Ive built 14 different ej257s and sorry to say but its %100 true that tuning is everything. Call your local tuner that is a Subaru enthusiast. I blew my own personal oem 06 STI ej257 since I was running a stage 2 map on my access port while still using my oem catted down pipe. Talk to Lunge or Yimi at Yimi sport tuning in L.A. A properly tuned or COMPLETELY stock STI engine wont just break a ringland without a specific reason. If you mod it and don't tune it properly though then yes, its easy to break a ringland. Every time Ive seen STI's or WRX's with broken ringlands there was always a mod that was done to make more power but they were to eager to wait and get a tune before going WOT.... You think the ringland is the issue, God help you if you install a built block without putting in a killer bee oil pickup. That how I blew my 2nd Cosworth engine.

 

So all of you Evo gurus are saying that STI's that are completely stock, meaning no upgrades to a BOV, intake, or cat back exhaust are blowing ringlands??? My 08 hatch STI, 09 wrx, and two 06 STI's never had any problems with ringlands until they were modded. And only "1" STI had a ringland problem due to mods without a proper tune. And many many many friends of mine have never had any ringland problems either. Evo's have stronger engines by far I do agree but in the beginning of all of this, my comment was simple. I personally can swap an STI or WRX engine out with a new one in the time it will take you just to simply get out an EVO engine. IMO its eaisier to work on in the most difficult ares such as engine overhaul than an EVO. And the easiest way to see if you have a broken ringland in a STI is to simply take off the oil cap while its running. If you see colored smoke of any kind coming out then your ringland in one or more cylinders are bad. If its clear and no smoke then you are ok.

 

Go onto IWSTI, broken ringlands threads pop up atleast on a bi-weekly basis it seems.

Defintely became an issue starting in 07.

 

I was really leaning towards WRX/STI. Someone mentioned Ringland issues. I looked more into it and read many horror stories. Included the ones from supposedly stock engines and a wide mileage range. It was enough to scare me away.

 

Grass is not always as green as it seems on the other side, buddy =)

 

look on the bright side: if you bust a ring land, you now have the opportunity to build the motor

 

Well coming from a 2009 STi to a 2010 EVO X SE back to a 2011 STi. I am already missing my EVO X. I am just afraid my wife will murder my face if I bought another car in this 3 year span!

Not to mention I bought and sold a 2002 WRX and 2006 Mazda Speed 6 as DD for everyday use!

Right now my 2011 STi is a Stage 2 and feels 10 times better than stock form. For me the MR would be the best DD with the SST. Good luck on your decision! Both are great cars but like many people have already said it comes down to your personal preference.

 

i like both cars alot. I would buy an sti for dd, if i have enough money to spare. But for race purposes the EVO is better.
For DD the STI is better i think. (manual comparision)

 

For someone that builds sti / Rex engines it surprises me you don't know this. You can try to convince us that it's tuning all you want. Fact is stock cars without mods have ring land issues from 07 on. Don't really care if you don't believe us. It only takes a little bit of research on your part to prove it. Cars with zero mods are blowing. /sigh

 

+1 and that's because the 07+ engines are different then the 02-06 models.

When Subaru switched to the legacy platform starting from 08 onward they cut corners quite a bit. I had to tow my 08 STi to service once because the power steering failed big time. They switched to plastic connectors instead of the metal ones the older Imprezas had and they cracked on me blowing the pump. My car also did not have an cooler or intercooler water sprayers. Basically a lot of things were changed but I don't think it was for the better as a result reliability on the turbo models suffered.

 

Funny that you keep saying "US". Everybody else states that they read this or that but only you are standing by it and swearing to it. I'm often on IWSTI and NASIOC but thats not the big picture to me. Who are we to say that someone is posting an issue with their car and giving exact information to lead you to a conclusion. The purpose of forums like these is to retain information so you either dont make a mistake or because you have made a mistake and need to figure out how to fix it. I dont care to prove anything to you, and my proof is my years of experience. Its not from someone who heard this or read that on a website from someone whos car you will never see or know the exact mods that were ever on it. That was a run-on sentence but its true. As stated before, call your tuner. Ask him or her. Speak to Cobb or LIC and get information from real professionals. No doubt that Evo's are bad *** and have stronger bottom ends but in the end its up to what you want. Tune is everything, without a proper tune its like acting like math has no value or meaning in making your car fast and last.

 

Are you not reading what I've been posting? A close personal friend had this happen in his stock, zero mods sti. That is proof enough for me it happens to stock cars. I don't need to read about it beyond that. Words on the net are worthless at times and taken out of context even more. Ive seen it with my iwn eyes and ive resd about it on multiple posts. If you say it's tune, then your telling me that subarus own factory tune is causing this. Fine, I'll bite. But that is NOT the definition of ringland gap. I just want to make this 100000% clear to you this happens on zero modded stis. No intake / exhaust, no aftermarket tune.

Since I'm on my phone with spotty reception and you frequent all the major sites, I'll spare you the ton of links I could paste to you of the cases of factory cars
Blowing up from ringland gap.

 

Yo have built 14 engines really?? But yet you say its no the engine but the tune?? I know of 3 people where the ringland failure happen to them on 100% BONE STOCK ENGINE, not even air freshner in their car so the smell does not disorient their 2.5L crappy engine ..so ho do you explain this? Bad OEM tune? IMO ej25 is a very poor design engine, it is for the US market and it has to meet the crappy federal emission standards, I have seen failures on those engines for NO reasons...from head gaskets (which btw they are also notorious for) to the famous ringland failure. Bring the JDM/REAL 2.0L STi engine in the states and I will consider buying one. Until then i rather stick to shiity Mitsu service and bullet proof engines they built for their Evo's.

 

Car and Driver also did a long term review of the STi and they only use stock vehicles without mods, and they had gone through a few engines, transmissions and I believe a turbo as well. You can probably find the article with a short google search.

 

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...d-test-wrap-up