I always feel conflicted when I'm driving our long-term STI. Do I love it because of that heady turbo rush north of 3,000 rpm? Do I admire it for its endearing turbo-whine-enhanced boxer grumble, which sounds so much better than the Evo's blender-like engine note and booming exhaust? Or do I hate it on account of all that excess body roll, not to mention the needlessly herky-jerky clutch takeup? And do I resent Subaru's engineers for arbitrarily cutting off the fuel flow at about 6,500 rpm, where the STI is still pulling like a champ?
Answer: all of the above, hence my inner turmoil. But there is at least one thing that's unequivocally great about the STI -- the placement of the brake and gas pedals. This is the easiest car to heel-and-toe downshift that I've ever driven. As deep as my love for our long-term M3 runs, BMW botched the pedal placement in that car. Not so with the STI; this car was clearly designed with heel-and-toeing in mind, and that's cool.
Josh Sadlier, Associate Editor, Edmunds.com @ 8,703 miles
Piloting our 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI this weekend and having just driven our new Evo recently, I find it hard to believe that these two are considered competitors. Really?
Our Evo is soo much nicer and easier to drive. It's more fun and has a lighter, more precise steering feel. It accelerates smoothly and quickly. I want to run errands in it, I want to visit distant relatives, I want to take on twisties.
The Subaru, on the other hand, feels clunky when it shifts, even in Sport Sharp mode. It's quick to get up to speed but not so smooth in the getting there. Its steering is comparatively heavy. Even when driving the Subie on a fairly open 405 freeway with a smattering of traffic, I found myself sticking to one lane and trailing slow drivers. I just wasn't inspired to have fun...IF you know what I mean.
Our Evo costs a mere $2,117 more than our WRX, a pittance when you consider that you're paying the difference between having a ride and having a ride that you love.
Caroline Pardilla, Deputy Managing Editor @ 8,681 miles
Drove the STI over the weekend and I couldn't help but notice all the tire noise. Every time I came to a stop it groaned like a zombie. I know it's all-wheel drive and all, but I don't remember it being this loud over the road.
It reminded me of our long-term 350Z from awhile back. It developed tire noise so loud that Nissan agreed to replace the tires after admiting to some incorrect alignment specs on our early build car. I don't think our STI is anywhere near that level, but hopefully it doen't get any worse than it is now.
Five days in the STI have reinforced my assumption that I could own this car. Its combination of just-right speed, do-it-all utility and big-ass fender flares suits me perfectly.
First, the speed. It's quick enough to jump through traffic and has high handling limits which I appreciate every time I enter or exit a freeway. I prefer the EVO in virtually all of these areas, but it doesn't offer the Suby's hatchback practicality. If I could change anything I'd make the default throttle calibration Sport Sharp -- just like Caroline. The other two modes are gimmicks which seem to exist only to offer a few more buttons to push.
Also, for me, the utility of the hatchback is nice. I'm now hauling a child seat, stroller and other baby-related items on any family outing and the large cargo volume is unusual in a car that offers this kind of performance.
And then there's those flares. I love them on the production car, but don't share the same enthusiasm for the looks of the WRC car -- especially in gravel trim. I can't put my finger on it, but something just isn't right. You decide:
I spent $60 to fill the STI yesterday. Got 19 miles per gallon on the last tank. And the way I drive there's just no getting around that pain.
"Oh crap, the tire pressure light is on," I exclaimed as I attempted to leave the parking garage last night in our long-term Suby STI. I quickly reparked the car, grabbed my sorta-trusty Edmunds tire gauge and checked the tires. Turns out each cold tire was between 5 and 6 psi lower than spec.
Now, I was told by John McCain that refilling my tires is silly and doesn't really matter -- sorta like flossing or drilling for oil off Ft Lauderdale. Still, I just can't stand a warning light being on, so I decided to fill'em up anyway. So the light is now off, the tires are full and somewhere the hugest celebrity ever is smuggly satisfied. Jerk.
I wish our 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI could do that! In any case, awesome win by Travis Pastrana in his #199 Subie rally car. Gave me goosebumps.
Unfortunately my ride in our long-term Subie didn't go as smoothly this weekend. I rarely get to spend time behind its wheel so I wasn't used to driving it. And this was apparent in my struggle to shift it smoothly. 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd were always problematic for me. Stop signs weren't my friend and I just got embarrassed having someone else in the car with me, fearing they'd wonder why I suck at driving stick. And maybe I do.
In any case, I started using the Sport Sharp mode which quickens throttle response and I guess that helped a bit. But found it annoying that it had to be clicked on every time I started the car. It would be really great if this was a default feature. Or just a normal mode for the Subaru.
