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Subaru WRX STI S209

Navi

Autocross Champion
Location
BK/NYC/Hamptons
lame

s208 last year shits all over this. At least that had the 2.0T motor and real recaro seats not the bs seats that the s209 comes with. Surprisingly, the s209 does have an hks turbo and forged rods and pistons though. I wonder if Subaru knows STI motors grenade around 350 whp, that's why this one is around 341 (no one knows if its at the crank or wheels and 341 seems like an estimate)

I know the s208 is japan only.. but my point is, this limited edition s209 has all the old shit and some body kit and wheels to make it look special. Waste of money for an archaic setup.
 

Scala

Ready to race!
Location
Florida
The real Achilles heel of the STI is the transmission and the clutch. Strong enough for racing but a PITA for daily driving.

The plain WRX with CVT is a better and faster DD but the CVT has a critical limit of well under 300 hp.

Never mind the Audis, the Kia Stinger GT is the smart buy here.
 

Charlotte.:R

Autocross Champion
Location
Charlotte
Car(s)
'18 Golf R 6MT
The real Achilles heel of the STI is the transmission and the clutch. Strong enough for racing but a PITA for daily driving.

The plain WRX with CVT is a better and faster DD but the CVT has a critical limit of well under 300 hp.

Never mind the Audis, the Kia Stinger GT is the smart buy here.

Lol
 

Golfs everyday

Autocross Newbie
Location
USA
I really like the current STI. Mine is a 16 and probably keep her for another 4-5yrs. I've not had one issue with the car besides a rattle on the cluster bezel that I fixed and drive her pretty hard on the weekends. The trick is to keep the revs higher and don't WOT under 4K RPM in the wrong gear, run Cobb AP, and AOS. That alone will prevent a lot of the engine failures people might be having. I really think it's a car for the more experienced MT driver.

The S209 looks great, especially the interior I like how they made it a real special look, the red trim on the dash is a little too much for me, including the rear red decal that runs above the rear valance but that's just personal preference. Since I don't track my cars I have no plan to get either the S209 or RA, but for a diehard Subie fan, I am sure the S209 is a real treat to them in the US. I'm real happy for them.
 

Scala

Ready to race!
Location
Florida
I really like the current STI. Mine is a 16 and probably keep her for another 4-5yrs.....

This ^ from a Golf R (DSG ?) owner so I have to ask.
Having owned two STI myself and now driving a much higher hp GTI with DSG let me ask you what you find to be the strong qualities of these two cars.
 

Jumpy

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Austin, TX, USA
Car(s)
'18 GTI Autobahn
Can they just finally make a new generation WRX?
 

VL3X

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Delaware
Car(s)
2017 GTI SE
The real Achilles heel of the STI is the transmission and the clutch. Strong enough for racing but a PITA for daily driving.

The plain WRX with CVT is a better and faster DD but the CVT has a critical limit of well under 300 hp.

Never mind the Audis, the Kia Stinger GT is the smart buy here.

I disagree. The 6 speed STI trans is bulletproof and very easy to daily drive in my opinion. I was on the stock clutch making 341whp/356wtq for over 5 years with no issues.

The only transmission problem I am aware of is the 2004-early '05 STIs has weak synchros between the higher gears. This was fixed after May '05 production dates.
 

demi9od

Drag Race Newbie
Location
NC
I cannot believe they are still putting that EJ25 pig in a 2019.
 

KASPER1

Go Kart Champion
Location
AMONGST U
The real Achilles heel of the STI is the transmission and the clutch. Strong enough for racing but a PITA for daily driving.

The plain WRX with CVT is a better and faster DD but the CVT has a critical limit of well under 300 hp.

Never mind the Audis, the Kia Stinger GT is the smart buy here.

The trans in the sti is bulletproof! All you need to do is drop in a better clutch and the entire drivetrain, minus the engine, is really stout! You must be thinking of the wrx, their trans has always been weak, even their new 6speed can’t hold a candle to the old sti trans, axels, diffs. The engine is and always has been the achillies heel in the sti, in NA spec, even if you build the block. Forged pistons do no solve the ringland issues, generally cylinder 4 goes, it also happens to be the cylinder that’s starved for fuel, and those stupid unequal length manifolds not only cost hp but lead to 2 different temperatures in the head, which is never a good thing, but it does have that boxer growl lol luckily most of us don’t have to hear it because they’re waayyyy behind us, if not broken down on the side of the road.

