You may recall my "so tired of apologizing to STi owners" thread; one of my colleagues was raving about his STi, and I felt a little defensive. Well, I thought I finally better test-drive one to see for myself.

I made an appointment for Friday afternoon, and drove my '03 CS Track (w/many coats of Zaino) right up to the Subaru showroom. A young staff guy out front (who turned out to be the sales guy who rode with me) said "Boy, that's a beautiful car." Hee, hee, he had some backpedaling to do when he found out who I was.

They let me drive the STi home to show the wife and kids. My 11-year old said "I like the Z better!" Hey, what can I say, the kid has a good eye...

The STi certainly does have a punch; however, I still notice the turbo lag. The stupid hood scoop was looming in the front, and the wing was leering in the back; regardless of the sheer acceleration I didn't feel "at home" in the darned thing. As someone said, I felt a little like it was driving me.

We parted amicably, but I felt grateful when I slid back into my Fairlady's cockpit (ooh, that sounds a little risque!) I even gave her another coat of Zaino when I got home.

Interesting note; as soon as I drove off the lot in the STi I noticed that it was a "punk street racer" magnet. At the first light a modded SRT-4 pulled up, later on there were yet more ricer rockets. I NEVER see these cars in the Z, and at my advanced age (57) I'm not enthusiastic about owning such a car.

So, in summary, I am impressed with the STi for what it does, but the Z is so much more refined, is better for the driving that I do, and SO MUCH prettier (and life SHOULD have some style) that I'll be keeping her for a long time.

And thanks to all who provided with much information (and no little amusement) in my "so tired of apologizing" thread. I don't intend to apologize any more!

 

Agreed 100%

Having looked at the STI, Evo, and others recently, I LOVE the Z more and more everytime I see another car.

 

Welcome back.

 

Notice the same thing the other day! A stock civic with an ugly APC(American Peice of Crap) body kit pulled up next to an STi and reved his engine. All I could do is laugh, because Ive been challenged by M3s, CL55, and Corvettes in the past while this guy is challenged by stupid civics. They proceeded to race and the STi pwned the stock civic....The point is, I get challenged by high end cars while he got challenged by a civic......

 

The only reason Id get the sti or evo would be simply bc boost is just the greatest feeling in the world, but then thats balanced out with its ugliness(my opinion). Instead Id rather get my enthusiast Z for 27k out the door + APS single turbo(7k after everything) and now you have a beautiful car with boost and almost 400 hp at the wheels for 34k. Thats about near sti territory, wouldn't ya say . Still no awd but dont really care to be honest....

 

350Z with Twin Turbo would be the best thing in the world! (Factory option of course!)

 

yeah..the Z's looks are superior to evo and sti..i love the boxter engine on the sti tho..
that big hood scoop looks like a claw...one of my best friends has one..it took me a long time to choose between the evo, sti, the z and th vw r32....i dont regret my choice a bit!

 

Your are DAMN luck you did not buy that r32. I was looking threw black book on those and while you could have bought one in november for 28K (if you negotiate a little more probably less) The new r32's with even less than 5K on em will only bring in like 16-17 in trade! VW=Crap, hence why i traded my GTI 3 days ago for the Z

 

what took you so long to snap back

 

I completely agree. Performance wise i`d take any of the 3 [STi, evo, Z]. But when it comes down to looks, well the STi and evo aren`t even in the same league as the gorgeous Z.

Good choice

 

You can not put silk stockings on a pig.I do not care if the STI had 400hp.It still is UGLY!!!!!!

 

I just recently became a Z owner. I had an black 03 Evo before my Z and I liked it alot. But I wanted a car to mod....not a car I had to keep spending money on to keep running. For example clutch going out(stock not aftermarket), tires every 10K miles, just maintaining the vehicle is expensive. So me and my dad traded it in for a Z at the 10K mile mark.

What I can say is that I love my Z. I feel more grown up driving it than the Evo.
(I'm only 18) I mean the leather heated seats and Bose system is sweet. But my Z doesn't handle like my Evo. I don't feel like I'm in "that driving zone" like I did the Evo. The Evo makes you feel like you are one with the road. But overall
the Z is a much better car. Not to mention I burn Evo's all the time. I miss the Advan's that only come for the Evo(the sweetest tires)...and I miss the Brembo brakes. I would have gotten the Track Model to get the Brembos...but I needed leather I don't like cloth at all. I dealt with it in the Evo cause it had the sweet Recaros. Anyway that's my Evo/Z story and I'll be sticking with Z's from here on out for sure!!!!!

 

Yeah, after seeing my friends sti, go into a clif facing after going down a 10 foot embankment, I like my Z, and its alot more who is driving than the car itself!

 

that was a really nice write up. I have yet to drive the sti but i will drive one soon to see just what the sti really is. It sure is ugly though.

 

echo...if you really have the need for the boost, you can add a twin turbo greddy system.

 

Glad to see you've resolved your "crisis of faith", doc.

On a related note - somebody at work has an STi. We were heading out to lunch last week and my boss, who's not much of a car guy, got a look at the STi and commented.... that's what you need, a car with a potato peeler on the back. I knew exactly what he was talking about.

 

before i bought my Z, i was thinking about getting STi. when i went to check out some of their forums i found out that a moderately modded STi's only got 12-14 mpg. thats horrendous, esp with gas prices at where they are at right now. after my last fillup, my z was able to go 23mpg (and i'm still at break-in). welcome and good choice.

 

First thing...Who exactly "are you". You said the guy was shocked by who you were? Are you like the owner of a Nissan Dealership next door?

GOod writeup mang, definitely the STI get more attention from the ricers because of the gihumungus wing. If u put a wing like that on the Z, i guarentee youd get called out by more ricers your first trip out on the road.


And in comment to the ability to get a turbo on the Z for 7k, thats a bit of a dream. I dont think very many people would put a turbo on the Z without having a spare 5k laying around for when she goes kabooom. LOL. We can always dream tho.

 

Way to go Doc!

 

i was thinking about trading my z in for an sti this weekend but i just couldnt bring myself to do it...that wing and hood scoop are just to much for me...i mean i know they both are functional but it really looks ricey