The sti is a nice drive, but...

[Rob Munach]

Ooops, with 'double clutch' I'm sure we have gone over the
heads of those that can't get it into first over 10 mph.

I can shift my 02 Outback MT5 into first at 30 mph, without
even pushing in the clutch.

You regularly shift into first at 30mph, w/o the clutch. So you put it
in neutral blip it to 6k, push on the stick and wait for the revs to
match? Why bother?

 

[FNO]

I agree, although with a little suspension work (minumum, thicker sway
bar) and some decent tires, the difference would narrow a bit. By the
way, C/D only recorded 0.81g for the WRX with stock tires (although I
think that number can be disputed!)

Hmm. There seems to be a fair amount of variance for skid pad recordings
depending on who you talk to...

Yes, and also for different type of owners. I prefer the stealth of the
XT, and I am sure I will get fewer midlife-crisis comments when I buy it.

- D.

LOL

 

[TransFixed]

<snip> ....

LOL

From the recent usnews review (
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/auto/review/subaru_wrx.htm ):
"With a whale's tail rear spoiler and a hood scoop the size of a snow
shovel, the STi has the gaudy look of a 17-year-old's shop project. When
I was that age, I would have drooled over the STi and maybe even hung a
poster of it in my room. But as a 30-something with two kids, I felt
self-conscious driving it around, like somebody having an
industrial-strength midlife crisis."

See, I am not the only one who thinks that way ;-)

 

[Kyle Roberts]

From the recent usnews review (
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/auto/review/subaru_wrx.htm ):
"With a whale's tail rear spoiler and a hood scoop the size of a snow
shovel, the STi has the gaudy look of a 17-year-old's shop project. When
I was that age, I would have drooled over the STi and maybe even hung a
poster of it in my room. But as a 30-something with two kids, I felt
self-conscious driving it around, like somebody having an
industrial-strength midlife crisis."

See, I am not the only one who thinks that way ;-)

As reviewed by Captain Milquetoast.

 

[TransFixed]

You didn't post the rest of the article though; where it grows on you. I am
42, and it grew on me after driving it for a while

hey, that's what the link was for. You are right, I don't think it's a
bad review at all. But my point was not whether it would grow on me, I
am sure it could. Perhaps I am just a Caspar Milquetoast after all.
Nah- than I would want to buy an Outlander or an Avalon, not an XT...

- D.

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

Face it, we'd have KEPT those fun cars if we didn't do that 'family' thing.
It isn't 'mid-life crisis' it's going back to where we belong! It's
reclaiming that which we sacrificed for our kids and others. We're about
16-21 on the inside - we just know more stuff.

Is it midlife crisis when our females want the botox, breast lifts,
dermabrasion, tummy tucks so they can try to look
like....well...CHEERLEADERS!

Carl
1 Lucky Texan (still wishing he had his Datsun 2000 5 main bearing 4
cylinder hemispherical combustion chamber overhead cam dual Hitachi side
draft carburetors flow through head 5 speed servo synchro Girling disc
brake black 135hp convertible)

 

[morden]

Face it, we'd have KEPT those fun cars if we didn't do that 'family' thing.
It isn't 'mid-life crisis' it's going back to where we belong! It's
reclaiming that which we sacrificed for our kids and others. We're about
16-21 on the inside - we just know more stuff.

Is it midlife crisis when our females want the botox, breast lifts,
dermabrasion, tummy tucks so they can try to look
like....well...CHEERLEADERS!

I bet I missed a lot by not having driven a car with an elaphant wing or
a cheerleader option :-D

 

[David Betts]

From the recent usnews review (
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/auto/review/subaru_wrx.htm ):
"With a whale's tail rear spoiler and a hood scoop the size of a snow
shovel, the STi has the gaudy look of a 17-year-old's shop project. When
I was that age, I would have drooled over the STi and maybe even hung a
poster of it in my room. But as a 30-something with two kids, I felt
self-conscious driving it around, like somebody having an
industrial-strength midlife crisis."

See, I am not the only one who thinks that way ;-)

Fine, so don't buy one. Don't be so insecure as to worry about what
other people think, though. At the end of the day it is about how it
drives, not what it looks like.

Incidentally, the UK TV programme Top Gear took the STi to Scotland
and put it head to head with the latest Evo. Neither of the presenters
could put their finger on any significant difference in performance,
but both said the preferred the Scooby.

Needless to say, the Evo was quicker around the test track.

David Betts
(e-mail address removed)

 

[TransFixed]

Fine, so don't buy one. Don't be so insecure as to worry about what
other people think, though.

The ;-) indicated I was kidding around a bit. I would never have put a
poster of the STi [or similar] on my bedroom wall when I was 17. I
"painted" the walls myself, and had posters of impressionist and
expressionist artists on the walls, interrupted by posters of Procul
Harum, CCR, and a high-resolution chart of the moon, and whatnot. I was
into solar powered cars and perhaps the Renault Alpine and VW Bus (which
one of them I fixed up with a buddy).

At the end of the day it is about how it
drives, not what it looks like.

Exactly - a good argument to get the XT! (Apart from some practical
considerations).

- D.

 

[Shomuni]

I bet I missed a lot by not having driven a car with an elaphant wing or
a cheerleader option :-D

Keep the car, send the Cheerleaders!

 

[Bruce Hoult]

How do you fit a single cam onto a boxer engine? (You just piqued my
curiosity with that statement, that's all.)

Single camshaft *per* *bank*, of course.

It couldn't be an *overhead* camshaft otherwise, could it?

-- Bruce

 

[FNO]

Keep the car, send the Cheerleaders!

Nah... I'd rather have both. So, I don't care if people think I am having a
mondo mid-life crisis when driving the STi; that, as my friend put it, looks
like some tricked-out beast a 19-year old built in his back yard...

If it is a mid-life crisis, I like mid-life. It is one HELLUVA lot of
fun...