Edit:
Oh I see what you’re saying, the trans in the sti makes for a lousy dd. In that I’d agree, you’re always rowing gears cause of the close ratio 6 speed, it does get quite annoying in traffic, stop and go traffic, or hell just after some time lol
 
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Scala

Ready to race!
Location
Florida
I disagree. The 6 speed STI trans is bulletproof and very easy to daily drive in my opinion....

Bulletproof transmission, agreed and I said so ^. Clutch no, replaced twice in 15M of track and impossible to to combine smooth and fast engagement in DD.
 

Coogles

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Indianapolis, IN
There are definitely days I miss the STi. I had a '17 that I sold because it got to be too much for a daily driver on the shit roads I commute on every day; the GTI is unquestionably a more comfortable place to be for that kind of driving. The only other real complaint I had about that car was the seats. In that and pretty much every Subaru you sit up high, and the seats are way too wide with far too little bolstering, and no thigh support. Fine for highway cruising, but terrible for spirited driving.

That said, it was a much more fun and rewarding car to drive hard. The GTI struggles to put down even stock power until above 40mph or so, and obviously the STi never had that problem. Having had that car first gave me the perspective that this chassis in stock form is about at its limit of how much power it can handle effectively and has me looking at a dedicated weekend car rather than plowing money into making this car faster.
 

Charlotte.:R

Autocross Champion
Location
Charlotte
Car(s)
'18 Golf R 6MT
There are definitely days I miss the STi. I had a '17 that I sold because it got to be too much for a daily driver on the shit roads I commute on every day; the GTI is unquestionably a more comfortable place to be for that kind of driving. The only other real complaint I had about that car was the seats. In that and pretty much every Subaru you sit up high, and the seats are way too wide with far too little bolstering, and no thigh support. Fine for highway cruising, but terrible for spirited driving.

That said, it was a much more fun and rewarding car to drive hard. The GTI struggles to put down even stock power until above 40mph or so, and obviously the STi never had that problem. Having had that car first gave me the perspective that this chassis in stock form is about at its limit of how much power it can handle effectively and has me looking at a dedicated weekend car rather than plowing money into making this car faster.

To be fair, you're comparing an AWD car with 3 LSDs to a FWD car with 1 (assuming the PP).

I was torn between an STi and R, but the reasons you outlined are why I went with the R over a STi Limited with the spoiler delete (and the ringland issue). I don't have any issues putting down power, even in wet conditions.

Hopefully this is a sneak peak at the capabilities of the next generation WRX and STi.
 

benena

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
New York
I really like the current STI. Mine is a 16 and probably keep her for another 4-5yrs. I've not had one issue with the car besides a rattle on the cluster bezel that I fixed and drive her pretty hard on the weekends. The trick is to keep the revs higher and don't WOT under 4K RPM in the wrong gear, run Cobb AP, and AOS. That alone will prevent a lot of the engine failures people might be having. I really think it's a car for the more experienced MT driver.

The S209 looks great, especially the interior I like how they made it a real special look, the red trim on the dash is a little too much for me, including the rear red decal that runs above the rear valance but that's just personal preference. Since I don't track my cars I have no plan to get either the S209 or RA, but for a diehard Subie fan, I am sure the S209 is a real treat to them in the US. I'm real happy for them.

Came from Subaru (Legacy GT), they will always have a special place in my heart, but 50K for 350 hp Subaru? That makes no sense. I'd just get my old LGT and build the motor and full stage 3 setup before I spend 50k on a Subaru.

How can u justify that price? I'm here, in a GTI because no matter how much I tried, I just could not justify the slight higher price of the WRX over GTI... I realllllly wanted to get the WRX, but it was absolutely impossible to put the WRX over a GTI.

Not the only reason but when I saw in WRX, 2.0L engine running 20 PSI... I believe my 2.5L engine was running 9 PSI at stock and around 15 PSI at stage 2...
That motor is pretty much tapped out at stock, almost not worth trying to get more power out of it.
 

Crackness1

Ready to race!
Location
Sunny Florida
My GTI has depreciated $11K in 2 years (based on my very fair purchase price and current trade in value).

Going to have to drive this thing for a long time to lessen the sting, by 4 years it'll be essentially worthless.

I'm calling dibs on your GTI at year 5, when you can pay me to take it. :D:D
 
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