I am looking at an 04 STI in California and it has a Hurst Shifter put on it. I have never seen one in person but I thought those were basically a sequential gearbox. Can someone elaborate on how they work and is that a good thing to have in an STI?

Also, I am looking at getting an EVO/STI for a track car to play around with. Who has one here and which is more reliable for modding?

 

The 6MT in the STi can handle mods producing well over the stock 300 HP.

 

They're just replacement shifters (not an entire gearbox), available for a wide range of cars. The manuals are just nice, short throw shifters, and the automatics have detents designed to prevent you from shifting 2 gears at a time during a drag race. You can see the full lineup at their website.