Otto-Mate

After nearly 5 months with my MY03 STi I am pretty down about my purchase.

Before the STi I had a standard UK MY99 turbo for 3 years. The old car was glorious and I have missed it more and more the longer I have driven the STi.

The worst issues for me have been the sorry lack of torque at low revs and the six-speed gear box. This leaves the car with two modes, “full-on” or “dead”. The car is undoubtedly very capable in full-on mode, but you can’t drive everywhere like that unless you live on a track. In “dead” mode it just annoys me.

The teeth-loosing suspension is so hard, that even at sub 20mph around town it’s painful when it hits anything larger than a twig on the road.

The constant “drone” coming from the rear of the car is shocking too. The dealer did swap my 18” wheels back to 17” standard ones which helps reduce the noise an awful lot, but the amount of transmitted road noise, due to the lack of sound proofing is terrible. The car has also just been booked in for the rear struts to be replaced again after the rattles in the rear have come back.

The sound from the flat-4 inside the car is nowhere near as nice as the old car either. I have a back box on and the burble is there when listening from outside the car, but sitting in it you just hear a strange whine as the revs build. The attention the car gets from the Police (it’s a lot less subtle than the old car) and the 85 miles I out of every 20 quid have added to my difficulties living with the car.

Today at the suggestion of my (excellent) dealer, I drove a 2006 WRX, and all I can say is it was a revelation! The 2.5L WRX is much more like my old car, and far better to drive than my STi. It’s fast enough for anyone, has a much better quality ride, no droning and most importantly has bags more low-down-torque, making it easy to drive off boost.

Alas I don’t want to spend X thousands down-grading from an STi to a WRX (admittedly a much newer one) and I’m not sure I could warm to the looks of the new car either.

Maybe it’s all the onset of old age as I approach the big 4-0, but the car is just too “hard-core” for me. So I’ve pretty much decided I am going to sell my STi. I so wanted to love it, but I just can’t

M.

MattW

Get PPP, that'll sort out the driveability issues, maybe then invest in some new suspension. Bingo smiles again.

alloy

I also did find after my remap the car had a much useable power band. It drove much smoothly off boost and pulled better on boost.

The Chief

[quote=Otto-Mate]After nearly 5 months with my MY03 STi I am pretty down about my purchase.

Before the STi I had a standard UK MY99 turbo for 3 years. The old car was glorious and I have missed it more and more the longer I have driven the STi.

quote]


I'll swap you for my mint 99 Classic

Gear Head

iTrader: (2)

Those extra 250kg make a difference don't they!
Long live the classic!

106rallye

you can always swap with me i have a great rover 400 at the moment with wood trim and everything

Hope you find a good comprimise, as suggested maybe PPP and suspension might help, at least see if you can get a drive in one before splashing the cash to see if you prefer

Andy

Sport160

Have you tried an equivilent age WRX instead of STI.

Maybe a MY03 WRX (or WRX PPP) would suit you better than an STI, I would have though you could change down to one of the above without spending loads of cash.

pauld37

85 miles out of Ł20?????? you must be driving it "full on" all the time, maybe try the "dead" mode a bit more

Elmer Fudpucker

I can sympathise with you,I had 2 classics before changing to an 03 STi PPP and I hated everything about it with a passion.

....When i first brought it home I remember calling its previous owner and wailing on to him about how much I didn't like it lol

Talizman said''give it a while it'll take some adapting to after a classic''

but I could never adapt to it,the sea-sick suspension,knocking rear shockers,constant flat battery,woeful 4-5-6 gearbox spacings and the poncey blue colour

I chopped it in after 8 months for a brand spankers 05Sti with PPP and still hate the odd gearbox spacing

Jon

edit-don't let old age worry ya',I'm 44

scoobyvsm3

ive never heard such a load of rubbish in my life
"the suspension is to hard"
"its to nosiy"
"the mpg is pants"
moan moan moan
"it looks to in your face" [did u not see it b4 u bought it in the 1st place??]

i mean what an earth did you expect they are all of the above.
but thats what they are all about a great fun ,raw ,fast [ish] big boys toy.
if you wanted something fairy why not go for a "ive done my breeding and now im waiting to die" vectra or mondeo or really push the boat out and get a kia sedona


but got to agree scoobs are pretty crap but they do put a every time you give them some right foot

Kuro

Go buy a 350Z - you know you wanna

Woody1

You sold an 03 STi PPP because you hated it so bought an 05 STi PPP ??

If I hated mine, I certainly wouldn't go and buy a newer one !!!!!

