I had an 09 STI and I can speak to removing the BPV. I did that and didn't notice a difference. I changed it to a proper CAI and that's when the sound came. No performance impact though on my stage 2 cobb tune. Never did get it "protuned".

I had an nVidia downpipe and a Magnaflow cat back and imo, that's the best sounding combo on the hatches that I ever heard. I had tears when the guy that bought it drove it away from my house as I'd never heard it and not been in the car. I never should have sold that car and will probably never get the same feeling from a car ever again.

Does anyone else have a "one that got away" story? I don't get excited about buying my next car as nothing can ever duplicate that feeling.

 

28 years ago, I bought a brand new 1992 240SX Coupe 5MT that I've always regretted trading in on a Maxima back in 1999. It wasn't terribly fast, and wasn't modified to handle any better than stock... it was a simple car.

But I loved that little Nissan, and still regret the decision.

 

That's an interesting story. I had the same feeling when my first Subaru drove away with a Stromung exhaust. Man did that car sound good. It was fast too with a built race motor and nitrous.




In other car news, I just read an article about the new Mustang that is supposed to be a Hybrid V8 with AWD and debut about the same time as the next STI in 2022. It should be fast, but that thing has got to be heavy.

https://carbuzz.com/news/next-genera...now-a-priority

 

Interesting. From the article: Power will be sent to the rear wheels, though all-wheel drive will be present. How so? A pair of electric motors will be placed at each side of the engine, meaning electrical power assist will be sent to the front axle.

I'm not sure how I feel about an AWD Mustang, kinda takes the fun out of going sideways

 

The article made it sound like the front motors would only kick on when necessary for traction. Maybe it will be like the M5 and possibly the new M3 where you have 2wd and 4wd modes.

 

The A7 is a BOAT sorry YACHT but the sportback design Audi has going for them is great for practicality. If only the A5 sportback was just a tad bit bigger it would be awesome. RS6 Avant.....All I want.

 

1988 MR2. Only sold it because it was stolen, and when recovered, it was in bad shape.

Also kinda my 89 RX7 turbo convertible. They didn't come turbo in the US and that one had a lot of work in it. Watching it roll away and realizing that I don't have ANY rotary cars anymore damaged my usually cherubic demeanor.

 

I've been thinking about this a lot and I believe the car that I really missed getting rid of was my '09 STI. I think my combination of fawning after a GTI as a kid and watching rally racing made me really want a turbo, AWD, hatchback. That car was so versatile with AWD in the winter, fold down seats for my mountain bike or anything else, and really capable at the track with not nearly the same huge amount of money spent on mods as the WRX and the 2.5RS. I think the next year was the year they got black suede inserts in the seats that I thought looked really cool. About 5 years ago I stumbled on a used one and had fond memories of the car, but now the interior looks very cheap and full of hard plastic. Amazing how opinions change over time, but it was still a great car.

 

Cherubic? Wow. I did not see that one coming.

 

I'm happier now that I'm not doing family law. I know I'm not great at self-monitoring (hello, ADD!) but I thought I was generally nice on the forum. Sometimes brusque but that's more an attention span/doing 12 things at once thing.

I'd had rotary cars, of some sort, since 1993 or so, even if not my daily. Now I have none - it was kind of a blow to my self-identity.

It's OK - I have a 400+ HP rotormotor in my garage that will be used in something worthy someday.

 

Funny that we both had the same year STI and both miss it the most. You're bang-on about it being a car to do everything. Mine had the Alcantara seats and I bought a D-shape Alcantara steering wheel to match. I had the "base" model like you so no sunroof or fog lights to add extra weight either. I also had a custom 11.5:1 steering rack which is pretty much why I can't just build the same car today, otherwise, I might try. I have the guy who bought it on Facebook and have been following him/the car for years now. The engine blew at around 160k/km and he's since rebuilt it completely with a front mount and bigger turbo.


Plate reads 2WD FTL (2 wheel drive for the loss). I have it on my AWD G but it doesn't make the same statement.

 

Didn't mean to make y'all get teary eyed with nostalgia!

It's just a WRX but it's so fun. I imagine it's similar to the feeling 6MT G37 owners have. I actually managed to track down the original owner and he was a tech at a Mercedes dealership which explains the maintenance history. He was kind enough to give me a run down of everything he did and the tuner he used. I was very pleased to hear he did a custom e-tune vs. a Cobb OTS tune.

