Our local dealer has one now. I stopped by and checked it out and I've got to say, I'm not too impressed. Sure, its a great car that should sell well and will in the end make Subaru more money, but I still don't like it.

 

Lets start with the interior. Leather? In a psudo-rally car? C'mon... Too many buttons too (I hate buttons on the steering wheel that aren't for the cruise control). The seats are a downgrade from the JDM Recaros. Everything else is great inside. Being over six feet tall, I like the rear seat leg room too. Si-Drive? Why are there two sport modes? Why isn't it just MORE sporty ALL THE TIME?

 

Exterior: Fake vents for the front wheel well remind me of the ones on the rear of a mustang. Yeck. Four tips for an exhaust that all flows through one hole up stream (aka the turbo)? Why? More weight (ON A RALLY CAR!?!?!)? Looks? Certanly not to sound better. Dumb. The adjustable headlights seem to have a greater range of adjustment than our '07 does, which is good. 18" wheels? Why? Ride will suffer. The flares are sick though, especially when the light hits them just right. The front bumper and specifically the "aluminum" accents around the fog lights remind me of the taillights of a RX-8, yuck.

 

Performance? Haven't driven one yet, but from what I read yesterday in C&D, it won't be any faster in an AutoX than our '07, maybe even slower... (softer susp. lack of low end grunt (I figured the new D-AVCS would cure this?) more weight, etc) Think if I pull up in our '07 pretending that I want to trade up they would let me drive the new one? :cool:

 

That being said, I think I'm going to ignore this year's STI and hope they give us a Spec C or something similar next year. Fingers crossed......

 

Hell, for the BBS wheels and top trim, this Subaru is pushing $40k at $39, 640 or so. Sounds like the over-priced japanese sports cars of the early 90s have returned, and we all know what happened then. (For those who don't, people couldn't afford them and they were all killed on our shores).

Im not to much for the looks either..... I have heard that the body is significantly stronger though.....

There was a post a week or so back, referring to the STI write up in Car and Driver Magazine. There were links to read the entire magazine article on line. You may want to check that out.

There was a post a week or so back, referring to the STI write up in Car and Driver Magazine. There were links to read the entire magazine article on line. You may want to check that out.

 

PSSSST... I did. I was paraphrasing their article.

I think it's ugly. It looks like a mazda.

I think it's ugly. It looks like a mazda.

 

I wish, the mazda 3 looks pretty good IMO.

I like them, can't wait to drive one when they come in at my local dealer.

I happen to be partial to the new body style ( gee I wonder why...der I own one:grin: ) And I happen to love it...I have nothing bad at all to say about the car. There are alot of differences between it and the Mazda 3..which I also happened to like. I was against the new body style as much as anyone...until I went and drove oe...looked it over very good...drove it again...checked it out some more...test drove it a 3rd time and was totally hooked...I have 6K miles on mine in about 2 months of use. (OK its not the STi but its still a 2.5i).

I happen to be partial to the new body style ( gee I wonder why...der I own one:grin: ) And I happen to love it...I have nothing bad at all to say about the car. There are alot of differences between it and the Mazda 3..which I also happened to like. I was against the new body style as much as anyone...until I went and drove oe...looked it over very good...drove it again...checked it out some more...test drove it a 3rd time and was totally hooked...I have 6K miles on mine in about 2 months of use. (OK its not the STi but its still a 2.5i).

 

Underneath the ugly body it's a great car, all the mechanical stuff is good. It's still ugly.

Haven't actually seen an STi in person yet, but I did spend a little time at the Subaru lot looking at the new Imprezas (among others). When I first saw online photos of the '08 design, my first reaction was "yuck!" When I looked at them in person, though, I didn't think as badly about them. A bad design? No. A great design? No. They could have done better. (I'm trying to figure out how people get paid piles of cash to design yawner-looking cars.)

 

That said, I do like the 5 door cars, and I'm glad the STi is one. Plus, the STi's sheetmetal looks a little sportier/beefier, which is cool. I still say the 4 door version of the new Impreza is very bland, and I could never pay hard earned cash for a boring looking car. If I did have a wad of cash to blow on a fun play car, though, I think the STi would be a good one.

