I went toe to toe with an sti earlier today on the highway, guess who won..

[herox]

The BRZ in the test was running touring tires vs the Si running summer performance tires.

The limited edition BRZ tS that includes Brembo brakes, upgraded suspension, STI wheels, and Michelin Pilot Sport 4 was 0.6 seconds faster than the SI. That's a win for the SI in my book.

https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a23289463/2018-subaru-brz-ts-lightning-lap-2018/

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[jakdotdot]

If your talking about that STi that wing is stock. Comes on that RA Spec only.

I am aware it comes that way from the factory. I was simply pointing out it looks like an aftermarket wing. Well, it basically is but it just happens to come on the car from the factory.

 

[BoostedSiCoupe]

I own both.
It’s apples to oranges really...

My Si is such a better daily driver, comfortable, 35MPG, fun to toss around, I drive it 95% if the time.

My STI is raw, there’s no comparison.. it’s the most raw oldschool car available.
It’s very inefficient and gets 15mpg, but absolutely everything is mechanical and i’d never trade that car.
It spins the rear tires with ease, the boost is abrupt, the sound is amazing, and the short ratio hydraulic steering is unmatched with today’s electronic systems.
My STI has 408whp on pump gas, and it keeps up bumper to bumper with my friend’s tuned E63 AMG even at high speeds.
Amazing car, imo it was designed to be built.
The Si was designed to be a sensible fun daily.

thats a hot sti. love the blue theyre like an exact match

 

[charleswrivers]

I despised FWD as a platform most of my life. As much as I enjoyed the RSX... I could definitely corner quick enough to where understeer was reached and I had to lift to get it to turn. Maybe it's the years... maturity... responsibility... or the car (or a ) but I haven't managed to encounter understeer in the Civic yet. I'm sure a LSD and better wider, lower profile tires doesn't hurt.

One thing I'll saw for RWD... whether it's shown to be better handling by any instrumented test... my subjective assessment is they're more fun to drive fast... and I'd rather kick the rear end out to navigate a corner than lift to navigate the same corner. I know my old Z did a substantially lower skidpad than the Civic. Much of that is from early 90's tires and the wheel choice of the day vs what modern cars wear. In adverse weather, I'd pick a FWD over a RWD any day as a DD however. Even with me dropping my boost down to the minimum, where it's just whatever spring pressure the wastegates do... (something like 6 or 7 lbs... or about 1/2 what I normally run) the damn thing is treacherous.

The Z, to me, is simply a more rewarding platform to drive hard in good weather... and something I avoid driving like my life depends on it if the roads will be wet... because it does.

I've never owned a all-time AWD car. For the places I've lived and my driving style, other than my few years in upstate NY, the only major benefit weighed in my purchasing decision was much better off-the-line acceleration for FWD... and more idiot proof acceleration than RWD. When you launch an old RWD car perfectly with no modern electronic aids... you feel like a hero. But... instrumented tests on a prepped track are rarely what a RWD car can do on the street... whereas AWDs tend to still shine pretty well off the line on regular roads. The 5.0 Mustangs put down some great 0-60s and 1/4 miles... but for just a quick blast coming from a stop light... I doubt you'd come close to matching the 4-second 0-60s they do on a prepped surface. I watched a video recently that put a modern 5.0 vs one of those AWD turbo Kia/Hyundai cars folks have been talking up (I think it was the Stinger). They did the comparo on an unprepped track that was equivalent to the street and the Mustang didn't do so hot and couldn't keep up. On a prepped track, it crushed the Kia.

The extra weight for the platform and additional drivetrain losses are downsides I've never put it over the top for me. I still wouldn't mind a inexpensive, well-used WRX as an occasional toy one of these days though...

 

[Vilex]

I did. 3rd gear at 60 mph, shoved the pedal to the floor. he did the same--but literally just took off like nothing. now, as others have mentioned, he was probably heavily modded and tuned, as his exhaust was loud AF and he was lowered. i dont even know what generation STi it was because i am not familiar with them, but the car looked fairly new.

keep in mind, currently my only mod is my mishimoto intake and acuity shifter upgrades. i was tuned on FP with the +6 map but ended up selling it (which i regretted). if i was still flashed it probably wouldnt have been as one sided, but of course i still would have lost.

weird thing is, just a few weeks before a dodge charger sedan provoked me on the highway too; however, i mostly kept up with him. it looked like a special edition model.

Ahhh wow lol. I was a little shocked. a newer gen wrx provoked me last week, and it seemed to be stock. I heard him downshift to try to do a flyby on me and I downshifted too and pulled away from him pretty good. I'm only on tsp stage 1 and PRL intake, with other little mods like acuity shifter stuff as well, and a cdv delete which doesn't make much of a difference but at least the clutch feels 100% better now.

