Pros: Sports car speed, braking, and handling. Sure-footed all wheel drive. Practical family car.
Cons: Ugly. No clock. Rear seat cramped for 3 adults.
The Bottom Line: A terrific car for someone who wants a practical, all season car that is also a lot of fun to drive.
At just over $30k, it's a real bargain.
We've had an old Subaru Loyale station wagon for many years and 187,000 hard miles. It's still running, but we decided it was time for a new car. Because of our good experience with our Subaru wagon, we decided on another Subaru. I wanted something with a bit of power and good handling. We needed a car that would seat five people, and has all wheel drive to handle snow.
We ended up purchasing a 2005 WRX STI. I'd looked at the STI in 2004, but had held off. The 2005 model has a slightly more compliant suspension, an improved differential, and comes standard with a 6 cd stereo, which was a 600 dollar option for the 2004 model.
The car is a lot of fun to drive. The engine is very responsive, and has a surprising amount of mid range power and torque for a small 4 cylinder engine. I had not driven a high-performance turbo-charged car before, and I was expecting to experience “turbo lag.” This car doesn’t really have turbo lag, as the car pulls pretty hard even down low in the rpm range. What you really notice isn’t the lag, but rather the boost that comes on starting at around 3400 rpm. When you mash the accelerator down, and the turbos kick in, the car really takes off and you soon realize that this car is downright quick.
The other noteworthy thing about this engine is how quickly and effortlessly it revs. During the 1000 mile break in period, you are supposed to keep the engine rpm below 4000. This was very difficult to do, as the engine is so responsive that it kicks up to 5000 almost instantly. Subaru likes to tout the benefits of its horizontally opposed “boxer” engine design, and given the very quick response of this engine, I’d say that I believe their hype.
The STI has a close ratio six speed. This allows you to keep the engine revving in the sweet spot as you accelerate, but the close ratio and fast revving engine means that you do a lot of very quick “rowing” through the gears any time you take off from a stop light. The close ratio gearing and responsive engine also make it a little more challenging to drive this car smoothly compared with a car with more widely spaced gearing. After 1200 miles, I’m still working on my shifting and pedal technique. Don’t take me wrong here. The STI isn’t difficult to drive. It’s just that it takes a bit of practice to learn to drive the car well.
Handling is very responsive, and the car hugs the curves like a sports car. The car is deceptively fast, with excellent high speed handling. I often look down at the speedometer and am surprised at how fast I am going. Recently, I drove the car on some very twisty mountain roads at quite high speeds. The car corners extremely well, and deals with tight corners and high speeds with no drama. The balance is very good, and the stock chassis and suspension settings are excellent right from the factory.
The brakes are outstanding. They really haul the car down in a hurry. I haven’t taken the car to the track (yet) so I can’t really say how they will stand up to constant heavy braking, but under spirited road driving I have not had any issues with fade. I can’t imagine that anyone would need better brakes than these for driving on the street.
Ride quality is a little bit on the harsh side, but it's certainly not uncomfortable. You can definitely feel the bumps in the road, but they don't unsettle the car. The STI has a very good feel for the road and you get good feedback from the suspension when you are cornering.
Overall, this car is a real blast to drive. I've driven it on dry and wet pavement, on dirt, mud, and snow. It handles all conditions very well. I live at the end of a mile and a half of dirt road, and the area surounding my home is all dirt roads. Because of this, I’ve had ample opportunity already to test the car’s performance on various combinations of dirt, gravel, mud, and snow. As might be expected given the STI’s rally heritage, the car is a terrific performer on these loose surfaces. The traction control does a nice job of aiding you when driving in the dirt, and it helps you drive to a much higher level than you otherwise could do. I can drive the same roads much much faster in the STI than I could in the 4 wheel drive Loyale. Take a corner just a little too fast, and the computer steps in and keeps you pointed where you want to go. If you’ve ever watched the WRC rally competition and thought it looked like fun, then you will probably find that the STI is really fun to drive on loose surfaces. However, I would recommend buying some aftermarket mudflaps to keep from blasting your paint with stones and dirt. I bought some RallyArmor flaps for about $90 which work well. They took me a little under 2 hours to install.