 

But, what do I know about styling and big sales? I'm still in love with the Baja and they pulled the plug on that design...

Well I found this after I posted. Very interesting to say the least...

 

http://www.subie.tv/index.php/video/new_old_impreza_and_evo_battle/

They say it handls better and has more power.I hated it when I first saw it in drive preformance.But I have seen a few around lately and I kinda like it now.But I liked the old stubbyimp wagons.lol

My brother wants to trade up from his 05 because he thinks he will get better mileage. (with the SI drive)

 

I just told him to keep off the boost and he should get WAY better than the 15 he gets now

i dont like it they are getting to close to looking like camerys and mazdas. im looking fora good deal on one of theas because its the only body style that i like.

 

Well I found this after I posted. Very interesting to say the least...

 

http://www.subie.tv/index.php/video/new_old_impreza_and_evo_battle/

 

Looks like the newer STi is geared higher, because the older STi reved a hella lot faster.

Drove the 2008 STI today!!! Too bad the sales person was in the car too. Because I drove our '07 STi to the dealer I could compair the cars back to back. How was it you ask? Well, the first thing I noticed was that the steering felt lighter than the 2007. Not "lighter", but "less forced", smoother I guess. The seats were just as bad as the old car's as well. Not all Americans live off of fast food, GIVE US RECARO SEATS!!! Acceleration felt similar to the old car on freeway on ramps and the engine fels indentical except for the lower redline (6,750-2008 vs 7K-2007) and a soft spot between 4,500 and 5,500. On our local clover leaf, the new car felt slightly more planted, and felt as if I could have gone faster than the old car, but I didn't have the chance to really see what it could do. The trans didn't feel any better or different (but ours has the OEM short shifter). Just puttering along at 5-15mph over the limit this thing felt good, if not spookly similar to the 2007, but with a mildly better ride quality. I might go back with my old man to see if we can get another, un-chapparoned test drive.

 

Also drove the new VW R32 while we were there.

I am waiting on buddy at the dealership to give me a call and I will be going to drive it as well. I don't see my dealer getting anything like a red or a blue, probably more like a white for silver but oh well. I too will post my thoughts about her as well.

I'm hoping they sell like crap so I can get one cheap on a year end close out type thing

Not the STI, but with about 850 or so miles on it, we love it. Wife's car, I got my 91 Loyale back, so I dont get to drive it much. It is the perfect size for our family (one 4 year old little girl), will pack full of groceries and still have room, and what little snow driving we have done in it, it rocks. It seems to be a very heavy car. Feels solid like an old Saab 900 in many ways.

I know change is hard in the styling dept, but face it, how many Ricky Racers are out there with the kind of money Suabru wants verus a two income small family. They are moving in the direction that will sell more cars, its called a free-market. Personally I would have bought a WRX years ago if I could have gotten it WITHOUT all the wings, flares and hood scoop. I dont want to be raced by teenagers at every stoplight. I like an old fashioned sleeper. All the go and no show.

 

Said it before, and I'll say it again...I'm really diggin' the looks of the new Impreza!

Man, they give tickets like crazy here if you park against the curb like the Lexus RX did.

 

I like the color of it man. I would drive the thing for the next 20 years.

I am sooo happy to see someone else get one and love it too... I have 7500 miles on mine..bought it in November..and LOVE the car..best money I ever spent.And I find them to be GORGOUS in person.

 

I'd sure love to have one of those pocket rockets:slobber: but ya gonna need LOTS of cash to enjoy that babe. Let's see....17-23 mpg of premium fuel...likely lower mileage than that if you're turbo-boost happy.

With gas currently over $3 per gallon, and the gas price most likely to top $5:eek: or even $6:eek: over the next couple of years as petroleum prices go through the roof, runniing an STI could easily be as much of a money drain as a cocaine habit.

Let's see....17-23 mpg of premium fuel...likely lower mileage than that if you're turbo-boost happy.

 

I know that some of the guys over on NASIOC with accessports were running tunes specially for maximizing fuel economy, and some of the numbers that they were getting were pretty surprising. I remember that one guy with an extremely conservative tune on a 2.0 WRX was claiming 36-40 mpg.

I wonder if Allied has made a lift kit for the '07/08s yet?