Caroline Pardilla, Deputy Managing Editor @ 7,331 miles
While I was in the Subaru STI last night, I noticed the headliner material. Upon closer inspection, I saw that this is the same recycled plastic (I believe soda bottles) material other manufacturers use for their trunkliners. I suppose this would be OK in a Geely or Chery, but our STI lists at $39,700! Cheap.
Albert Austria, Sr Vehicle Evaluation Engineer @ 6914 mi
The Impreza WRX STI has been in our care for a couple of months now. Time to see how it's doing in terms of fuel economy:
Current mileage: 6,754 miles Best tank to date: 30.8 mpg Worst tank to date: 12.8 mpg Overall average: 18.8 mpg Official EPA estimate: 17 mpg city/ 23 mpg highway
As you can see, the mileage figures represent a story of extremes. The difference between our best and worst tanks was striking enough to merit our doing a little research to get the tale behind the numbers.
So here's the scoop: Our best tank reflects primarily highway mileage, logged by a driver who, by his own admission, likes to take a conservative approach when it comes to acceleration. Our worst tank reflects primarily city miles, logged by an editor who was eager to unleash the WRX STI in the canyons.
It all evens out in the wash, though. Our overall average falls within the realm of EPA estimates.
Warren Clarke, Automotive Content Editor @ 6,754 miles
The WRX STi can blow through the slalom at 72 miles per hour, get from a dead stop to 60 in 4.8 seconds and dominate the quarter mile in 13.3 seconds.
Guess what? None of those things come up for me on a daily, weekly or even monthly basis. Sure it's mildly amusing to constantly blow the doors off every lowered Civic and Eclipse with a two-tone paint job and three story tall rear wing but even that gets old after awhile - the drivers look so sad afterward.
However, I did find a great practical use for our Long Term STi. I took it to the supermarket. The STi is so fast; when I got home the ice-cream still had frost on it. This should be a new testing parameter.
More and more cars are making dizzying power numbers these days, yet few stand out in my mind as being really eye-openingly fast. Our long-term BMW 135i is one of those few. I hadn't really put it the car through its paces until last night, when I snagged the keys and headed for the canyons. Quite simply, this is a lot of motor for such a diminutive car...
I took a longer drive through the hills in our 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI this morning. Of course I noticed the softy suspension, and how this car doesn't seem to want to corner as hard as its predecessor. But the drivetrain hasn't changed in character.
The torque comes on abruptly after the turbo gets going...
That would be the STI's name if it had to play a role on Grey's Anatomy. Not McDreamy (that's the M3), and definitely not McSteamy (the Ferrari, in absentia). As much as I enjoy the STI's silly-fast 305-hp turbo four, for me its defining characteristic is excessive body roll. That's because I fully expect an STI to be silly fast; what I don't expect is for it to heel over in turns like a Sunfish under full sail...
If you read our full test on the 2008 Subaru WRX STI, you'll see we list a 0-to-60 mph time of 4.8 seconds. But do you know how that time was achieved? Well, here's the quote from the testing notes:
"The STI's six-speed gearbox isn't the easiest to shift quickly despite its direct linkage. The best launch came by dropping the clutch at about 6,000 rpm."
As impressive as 4.8 seconds is, a 6,000-rpm clutch drop isn't a technique a WRX STI owner is going to be doing on a daily basis. Well, not unless he or she plans on replacing driveline components on a regular basis, that is.
On previous generation Imprezas, an STI badge pretty much meant a suspension tune as hard as an elbow to the jaw and a wing and hood scoop juiced with HGH.
The new Impreza STI, however, is much removed from this description. The ride quality is as comfortable as your average sport sedan's, and the hatchback bodystyle functions as a cloak of invisibility over those 305 horses. The black paint of our test car even hides the car's flared fenders...
A few of us here at the office either grew up or have lived in Colorado. Our 2008 Impreza WRX STI would be great to have in Denver. There's all-wheel drive, of course, but thanks to the turbocharger, the engine wouldn't be losing nearly as much power (if any at all) due to the gain in elevation.
Because the Earth's atmosphere thins out the higher you go, a car simply can't make as much maximum power...
I took our 2008 Impreza WRX STI in for its first scheduled oil change today. Subaru's maintenance schedule requires all turbocharged models to be serviced under the severe-usage schedule, so this means oil changes every 3,750 miles. Umm, so we were a little late on this one.
Herwaldt Subaru in Fresno, Calif., was the dealership of choice. There were no surprises, though the service advisor seemed completely unfamiliar with the car – at one point during the check-in, she asked me if our STI was a four- or six-cylinder...
