mx597turbo

FWIW, sti's are way overpriced compared to wrx's. A wrx with a jdm sti swap will eat usdm sti's for breakfast.

Also, don't discredit the '02-03 wrx. They are really good cars for the money.

I'm pretty sure subarus drift bette

In the end, I'm personally going with the evo over the wrx/sti. Like everyone says, they handle better, are built tougher, and take to mods much easier and cheaper than the Subaru's.

deeman101

iTrader: (34)

^ what you're talking about is A LOT of work if you want a true STi replica out of a wrx. You need to swap the engine, trans, trans crossmember, driveshaft, rear diff, all axles, wheel hubs and brake calipers, engine wiring, and ecu. I'm not sure what the prices are in the US but the price of all the JDM parts in Canada is ~$9k. And then you add many hours of labor on top of that. And even then the wrx chassis is not as stiff as the STi (although its lighter). Plus you don't get things like the STi forged aluminum control arms and STi steering rack. And you loose the better interior of the STi. You do get better tire clearance with the wrx body though.

Some parts of an STi are tougher and some parts of an evo are tougher. In the end people, the STi is a great car as is the evo. Which one you should buy in the end will depend on what things you value more. Even though my evo is costing me significantly more than a STi would have in the long run I'd still pick an evo over an STi any day.

Sev

iTrader: (10)

Either.

Evo's;

Cheap to mod
Make big numbers on a budget

STi's;

More comfy
More of a DD
Expensive to mod
Ringland failures

Fittest

I owned a 2006 STI. I still miss the car today since it was so fun to drive that I put 60,000 miles on it in only 1.5 years. I'd literally drive every night with no destination in mind while enjoying the boxer/unequal length headers rumble (you either hate it or love it).

I bought the STI then because I could only afford one car and most will agree that the STI is a better daily driver than the Evo (in the 2003 - 2006 era).

Now that I've had my STI fix and can afford more than one car, I'll be getting into an Evo since it won't be my daily driver.

Buy the Evo if you want to go fast for much cheaper. Buy the Evo because you know that every STI owner is insecure that your car is probably faster than his. Buy the Evo because it looks better than the STI at any model stage (Subaru embraces its "unique/ugly" design style). Buy the Evo because the engine is much easier to work on.

Don't buy the Evo if you hate "go-kart" steering esp. for a daily driver. Don't buy the Evo if you are picky about random, tiny things since it's an econo-box and things WILL fall apart (Subaru is statistically a more "reliable" brand).

Now go read all the stickies since there is NOTHING new on this thread that hasn't been mentioned in those age-old discussions.

iLuveKetchup

I had an '04 and '11 STi, now drive an Evo X. All the cars have their pros & cons. A lot of them already mentioned here or on numerous other posts. But to put it into simple cliff notes of my personal experience of all three.

I just want to preface by saying that I am a road course and auto-x junkie, so I can't comment on which is faster on a straight line. They all felt fast enough for me. Handling is another story.

04 STi Pros
- Lightest of all USDM STi
- Lots of trunk space
- Lots of low end tq from a stage 2 tune

04 STi Cons
- Non rear folding seats
- pad knockback from 5x100 hubs (reason why I sold)
- Non supportive seats

11 STi Pros
- Great cupholders
- Rear seats fold down
- Lots of trunk space
- Roof rack bolts to the roof rail

11 STi Cons
- Possible ringland failure (reason why I sold)
- Light non responsive steering
- Car feels floaty, heavy and sluggish
- Odd bumpsteer issue
- Non supportive seats

11 Evo Pros
- Phenomenal handling
- Spectacular steering
- Great mod potential
- Great seats

11 Evo Cons
- A pillar gets in the way when "looking ahead" at the track/auto-x
- cheap plastic interior (although I like the Evo X layout more than the '11 STi)
- No integrated roof rack. You have to get the generic yakima/Thule rack that goes on the door jams. FAIL!!!!


That's all I can think of now. The Evo's performance vs the STi is night & day. The Evo is an amazing performance sedan!!!! The STi feels like a great cross-over vehicle with hints of performance.

Having said all that and to be honest, if it wasn't for the ringland failure of the '07+ STis... I'd still be driving my previous '11 STi. I bought the '04, '11, & Evo X as a daily driver street vehichle. The '11 STi covered all the my daily driver needs and I can throw my bike on the roof. Add a large trunk space too. But in the end, I didn't want to end up with a car that will blow its ringland. This is all IMO ofcourse.

sKeMoNe

Go with the evo... lol

bilbojankins

I have owned both and well I chose the evo over the wrx/sti because its just a better car overall imho and when you get up into that 350ish whp phase with a subaru its a huge money pit. Or atleast it was for me lol

agedog2gt

Search this forum, you will find answers to all your questions and concerns.

sKeMoNe

That ^^

gmoneyman

iTrader: (3)

Maybe its just me but it seems like the op has his heart set on an sti. If that's the case then get what you really want because anything anyone else says isn't going to matter.

Wickedwhite8

iTrader: (9)

I was in your boat in 2008, I ended up getting an 05 evo 8 gsr. I now have an evo 9. I love the cars. They respond to mods extremely well. An sti is nice but is too expensive to mod. I say buy an evo and never look back. The only problem you'll have is the addition to these cars and nodding them.
An evo is 100% easier to work on than an sti. They will make more power $ for $ and mod for mod than an sti. Just my .02.

evo9what?

That car is sold. I actually own it. Thankful didn't cost me 21k like they were asking.
I recently went through the same decision. Like a month ago and can say I felt the evo was a better platform but I didn't look at anything newer than 06 so that might make me less biased if I had went newer.
I'm unsure of your area but seeing that you were looking at godspeed I suggest taking a ride to Cosmo motors because they have multiple options of both evo's and sti's and just see what you like best.

ryun84

For power => EVO
For utility => STI (hatch)

Revo15

iTrader: (19)

Buy whatever you have your heart set on or call J G Wenthworth lmao

evo9ben

iTrader: (13)

if you want to be faster than a sti get the evo if you wanna be slower than the evo get the sti. jk lol

Ive owned a 06 and 07 sti. Get a 07 sti. Better revised tranny, top feed injectors, better flowing heads, better turbo.

I OWN 03 and 06 evo. Get the 06 evo if you want a better looking interior and more luxury. Get the 03 if you want to spend the extra cash in mods and rape stis.

For overall performance i choose the the evo over any sti. If you dont want to mod either car get the sti 07 or 06 evo.