I’ve played a bit with the driver controlled center differential. At first, I couldn’t figure out what it was good for, and left the DCCD on automatic. After some experimentation, I’ve decided that for driving on loose surfaces, the DCCD is quite useful. For driving in deep snow, I move it to the full lock position. In this position, the STI feels like our Suburban in 4FD Low setting, or our Subaru Loyale wagon in 4WD. When locked, the drivetrain is feeding power to the wheels regardless of whether the wheels are spinning or not. Like an off road vehicle with a “locker” differential, this is great for ploughing through heavy snow or thick mud. For aggressive driving on loose surfaces, I like the DCCD set at about two thirds of the way toward full lock. This gives some limited slip capability, but still allows for some pretty aggressive wheel spin before the limited slip function of the DCCD kicks in. This setting is good for taking fast corners on gravel, when some slipping is inevitable (and beneficial.) For driving on paved surfaces, however, I prefer the auto setting. I haven’t found a manual DCCD setting that gives better control on pavement than the computer provides.
Before you drive the car on snow, ice, or slush, you will need to replace the oem summer tires with a set of proper all season tires. The stock tires are great on pavement, but are useless in the snow. I’m currently using Toyo Proxes 4 all season tires. So far, I really like them. They are adequate in the snow and very good on pavement. They seem to be an excellent compromise for an all-around tire.
Seating is very comfortable up front, and adequate for the rear. The front seats don’t have the lateral support of a racing style bucket design, but they are a very nice compromise between support and comfort. Lower back support is particularly good. The rear seat will hold 2 adults comfortably, so long at they don't have really long legs. 3 kids fit very well in the rear seat. One ergonomic feature I wish that the STI had is adjustable pedals. I have a relatively long torso, and shorter arms and legs. Between the adjustable seat and adjustable height steering wheel, I can get an ALMOST perfect driving position. With adjustable pedals it could be perfect. For those who do a lot of “heel and toe” downshifting, the pedals are a bit too widely spaced for easy heel and toe-ing. I don’t mind this, however, as this car is my daily driver, and it’s nice to be able to easily move back and forth between the gas pedal and brake without worrying that my shoes are too big and clunky.
The trunk is pretty spacious, and will hold a bunch of groceries, or bags for a vacation road trip. For extra capacity, we have added a Thule roof rack and purchased a Thule case to hold skis, etc. Although the STI’s roof dimensions are 3 inches shorter than Thule’s recommended minimum length for optimum installation, we’ve had no problems so far with our Thule rack and case when used on our STI. The day after the roof rack install, we loaded the case with ski gear and drove to the ski resort, (hitting speeds of over 90mph with no ill effect) so it seems that the Thule rack system is compatible with the STI in spite of the manufacturer’s recommendations.
The STI has some interesting features on it, some of which I wasn't aware of before we bought the car. in addition to standard high-beams, the regular headlights are adjustable in angle, so you can point them higher for longer visibility, or lower to avoid shining them in oncoming drivers' eyes. This feature is also handy for driving in fog, where pointing them down as far as they go improves vision. The car also has a turbo intercooler spray, which sprays water at the push of a button, to cool the turbos during intense driving when heat build up might be a problem. I haven't had the need to use this particular feature yet, but can see that it might come in useful in the hot summer months.
Fit and finish on the car is very good. The interior is somewhat Spartan, but functional. This is not a luxury sedan by any means, but it has an appealing, no-nonsense feel to it. The stereo is decent, and the gauge cluster is nicely laid out. I do wish that there was a clock in the car. I'm used to having a clock, and am surprised that the radio doesn't have a time display. Another oddity is that there is no oil pressure gauge. I have the accessory gauge pack option, which provides oil temperature, turbo boost, and voltage, but no oil pressure. I think I’d rather forgo the voltage meter in favor of an oil pressure gauge. Another minor complaint is that the key fob which locks and unlocks the doors is very sensitive. It will sometimes lock and unlock the doors and set off the panic alarm when the fob is in your pants pocket, just from the pressure exerted on the fob buttons by walking around. The panic alarm thing is a bit annoying, and it’s happened twice so far.
The epinions quality ratings equate quality with a "dead quiet ride." The STI is a little louder than some other more luxury oriented passenger cars. This is how the car was designed however, and is not indicative of lack of quality. My rating for reliability is based on my experience with my other Subaru, and the reputation of Subarus in general, as I haven't had this car long enough to form a real opinion on reliability of this particular car.
Overall, this is a terrific car and it is a lot of fun to drive. It certainly isn't a very beautiful car. It's kind of a boxy machine, and the big rear wing and hood scoop look kind of silly. However, it gives you the performance of a true sports car with the practicality of a family sedan. Owning this car has actually made me look forward to driving the kids to school in the morning. That's quite an accomplishment.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 32,500
Condition: New Model Year: 2005 Model and Options: STI Model
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2008 Shopping.com, Inc.