I hardly use mine at the moment, so appreciate it more now.

wrc350bhp

you are forgetting the extra bhp on standard internals 437 from wrc,

Scooby Dan

PPP, or as your car is getting towards the end of warranty a Tek 3 remap will completely transform the car. The power and torque will come in at much lower speeds making the car much easier to drive and much faster. I agree with your comments about the box but once the car is mapped you wont need to use it half as much The standard STI is a bit of an all or nothing car as the torque is produced at quite high revs. As for the suspension, I found Prodrive springs and a four wheel alignment improved both the handling and the comfort and that was on 18's. Don't give up on it just yet as spending about 2k on it really will transform it and you would probably lose more than 2k if you sold it.

filfy

Cut your losses and get back in a classic We all live and learn

Castrol

After 7 months with our 05 STi UK PPP, my Wife and I still love it. Best of the 7 Scoobs we've owned since April '94.

ninjacost

What tyre you running ?If you have reo70's on change them difference in ride quality is amazing ,i'm 41 by the way and love my hardcore spec c so don't give up on the scoob

wrxmania

Second part true - first part total p*sh

Otto-Mate

Thanks for the replies guys, good to hear similar and not so similar views

M.

bluenosewrx

iTrader: (2)

I have one.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...x/P1010728.jpg

Nice car although i would swap it tommorow for a Black MY04 or above STi, nothing compares to my old scoob.IMO

Mac

hedgehog

I've got to say that I agree with your sentiments, if not your exact reasoning. I had quite an early 03 STi and so lots of people (specially those awaiting delivery) were asking me what I thought and when I reported that it was OK but that the handling was, basically, pretty crap I think they thought I was trying to rain on their parade. To be honest I find the car fairly drivable and am not greatly concerned with some of the problems you report, though agree that the ride is a bit less compliant than it need be, but comparted to the MY99 it just isn't fun to drive once you get it out on to a small road with real world twists, turns and bumps. There is also no question that it can offer reasonable levels of grip but what it doesn't offer is handling and, therefore, fun.

In saying that it isn't an awful car and because of the driving I've been doing in the last 3 years I haven't had a big problem with keeping it. What I do know for sure is that my MY99 was a much better drivers car and I believe that the STi has a fundamental handling flaw which Subaru have struggled to hide with frequent suspension "tweaks."

As you say, when you factor in <10mpg economy when driving it or maybe 20ish when being careful it doesn't really offer a lot of fun for the cash. I wonder how long it will be before a good MY99 is worth more than our 03 STi? In driving terms the MY99 is already miles ahead of the STi. Now that my circumstances are changing again I might hack mine in for a TDI Golf or something similar and then look round for a good MY99 to buy as a fun car.

Otto-Mate

That's an idea I've toyed with too, cheap run around and a TVR or something. But part of the reason for loving the old car was its practicality that meant it put a smile on my face *every*journey, not just the occasional dry Sunday etc.

Maybe I'll take the wife's oil burner...
http://www.larchview.com/gallery/sti/scooby10
..buy a cloth cap and tune the radio to wogan, and buy her a mini.



M.

Stephen Pope

You must be going senile (no spell check) in your old age mate!! I used to have an MY98 UK turbo which I recently sold and then bought a MY04 STI with TSL 333, 18's, prodrve springs, front & rear strut braces and fast road geometry set up. The car is an absolute pleasure to drive and I cannot faultt it in anyway. As was suggested above, you could iron out some of your complaints by throwing a bit of money at it. You are probably remembering the good parts of your classic and forgetting the bad parts (chavs car, getting old, rust, probably highish mileage.) It is a bit like moving jobs - 'my old boss was notthat bad' - yeah right always a w@nk!!! The STI IS a far superior car to the new chav mobile!!! Get the flamesuit out!!! Good luck!!!

scooby-tc

iTrader: (2)

Ive always fancied the thought of ditching my STi Type r in favour of a newer sti

are they really as bad as people make them out to be?

scoobfan

And again i think it just goes to show what a truely fabulous
car the classic is, you feel so much more connected.

Long live the classic !!

Rob

hedgehog

They are not a truly awful car, far from it. However, because they handle so badly they are far from being the fun car the previous models were and so many are not keen on them. If you look at Stephen's message above for example you can see that he has had to make significant modifications to his and while I don't dispute that his is great to drive I suspect that the modifications are papering over the cracks of a chassis that is fundamentally flawed.

Drivers who have come from previous Subarus certainly seem, in general, to be disappointed by the new age STi and while people aren't always willing to admit it there have certainly been a lot of people who have expressed similar opinions on here. One person, who also expressed the same view in open discussion, sent me a PM to say that he agreed with me and that in his view his STi handled like "a pig." The handling is certainly far from what is necessary for you to have fun on the public roads, especially bumpy, twisty real roads where the old shape car excelled. On a track where there is lots of room and where the handling and feel are not so critical as a spin is unlikely to be fatal then the STi might be quite respectable as it has reasonable grip and performance. On the public roads it is a car to drive with the utmost care and the opportunities for fun are few and far between unlike in the MY99 where you could be having fun on nearly any road you travelled. As i've said before: when you were sideways in the MY99 you were having fun and in control, when you are sideways in a new age STi you are having an accident.

Spoon

Stephen, you must be the one going senile posting that garbage.
Your car is hardly like for like is it?

THOMO

its like driving in a shopping trolley OTTO i agree .thats why i bought a evo 7 which is even worse .what fun at the weekends lol

Little Miss WRX

With the MY06 you sit behind the wheel so the looks don't matter and it looks like a mean Liberty. The looks grow on you believe me and imho they look best in black.

The 2.5 is so driveable around town, sweet FA lag compared to the older models.

Handling etc is good but not superb, overall package is very impressive and is a great opening card on sales calls.

sammyh

iTrader: (1)

I don't know where you go that from but the new age handling is far superior to the classic, I own both as I put a classic through my company to keep the miles down my new age but I find myself driving the new age more oftehn than not