car, but out of respect, i didn't try and kill the cars i was driving, just get a good feel for them, both were taken over 75.

 

I've certainly wrung a couple of new sti's (05's at the time) out from a dealerhship before, so sometimes they will let you. But you're right, on a normal test drive they won't usually let you push the corners too hard, and the sti did feel well balanced on the tests. But the evo's I've driven definitely felt sharper than the sti even on a tame dealer road test.

 

Guess they're different out here, but according to most people I talk to, regardless of where they're from, the majority of the dealers won't even let you take'em out on the road.

I'm 31 years old, and went to buy mine back in March. They didn't even want to let me take it out! I told the saleswoman, "Don't insult my intelligence. Don't think I'm going to take my test drive on the way home." She replies to me, "Well, you can take it around the parking lot." I said, "Good enough." So, I jump in the car, and pull right out on to the highway. I said, "Oooops, wrong turn!" I floored the gas, shifting like a maniac, and brought the car back to the dealership. I told her, "I'll take it! But not this one." I wouldn't have been such a jerk about it, if I would've just gotten a test drive.

At a different dealership, when I was still looking, I had to make an appointment to drive one. They had one on the lot. So, I drive 20 miles to the dealership for my appointment, and there's the car sitting on the showroom floor. Test drive? Nah. They just wanna sit there and pat me on the ***, and tell me how great it performs, and this and that. Can I make that judgement on my own by staring at a car and taking some snake's word for it? I drove 20 miles to stare at a car on a showroom floor. So, what did I do? I talked to the GM of the dealership and told him he just lost a sale. Then, to add insult to injury, he offers me a test drive in a standard WRX, and tells me, "This one's nearly as fast, and handles nearly as well." He's lucky I didn't punch him.

 

When I went to my local Subaru dealer and tried to test drive the STI with my mom there they wouldn't let me because the guy told me he let this guy with his girlfriend go around this turn and from what it sounded he wringed a left turn and totally spun out did a 180 and curbed the wheels and thats why he wouldnt let me drive it, but he did take us in a test drive and really pushed the car like slamming on the brakes at 40mph and pulling us back in the seats.

Apparently He let me drive a regular WRX sedan...man that car sucks, so slow. When you floor it into boost it makes no sound that resembles the air sucking power hungry noise of our evo's.

And cmon, they f'd up so bad with the front end, the evo is just beautiful.

One thing I noticed on the STI was a rear strut bar, anyone put one on their evo and is it better handling?

 

According to the starter of the thread, STis are "all understeer." How'd he do a 180, if that was the case?

The WRX is "ok." It's a nice car, but NOTHING like an STi or an Evo.

As for the front end of the STi, it's a matter of personal preference. I stopped by the Suby dealer yesterday because I saw a new WRX sitting out front, and decided to check out the front end on closer inspection. As much as I'd hate to admit it, in person I liked it.

 

I went to test drive an 06 STI 2 weeks ago; the dealership said absolutely no test drive. So I got an Evo IX; I had previously test driven the 8. Mitsubishi dealership sales rocked. I dropped by the suby dealership and the salemans mouth dropped.

 

Don't blame ya! Nothing against younger guys, but I can understand if a 20 yr old kid walks in and wants to test drive a $31,000 car, but c'mon, when you're in your 30s, and you're there looking to test drive a $31,000 car, you're there for a prospective purchase, not a joyride.

I was tempted to do the same thing; just go out and purchase an Evo, when that happened. If I weren't such a huge fan of the STi since its introduction in 1994, I probably would have.

No questions asked when I looked at Evos. I got a test drive.

But, in all honesty, I had already made up my mind on an STi, even before I drove an Evo. If I had purchased an Evo, I don't think I would've been as happy with it as I am with the STi. As a "neutral" point of view, I figured that if I got the STi, I'd wish I had gotten an Evo, and if I had gotten an Evo, I'd wish I had gotten the STi.

Damn, I wish I had both.