Shifter bushings were replaced and a STS is installed; engine mounts and transmission mount was also upgraded. I've been reading up this last week and there is just so much information it's sickening. 06+ has a catless UP so that's good to know. I don't have to worry about the turbo getting destroyed. I'll probably upgrade the rear sub frame bushings and differential bushings in order to remove what remains of the drive train slop since that's what kills the 5 MT when doing launches (not that I am but I do drive spiritedly). It's weird -- the 5 MT is no where as robust as the 6MT, and has a deserved bad rap, but there's guys with 300-310 WHP and similar wtq running through the '08+ 5MT transmission for years without issues. After combing through tons of threads, it seems like they've come a long way since the early 2000s. Pending how I still feel about it after a few years and how far I decide to mod it, I'll do the STi drive train swap.

Like you said 4DRZ, the big issues are the head gasket and ring lands. Seems maintenance and proper tuning is the only way to prevent those issues; along with tuning when you need to (see CAIs without tune = running lean). Luckily, the fellow who tuned my G also tunes Subies so I'll be consulting with him. IAG has short blocks rated for 575bhp for around $3,500. Again, pending how far I decide to take it, the options are there to do an in depth build. My current plans are to go 300whp/300wtq with the WRX and use as a weekend / fun car; while using the G for another 3 years as the DD. At that point, the G will be my trade in and the WRX will take over DD duties.

 

The alcantara steering wheel sounds nice. My car had really powerful PIAA lights that could actually switch from fog to driving lights with a button. They were awesome and could probably melt the paint off of the bumper of the car in front of me. If you look close you will see that in their place for track days I would install tear shaped fiberglass air inlets for the brake ducts.

Am I reading your profile right that you are from Ontario? My red STI actually made the long trek up to your neck of the woods for a track day at Mosport that a friend of mine was hosting. It was a blast, but I had to be a bit careful with all the concrete walls and a long tow home if I smashed anything up.

The guy who got the car after me blew the turbo up and then the engine. I only found out because the service manager recognized the car and called me up to ask what modifications I had done to it. That guy must have really cranked up the boost to blow the turbo and then the engine.

Nice plate. Mine was STAY TND (stay tuned) because the car was tuned and it was always being upgraded to something better.

I totally forgot that the newer WRX's got rid of the cat in the up pipe. Whoops! I guess I have been away from working on Subarus for too long. Did '13 WRX's have issues with ring lands too? I thought that was just the STI. Maybe not.

I like your plan. The 575bhp short block sounds tempting, but it will be a lot more expensive once you realize all the other parts you will break and need to replace.

 

I don't think it's as prevalent since they use different pistons. I believe a lot of those engine pops are due to guys running CAIs without tunes and skimping on maintenance with a sprinkle of bad tunes (see. self tuned & cheap tune). The WRX's main weak point is the 5 speed. As I mentioned, that info is such a hit or miss though since it appears a lot of failures could be driver error and YOLO launches.

I may do the STi swap regardless if the 5 seed ever goes. Replacement 5 MT gears sets stronger than OEM exist that you can swap in but at $3-5k (before install), it doesn't make sense when a STi trans and driveline swap is $5k before install fees (it seems very straight forward of a swap though, so I'd do it myself).

Going right to the STi would've been great but there was not one example within 100 miles of me that was anywhere near what I was looking to spend with the mileage and in wagon/hatch form. The condition of the car and maintenance records was also a big selling point for me. I'll post some pics today if the rain lets up.

The WRX/STi community reminds me a lot of this one. You have the weathered vets of the platform who have built their cars over the course of 10+ years and have done countless hours of research. They've consolidated that research and have made very detailed FAQs. Then, you have them interacting with younger individuals who are new to the platform that come in and put up threads saying, "Hey, just picked up a 20XX, XXX, I don't have time to read all this so how do I make 400whp, and retain reliability? My budget is $79.00." Makes for interesting exchanges...These new comers are probably the same individuals who make the boxer seem as finicky as a RENESIS...Reminds me a lot of when I see guys asking about exhaust and suspension set-ups when there are literally hundreds of pages describing each option. If you don't want to read that much, skip to the last 10 pages and see what's relevant. Seems pretty simple to me.

Anyway, if there are any G37 owners looking for a replacement car who desire the raw driving experience while retaining everyday use without touchscreens and what not, I highly recommend giving the Subaru a look. They have a stigma due to the owners but what community doesn't? Also, there's a bit of a learning curve given the boxer nomenclature but once you watch a video or two you realize they're not bad at all to work on. The big thing with them is maintenance, mod planning and tune, tune, tune. Very different compared to our G37 where we can throw on mods as we go and tune when we can. You do that with that car and your motor will pop.

 

My budget is $79. That made me LOL.