 

[MutatedMango]

strange that our si's handle better in corners based on what many have said in this thread. i always thought that awd is the best for high speed corner handling.

I guess because it's a bunch lighter and we have adjustable dampers

 

[jakdotdot]

Also want to point out that these front wheel drive civics in the twisties can do a thing called understeer, that’s when you’re pushing it through the twisties and the car doesn’t actually turn and instead goes straight ahead, and you find yourself off the road or even getting airborne, don’t ask me how I know. So while the rear wheel drive vehicles can oversteer and fishtail, a front wheel drive isn’t exactly on rails like an AWD.

Are you implying that RWD and AWD cars are incapable of understeer?

 

[amirza786]

Are you implying that RWD and AWD cars are incapable of understeer?

I can't speak for awd, but rwd cars are prone to oversteer due to the rear wheels excessive sliding due to traction loss

 

[vandy]

I own both.
It’s apples to oranges really...

My Si is such a better daily driver, comfortable, 35MPG, fun to toss around, I drive it 95% if the time.

My STI is raw, there’s no comparison.. it’s the most raw oldschool car available.
It’s very inefficient and gets 15mpg, but absolutely everything is mechanical and i’d never trade that car.
It spins the rear tires with ease, the boost is abrupt, the sound is amazing, and the short ratio hydraulic steering is unmatched with today’s electronic systems.
My STI has 408whp on pump gas, and it keeps up bumper to bumper with my friend’s tuned E63 AMG even at high speeds.
Amazing car, imo it was designed to be built.
The Si was designed to be a sensible fun daily.

Haha. I feel like my man reiterated what I said, then one-upped me by posting a pic of his whips to prove it. Respect!

 

[Yal]

Just a note for the STi wing haters, you can get it with a lip spoiler instead. I drove a BRZ daily for two years. Once I added some sound deadening, it was a great car, especially with sticky tires. Like the Si, don’t put all seasons on a “performance” vehicle. The BRZ was massively predictable in a corner under throttle and went right were i wanted it to. But then, I like small, rwd cars because that’s what I drive best. Styling is subjective, but paper racing cars you’ve only test driven is silly. Drive it for a couple years and I’ll listen to your opinion.

 

[amirza786]

Thought I would post this article from Forbes which in summary says The WRX STi is on their 10 cars to avoid list: https://www.torquenews.com/1084/subaru-wrx-sti-makes-10-cars-you-should-avoid-buying-list

 

[saz468]

Thought I would post this article from Forbes which in summary says The WRX STi is on their 10 cars to avoid list: https://www.torquenews.com/1084/subaru-wrx-sti-makes-10-cars-you-should-avoid-buying-list

That’s good that they give the SI and the type R a thumbs up I did notice dodge and Jeep was in the 10 worst suvs

 

[saz468]

Subaru had awd for years back in 1996 when my mustang died (200,000+) i was looking at my friends brothers 1986 Subaru XT AWD turbo he was selling at the time it was a awesome handling car I wanted it but he didn’t come down on the price. I had a crappie job at the time had very little money so I bought a 86 Ford excort . Is the Subaru that bad

 

[Design]

I despised FWD as a platform most of my life. As much as I enjoyed the RSX... I could definitely corner quick enough to where understeer was reached and I had to lift to get it to turn. Maybe it's the years... maturity... responsibility... or the car (or a ) but I haven't managed to encounter understeer in the Civic yet. I'm sure a LSD and better wider, lower profile tires doesn't hurt.

The tires are a big part of this equation. The Civic maintains its composure up to around 8/10 thanks to fairly stiff sidewalls. And as much as I dislike all-seasons, the Goodyears exhibit minimal sidewall flex when pushed. Once they do, you'll feel the understeer kick in a bit.

 

[charleswrivers]

The tires are a big part of this equation. The Civic maintains its composure up to around 8/10 thanks to fairly stiff sidewalls. And as much as I dislike all-seasons, the Goodyears exhibit minimal sidewall flex when pushed. Once they do, you'll feel the understeer kick in a bit.

Yeah. I had a set of 18s and a set of 16s on the RSX I ran based on the weather... 16s in the winter with some decent-for-snow ASs on them. The RSX started to understeer doing a 90 degree turn as you were nearing 35 MPH. This car just does it.

I've got the Goodyear summers on this car and they're pretty good. Nearly 15k miles and I think I've got 15k more (good) miles left in them. I'm not sure what I'll get next but I expect I'll pick another summer tires that's at least as good. I wouldn't mind having something that'd hold a little better doing WOT in 1st and 2nd but, otherwise, I've been very pleased with them and certainly wouldn't want a less capable tire. Since I live here in the SE and and drive under 10k miles/year, summer tires year 'round isn't a bad fit.

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