LoL...true. I was just saying that I think the spoiler and hood scoop on the STI are ugly as hell, but they look like nice "family" cars without them. Given the gains from a FMIC / turbo upgrade / etc the STI can be an insane sleeper car, although there's nothing that can be done to it to make it look nearly as nice as a Z, IMO.

 

you hit the nail on the head.

new Car and Driver did a one year assessment on the Evo and in their assessment called the Evo "too juvenile". i can only assume that this would also be the case for the Sti.

ive said it before, and ill say it again, - you can make ANY car fast, but you can't make any car beautiful- meaning, although the Z isnt as fast as an Sti straight out of the box it is however better looking. to make it fast, there are literally endless possibilities with a monster engine as big as the Z; turbo?

john

 

[QUOTE=capnfrantic]
Bawahhhh ha ha....Classic!

 

[QUOTE=trash259]actually i think beer was the answer to ugly women


john

 

::sighs:: i cant belive there are still threads about the sti and the z.... i mean seriously... cousin owns an sti ..white with gold rims... yes its fast im in the car all the time..i never saw it get a look or anything...im honeslty in the sti about 2wice a week...drove it sooo many times...but not one look.. and i know for some people it doesnt matter...but when im in my daytona blue z even when its dirty as hell or whatever..im always getting looks... like one z member said its nice to see little kids look and point ...girls love it..not that much different from the sti in performance.. its a little slower... but nothing serious...we raced once from stop till about a 100 .. he was a little less than a car length the whole time...when i drive the car it feels like im driving a regular car but made fast... when im driving my 350z i feel tucked in a sports car....everything close to me.. no back seats...its all about you and the car!

 

so did u buy ur Z for the attention, is that what your trying to say?
i understand where your coming from but you have to understand certain people look and admire certain cars. the Z is obviously a more mature car and thus gets more attention from more mature on lookers. if you are in an EVO or an Sti and roll up into Toys R Us, youll become every kids best friend(at this moment you rev the shyt out of it and decide to hit the "flame thrower" button). As stated by numerous, credible, magazines- the car is juvenile- and thus attracts attention from a younger crowd. this doesn't however undermine the sheer superiority of either car but puts emphasis on what type of audience these cars are directed towards. (Fast and Furious ruined it all!)

john

 

Well, as to where I've been...at 57, I still get to play a little during Spring Break, all right!? I've been in Vegas for a week with the family.

So I'm an old hot-rodder, used to own a '65 Shelby Mustang which I modified and sold for $3750 in 1974 (yeah, I know...). Still ride dirt bikes (KX 250) and street bikes (Aprilia Mille, yeah, it's the Ducati-killer...I also own a Ducati). I have four boys, and get a little fed up with the twentysomethings that know everything. I've built Corvair dune buggies (back when we built them, not bought them) and went to Glamis (and Niland, and Gray's Wells, and Devil's Playground, and Pismo Beach, and St. Anthony, Idaho..the tallest dunes). And then I got my Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from (California State Scholarship-funded) Stanford University and since 1977 teach Mechanical Engineering at the University of New Mexico and have my beautiful Fairlady Z. I started out with a BSA Bantam 125cc bike in 1957 and have had many very satisfying bikes and cars ever since.

So when I meet some yoyo who says "my car is way cooler than yours" I turn to my trusty 350Z forum to get some backing. I've been very satisfied with the response.

And my 2nd son's fiancee is going to make me a cartoon showing two old geezers talking trash about cars...courtesy of some previous respondent.

The Fairlady is the Queen of my garage, and she stacks up against an Aprilia Mille and a Ducati Supersport. 'Nuff said. If anyone wants to do Lagrangian Dynamics (or even Newton-Euler) with me, I'll take `em on. Holonomic or non-holonomic, I don't care. I'll even compare the length of slide rules, because mine is longest! Heh, heh...what more is there to say...

So gimme a break. I just got back from vacation.

 

The whole reason I started this discussion in the first place is that---being an engineer---for me (to some extent) "form follows function" and if a car has cool engineering it doesn't much matter what it looks like.

HOWEVER...function must be pretty carefully defined, as well as form.

I'll take my Fairlady over the STi, although I do respect the "rally" orientation of the WRX line and am still somewhat interested. Not so much, though, as to seriously entertain even looking at one. Too many kids, too few $$$. (Hint to those of you unmarried: there's a correlation! ;-)

 

Hey Doc,
When I was ready to purchase a new car, I did my research day and night...sometimes staying up until 3:00am in the morning reading peoples posts on specific car forums. I was originally going to by a turbocharged car....a 2004 WRX STI. Then, I got a chance to take my buddy's 03' 350Z to a nightclub on night and....well.....here I am 4 months later with my very own 04' 350Z. See, the thing about the 350Z is that its not just a "FAST" car like the STI, or "SEXY" car like the boxter, or "RELIABLE" car like the corolla. The 350Z has a good amount of everything, "Fast, OH SO Sexy, Reliable, and much more." You cannot say that about many cars...especially the STI, and if you can, the car has to be well over $50k. You bought the 350Z because it actually made sense to spend $30k on a car that gives you a taste of everything....not just "300hp of pure adrenaline...0% style." In a sports car, you want a nice even balance of performance, luxury, and day-to-day driveability...and you know what?....the Z offers that and then some!

 

At the end of the day, you can make ANY car into a 1500hp monster if you have enough money - and it'll probably cost about the same to do regardless of the car.

In all honesty the #1 reason I bought the Z was it's looks and just the total package. I like the design, and it handles well, has decent accelleration, etc

I was perfectly happy with my frontier crew cab and had no reason to trade it in for a new car. But I HAD to have a Z. It wasn't until later I learned about the STI and EVO and how muhc more performance they have and how much cheaper they are to mod initially. Sure that'd be nice, but I wanted a Z. Nothing else on the market excited me enough to actually make me want to buy a new car - that was affordable for me

 

Then you must think the Toyota Prius is the bomb Its Engineering is far superior to STI or the 350z with its hybrid design (from an engineering point of view that is)...

If you are an engineer then you know all Saburu did was take there family car, slap a turbo on and some suspension mods... Anybody with a AWD car could do the same... A person in a G35x could slap a turbo on his car and some suspension mods and get similar performace of the STI...

If anything from an engineering view, I would admire Honda over anyone as they get the most HP out of there 4 banger engines without having to use Force Induciton, to me thats a better engineering feat then taking the wussy way out (from an engineering point of view) and slappin a turbo on it.

 

Um...nope...there is quite a bit of difference between a base Impreza (RS) and an STi...besides the entire powertrain including engine, front diff, center diff, rear diff, etc, there are almost double the number of weld points to increase body stiffness. I've driven the AWD G35, and it would take a lot more than a turbo on it to match an STi in handling. The diffs are just one reason why.

As I posted previously, I think the STi is fairly blunt and juvenile for anyone with a bit of taste, however, there are possibilities in its overall design that do provide for a pretty good visual package. Just click to enlarge

 

First of all I think Daves Z says it best see previous response he is right on the money. You don't have to justify anything, you like the car or you don't. Speed is only one component, looks say it all. From another Daytona blue performane I love my Z Mannnnnnnn.

 

Gotta say i have a friend who is trying to get an sti, white with gold rims (eh, dont get me started on that) I have been trying to talk him out of it, and bet i could get him over to the Z side if i were just willing to let him take it for a test drive, but sorry I wont even let my mom drive my car, i think maybe 5 people have sat in the drivers seat besides myself, and thats including the dealer and when i had its service done

 

OMG I can't believe this thread still lives...

Z-Stalker