fearnight

I'm sure it's frowned upon to link directly to street racing videos on here, so I'll let you search it on your own:
YouTube title: Lexus ISF vs STi
Username: Daniel Carrión

XutvJet

This particular WRX has slightly built block (pistons, rods, bearings, reworked heads and valvetrain), a bigger turbo, and a 6MT swap as the major stuff. These engines are incredibly easy to build up and it's astounding how much power they'll hold once you build them up just a little bit. All things considered, it's pretty dang cheap for the performance in return. All in (including the car), he's in for around $25K.


9.5@151mph, 1.56 60 foot

LOWFAST

Not sure we follow your point. I could post a long list of fox body mustangs that can run that number or faster for under $25k total as well. That does not make them an ISF or better than an ISF. I don't think the original question was "how can I go fast for as little scratch as possible." It was to compare a stock ISF to a stock STI both costing around $40k.

That thing would suck *** to daily drive in traffic compared the luxury of a Lexus. Actually, with the exhaust straight out of the turbo it would not be passing any emissions test so no bueno on daily driver in most large cities, plus one piece of road debris and kiss that impeller goodbye.

I8ABMR

a buddy of mine recently went with the new Mustang because he said the seats killed him in the STI, and he is very thin too lol

ForzaF

iTrader: (3)

Do they still hold the reputation for having glass transmissions ? Or is that a thing of the past?

MWIS350

STI look nice but for me ISF all the way.

Gearbangin

iTrader: (7)

I'm not impressed.

F_Throttle

I use to be an STi fan, and I can't even explain why.. Feel like the HP numbers are low for whatever class it's in.

MWIS350

V8 sound great.

SubOrbital

300hp in 2003 was awesome. 12 years later, not so much.

Slover99

Luxury is a joke. I rode in my sti over 1000 miles, did uber part time. I also have a issue with my lower back. Sti seats actually feel better than most performance cars.

IredSF

iTrader: (3)

this ^^^^ AND

upgrade to 042 steering ECU! Had suspension mods (coil overs, LCA bushing from figs, sold links in rear, all together)

even with mods (and tire and wheel upgrade ) steering felt artificial and numb.

042 steering ECU on my 2010 (stock model is 040) steering is a revelation!! Direct, immediate, no numbness, EXCELLENT FEEL AND FEEBACK.

had all the suspension mods and the OLD ECU largely MASKED THE FEEL OF the improvements.

only whith the new steering ECU could I realize and FEEL the benefit to steering that all the suspension mods had wrought.

if you mod suspension and you have an 08-11 this is MUST DO MOD, if you want to enjoy what the car is really capable of.

bbong

I had a brand new 06 STI that I took from stock, all the way to 530whp on Dyno Dynamics dynamometer and it wasn't anything as some would say that all you need is Turbo and Engine to get it above 400whp. You need to consider tons of other supporting mods. IC, Injectors, Fuel Pump, Cooling then you might start running into backpressure issues, so headers, uppipe etc. etc. it was never ending. I loved the car and actually wife shed a tear when I was selling it, but at that power level, it was nothing like the ISF. It's a money pit! Also it helps a lot if you learn how to ECU Tune, that'll save you lots of time and money.

Maybe one reason why I left Evo and STI scene was because of never ending modding bug and lust for more power, but it was getting pricey quick, going to a race track I'd be afraid for IC pipes blowing off or something else going bad, I would haul tons of tools with me to allow me to quickly service it if something non-major happened. Stock suspension was also meh and without any nannys it wasn't very forgivable car on the track.

I moved on to ISF and the V8. I like instant throttle response, I love the reliability factor and that I don't need to worry about it when I track it. All in all, I would probably not get a new WRX/STI, but get a 04-10 WRX/STI hopefully cheap and leave it for the winter fun as the STI, especially with Locked Diff and Blizzaks was a tank in the snow.

2URGSE

Not even a match.....Subaru lost focus with the STi. I owned a 2004, with 2005/2006 being the best years of that car.

The new ones had issues, and are ugly as hell. (Looks like a Toyota Corolla on steroids)

jv12

I recently drove the WRX STI while in the process of buying a car. It was certainly fast, had a manual transmission, but all I could hear was very loud road noise on the test drive. Turned me off. On top of that it looks like a 12 year-old designed it For 38-40K it looks cheap and I'd really rather keep my ISF.