Well we've run the car in after 3 weekends of leisurely sub 4k cruising and I've got a progress report..
The Good:
It's a fairly quiet motorway steed..running PZero neros' on the 18" PFF7's.
It's certainly got more oomph than a 225bhp S3 below 4k.
Brakes are super, nice feel, stop well
Likes to go around corners
The middle:
Quickrack steering is fun, smaller wheel is good..but still a bigger unit than ideal ('ikkle Nardi wheel on old car much better)
Suretrac is still very odd when it kicks in..basically same as torquesteer, luckily it's only happened on constant radius large commitment corners so far..hope it doesn't happen on bumpy B roads
Stereo is tinny.
Gutless..untill about 3.5krpm when it starts to kick in first 4 gears..then 5th and 6th feel like overdrive...nothing below 4k :(
Gearbox is notchy.
The ugly:
Damn interior trim rattling already [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]
The scoop!
The solution?
PPP on order.
Overal I really like the car...but if I was forced to own only one car I'd stick with a 'classic' STI. I still feel the RA is the ultimate drivers* incarnation (and the 22 for poseur/drivers like myself ;) )
* Driver = me/wife and all IMHO.
I'm writing this without experience of the MY03 type C RA thingy version...which is probably amazing... if a S203(?) is produced I will do my best to get a testdrive..that may be the 22B killer.
Chuck

pmsl :D I should hope so :)

nice read :) surely the build quality is better than the "classics" though?:confused:

Interesting comments Chuck.

For my part, I've done about 1750 miles in the last four weeks, having had the car PPP'd after the first service, and my opinion would vary to yours.

I've been pleased with the handling, interior build quality (not a single rattle so far), the ride and pretty much everything else to this point.

I felt the pickup and acceleration were pretty good whilst I was running it in, although admittedly there isn't that much un 3,500, but what do you expect from a VVT engine? All in all though I was very impressed, and it made the transition from the P1 much easier.

On the down side, I'm not quite as comfortable in the seats, but as my bulk softens them up, that's improving, and there's the subject of the stereo, which I think may be down to naff speakers as much as anything, but we'll investigate.

Finally, on the subject of the diffs, I too am still comming to terms with them. However, I feel reasonably comfortable with the change (yup, does feel like torquesteer), and I'm finding myself applying the power differently in order to use the diff to pull me through corners, when I was initially trying to avoid it locking up.

I do feel that you need to find somewhere quiet, and slippery, to find out exactly how it reacts, as I wouldn't feel comfortable doing that on the roads.

Josh