My WRX STI Experience, kinda long, possibly worth the read? Options

[bloodrain]

well, yesterday I was talking on the iwsti.com forum and there are a few people who live around my area with them. I finally got one of the guys to hang out with (his name is David, and hes mad cool) so we meet up at Target, talk about cars for about 30 mins and then 6 more sti's pull up. So they are all talking about turbo this, awd that, and they want to go driving. So I leave my car at Target and jump in the sexy blue and gold STI. While he is driving he tells me "hey reach under the seat and grab the bag for me," so without hesitation I start to reach and I hear a sound that is similar to a million bats excaping from hell, while im being flung back into the seat and just figuring out there is no bag under the seat I think to myself, man, I gotta get one of these. After hitting the seat with an ungodly force I hear "sorry, I do that to everyone" and I start laughing and call him an ass. Then he says "wanna give it a test drive" needless to say I was a bit nervous but somehow I manage to get out "sure why not." So we all pull over by TY park and we switch seats. Then I hear someone from the unholy shiny black STI infront of me "have you ever drove an STi before" I answer no. He then ask's if I ever drove an EVO, I answer "no," he then warns me "put your seat belt on and unleash the power how Thor into your hands to hang on." Im thinkin, 'ya, sure thing... psycho...' at this point I listen to him and put my seat belt on, look around for a bit and finally get a clear spot with no traffic. This is where the fun starts... As I put it into gear and start to ease off the clutch, I have a million things runnin through my mind and Im nervous as hell now. As im letting the clutch out I feel like it needs more gas so now im at about 2.2k rpms and the car starts to move forward. Im now rolling at about 5 mph and decide to let the clutch completly out, bad move. To keep the car from stalling I had to give it more gas, so now im at 3k rpms, and then... the turbo kicks in... the sound was all to familar as again I hear that sound of bats out of hell. A quick half second later I notice im redlining and quickly shift gears before David kicks my ass and I ruin his transmission. I shift into 2nd and am now cruising at a safe 2k rpms and notice the other STI guys are pretty far ahead of me again. So I give it some more gas and hit that magical 3.2k rpm's and feel the STI's best friend kick in again. So right before I hit 6k rpm I shift again and am now cruising at 30 mph in 3rd. I speed up again and am now in 4th just cruisin. Kick it up a bit, put it in 5th and notice the left turn arrow about 150 feet ahead of me turn yellow. Now I have a dilema, do I start my downshift into neutral and stop at the light, or downshift into 4th and gun it... Well, considering it wasnt my car, I decided to neutral it. David notices me getting on the brake and he says "GUN IT!!" a split second later im in 4th watching the tach climb higher and higher, as I start my turn I now realize why Mr.Black STI mentioned Thor earlier. So as a magical lightning bolt comes from the sky and runs through my body I grib the wheel like my hands were welded down to the steering wheel. While turning the corner I notice I dont hear much, no tires squeeling, no chirping, nothing. Just a spooling turbo, a screaming engine, and my pulse thumping inside my head. As I ease off the gas finishing the corner I upshift back into 5th, I felt like punching it and seeing what this bad boy could really do, but my instincts got the better of me and said no considering there was a fire station not to far ahead of me. So low and behold I let off the gas a bit and go past a nice looking crown victoria with a pig sitting inside of it. So as I hit the light on Sterling and 441 we do a chinese fire drill and im now back into the passenger seat. We all pull into McDonalds on Sheridan, talk for a while and then head back to target. After I thank him for letting me drive the ungodly car everyone leaves and Im walking to my car thinking 'man, I've GOT to get one...'

After this 'test drive' I've decided to get my celica painted and sold. So hopefully In about 4 months I will be driving a new '06 STI. Dont worry though I will still be lurking around the 6gc.net forums.

This post has been edited by bloodrain: Feb 23, 2006 - 4:40 PM

[Illyont]

I just drove a 2003 WRX STi (JDM) last friday, and I have to agree with the thread starter on alot of things. The car had 280 hp (compared to the 230-ish on regular STi's) because it's a JDM version. It also had alot of fancy stuff that's not normally found on european STi's. It has the 2.0 engine though, and not the 2.5 found in the US (and in Eu from 06 and on).

The car had IC water spray, adjustable diffs, full recaro bucket seats, a new intake and exhaust, new gauges+++. It was of course a right hand drive, but after like 10 corners that was just like driving a left hand drive.

Almost everything on the JDM STi is better than a US or Eu version. And compared to a normal Eu STi this car was a beast. I have two friends who own STi's. They work really well even without boost and I could drive without problems in fifth where I usually have to use fourth in my Audi. This is because the STi have a six gear tranny though, so the fifth is kinda like my fourth.. But also because the two cars can't be compared at all. 130 hp Audi A4 versus 2003 JDM STi with upgrades.

Anyway, my point is that those cars are really great. They are pricey, but they are worth it. A Celica GT-Four could probably beat one, but a 94 GT-Four vs. 2003-2006 STi.. What car will most likely last the next 10 years? You just can't ignore age on a car..

Btw; those cars cost _alot_ in Norway.. Closer to 87 000$ US.. So they are naturally very rare. The kids took out their cell phones and started filming us as we were driving past.. People turning their heads everywhere. It was fun And even though I was driving like 30 in a 45 nobody tried to drive past me They just formed a line behind me waiting..