I just can't warm up to the clear taillights on the new Impreza WRX STI. Clear lamps might have been cool to put on your 1998 Honda Accord coupe, but they seem out of place on a car that's matured in so many other ways.
Apparently, some new STI owners are already ditching the clear lenses in favor of traditional red ones.
(Thanks to SubyTrojan for the photo.)
Meanwhile, I've booked an appointment next week to get our WRX's oil changed...
This morning our long term 2008 Subaru WRX STI had quite a thirst. First it drank down 11.775 gallons of 91 octane gasoline (premium is required), for which it provided 221.3 miles of transport. And then it asked for oil. Sucker gulped down half a quart of 5W-30 conventional...
So here's something we're yet to figure out about our STI: Periodically, let's say maybe 70 percent of the time, this is the first screen we see when we fire up the STI's navigation system. It appears before the "caution" screen which must be agreed to before using the system. Basically, it's one more step to take before getting on with your business. And it's annoying...
In our last episode, I'd loaded seven bulky items in the back of our 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI for a trip to WIllow Springs Raceway for a test. The seven items fit with ease with the seats flopped down in the Subie, and it took about a minute to load or unload the stuff. The outgoing Impreza WRX STI had a trunk that wasn't expandable because the rear seats didn't fold. Score one for the new STI and its controversial 5-door hatchback body style.
But some of the feedback I got doubted a regular trunk would have a problem swallowing the same stuff. We don't have an EVO handy for another vs. STI shoot-out, but our 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS makes a fine trunk double. Without folding the seats, I could only fit 3 of the 7 items. I tried different combinations, but 3 was all she wrote.
The strangest thing happened to me when I was driving our 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI on the 405 during an unusually traffic-free afternoon. I was enjoying the Subie's 305 horsepower, changing lanes when I looked up at the rearview mirror and noticed a car following behind me a bit too close for comfort. I sped up a little to see if he was tailing me and sure enough he stuck with me. Then I noticed it was an old Subaru wagon...
I drove our 2008 Subaru WRX STI up to Willow Springs International Raceway and back with a load of equipment for our second-ever consumer comparison test. It handled the following test props and equipment without breaking a sweat:
Not sure what you're looking at? I recently discovered the trick to unlocking all of the navigation system menus while our 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI is moving.
I find it extremely frustrating that some navigation systems, like the one found in our Subaru, will lock out 90% of the menu functions once the vehicle is in motion. Want to program in a new destination? Pull over and stop. Want to change the route from "quickest" to something more scenic? Pull over and stop. What if you're mired in traffic, late, on a highway with no shoulder, or simply want to keep going? Tough.
And this remains the case whether you have a perfectly capable passenger riding shotgun next to you to press the buttons or not. A passenger can read regular maps while underway, and AAA gives them away to members for free. Tell me why I should pay one or two grand for one of these, again?
Our 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI has fairly effective xenon HID (high intensity discharge) headlights. Just about every high-end car with such lights have auto-levelling systems to re-aim the headlights slightly so oncoming drivers won't be blinded when the rear seats or trunk are loaded-down. The STI has a manual headlight adjustment wheel for this purpose, with six positions if you count zero (and you should.)
The zero setting is the highest one, and is the normal setting for everyday use. When you load up the back, you can crank the lights down to avoid blinding others. But the available range of adjustment is significantly greater than the body angle could ever change with load. You probably won't need anything more than position 1 for your most-laden condition, so there has to be at least one other use for this feature...
Some pundits have expressed disappointment with the 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI, singling-out its softer suspension as evidence of weakness. But the WRX STI model exists partly for FIA-homologation for rally competition, so performance on dirt matters, too. A more compliant suspension helps improve mechanical grip on rough roads and washboard dirt and gravel surfaces, so this might be a case of "I meant to do that" on Subaru's part.
The Subie and I are in Las Vegas this weekend. A good-sized dry lake sits about 5 miles south of Interstate 15, so I made a detour to try out the STI on a bit of dirt.
This weekend our new 2008 Subaru WRX STI did little more than daddy duty. Hate to say it, but our black STI spent its 72 hours with the Oldham's without once laying rubber on a curving mountain road, a dedicated racetrack, or gravel covered fire road. Instead we used it like a car. Just a car...
A new STI? We wanted nothing more than to drive it to the nearest canyon road and push it to the limit. Then our conscience spoke up and ruined everything.
Our WRX STI has 305 horsepower, a six-speed transmission, three limited-slip differentials and enough adjustable driver aids to impress the late Colin McRae...
