STI Review Roundup, Just How Awesome Is it?
- 2002 – WRX is imported to the US as the ultimate budget-rival to BMW and Audi’s dominance over the sport sedan market. Yay!
- 2003 – Subaru gives us the Baja. Sweeping wtf reaction from the masses with a passionate yay from a small, group of eccentric fans (myself included)
- 2003 – The WRX STI is introduced to compete with Mitsubishi’s coveted Evo. A resounding yay.
- 2004 – An anomylous WRX-platform sharing cousin, the Saab 9-2X is built. Yay I guess?
- 2005 – Subaru introduces the Tribeca with plans to incorporate a new pig-nosed tri-grill corporate face. Dear god no.
The list goes on: Yays when Subaru tightened up the WRX after they felt it was getting a little soft, boos when they failed to deliver on the looks to match their beautiful WRX concept, and etc. Anyway, you get the idea. I’m sure we’re all in the same boat and collectively raised an eyebrow when Subaru started claiming that the newest STI would their best yet. And through a bit of lurking and a fair bit of reading, it would appear their claims are pretty valid. Here’s a yay! to start the year.
- Road and Track – “Oversteer isn’t part of the car’s repertoire, but drive the STI the way it wants, and it at least goes neutral. And fun. And very, very quickly.”
- Carsguide.au – “The new STI is an epic drive – on road and track”
- Motor Authority – “But if track time is a priority, the STI will put a grin on your face as well as it ever could.” (Note: they didn’t like the STI as a commuter)
- Top Gear – “There are other cars that are faster, more exotic and/or more premium. But none of them offers the same offbeat combination of rally-bred performance and handling like the WRX STI. If you like your console driving games, you’ll love this car.”