1241Penguin's Garage (STI, Type R, Si)

[1241Penguin]

Hi all,

Just figured I would share some of the cars that I have in my collection. I'll start off with the one that speaks the most to my heart, my 2019 Subaru WRX STI.

​

I don’t have much of a backstory to the car buying process itself as it was fairly straightforward, but what you are seeing is a longtime dream of mine coming true. It’s difficult for me to pinpoint the exact source for my interest in the WRX STI, but there are two main items that I feel sparked my love for the car. The first was receiving a 1:43 scale Maisto Excess Tuners Subaru Impreza WRX STi from my aunt. I could never really explain why but of all the toy cars that I had (and believe me I had too many as a child), it was one that I just played with a lot more than others. Perhaps it was gold wheels that made it stand out next to all the others with silver wheels, I’m not sure, but it made me want to go on the internet and look up information and pictures of the car on the internet (this was before YouTube so hardly any videos). My parents also bought me some car books that featured the Impreza, and arguably this is where my love for the car really began to form. Moreover, getting that toy coincided neatly with my uncle gifting me a PlayStation 2 along with a copy of Gran Turismo 3, which was amongst the first of all the racing games that I owned. As with most car enthusiasts who grew up playing racing games, much of my taste in cars was dictated by what was available to me to drive in GT3, with my toy Impreza being featured in the game as one of the instantly available cars to drive in Arcade Mode. Being 7 or 8 years old at the time, most of my bonding time with the car was mostly restricted to looking at all the different Impreza WRX STi models that were available for sale in the dealership. The one that really caught my eye though, was the 22B STi. In my eyes, and as most Subaru enthusiasts will probably agree, that was just the best looking car there is, with the stunning blue paint with gold wheels, it was the stuff of dreams. I even distinctly remember grinding the Sunday Cup a few dozen times to earn enough credits to buy it, and over time, I also bought or won the Impreza Rally Cars in the game too. Whilst I did own other cars in the game, I primarily drove variants of the STI and really gained an interest in them. With Gran Turismo 4, this marked the first game I owned that featured the 2003-2005 STi, nicknamed the “blobeye”, which I thought was even better looking than the 22B. I was extremely eager to get GT4 when I found out that the blobeye was featured in it, and as soon as I got the game, as with GT3, my obsession with the car continued, with my first few objectives in the game being to own the blobeye STi.

Needless to say, I was a fan of the car by this young age, and as time went on and I became more knowledgeable about cars, I continued to love all cars but the STI in particular. I wasn’t a huge fan of the hawkeye facelift as I thought and still think that the three-section grille looks very odd (I don’t really like the bugeye either for that matter). I also didn’t particularly like the third generation WRX and STI, The pre-facelift STI hatchback in particular being a very sore thumb in styling to me, and I always will remember reading the YouTube comments of people saying they do not like how it looks, especially when comparing it to the previous model, and I agreed for the most part. Whilst I would still be happy to own any STI at all, I particularly dreamed of owning a blobeye STI in blue with gold wheels, but thankfully, I was spared from the potential nightmare that is owning a used turbocharged Subaru when they released the fourth generation model, and here we are.

This is my 2019 Subaru WRX STI in Sport-Tech trim, which is the highest trim available in Canada. I purchased it brand new in late 2018 at MSRP + destination of just over $48,000 CAD. As with all WRX STIs in Canada, it has the tried and true 310 horsepower EJ257 flat-4 engine mated to a 6-speed manual transmission with power being sent to all four wheels via some complicated engineering that even I struggle to understand sometimes. The Sport-Tech trim comes fully loaded with an improved-over-base Harmon-Kardon sound system, a slightly better-than-base infotainment system, moonroof, and a Recaro seat “upgrade” that is still a fairly crappy seat. I could’ve done without the moonroof as I don’t really like them but it’s hard to beat an OEM infotainment and sound system upgrade.

I honestly haven’t done much to the car as I was fairly satisfied with it out of the box, although this was before I got a job that allowed me to drive many other cars. Visually, it has the full STI under spoiler kit including the rear diffuser, JDM-only fog light bezels with an LED strip, and paint-protection film installed on the whole car. This was probably the craziest thing I’ve done to it but seeing as I never plan to sell the car, this was the only way to protect the soft and chip-prone Subaru paint. Currently, it is on Michelin X-ice Xi 3 tires wrapped around a set of gold STI wheels from the 2008-2010 STI. In terms of mechanical mods, it has a Kartboy short-shifter and shifter bushings, and the dealership optional STI Performance Exhaust. I previously had a Borla S-Type catback but wanted something a bit quieter for the winter season. I may or may not swap it back on in the summer.

To drive, it probably is one of the most unrefined cars that you can buy brand new when it was on sale. The engine idles like a tractor, the shift action is clunky, and the steering is anything but lifeless, if a bit numb. The ride is also quite jarring on the stock 19 inch wheels and summer tires, but does get better on the 18 inch winter tires that I currently have. Even just driving around town, every trip is an adventure. It’s hard to describe in words but the combination of all the touch points - the steering, shifter, the feeling of sitting in the car, and so on - add to a very visceral experience that is bound to energize you no matter the situation. My favourite part is the pedals which are perfectly spaced for my size to heel-toe downshift. I honestly loved commuting to and from the job that I had at the time when I picked up the car, which was a 30 kilometre round trip, sometimes in heavy rush hour traffic. Perhaps I still have the ignorance of youth but I never got tired of being in the car no matter how crappy the traffic was around me. When I do get a chance to drive a bit more spirited, once past the turbo lag/boost threshold and the car gets into the power band, the engine really does start to hustle. The handling perfectly copes with all that and the all-wheel drive keeps you gripped even when the weather gets a bit more slippery. I would say that the car comes alive at this point but the fact is that you feel that the car is alive as soon as you get in it, not only when you start driving fast. Really, the only thing that I don’t like about the stock setup are the front seats. Not only are they not too supportive as the seat bottom is practically flat, they sit too high in the car and make you feel like the car is tipping more than it is. They’re certainly comfortable for what they are but I wanted something more supportive and would provide a better seating position so I purchased a pair of Recaro Sportster CS.

Installing these seats turned out to be quite the pain. I initially had a setup that consisted of Recaro sliders and a Sparco seat base. I ended up not liking it for two main reasons. Firstly, the seat was offset too much for me. I'm not sure why but every VA WRX and STI that I've been in, the steering wheel actually comes out at a slight angle from the steering column. The Sparco base lines you up perfectly with the steering wheel, but since the steering wheel itself is offset you're actually sat slightly crooked from the rest of the car. You end up sitting too close to the door and too far from the transmission tunnel. There's only so much space you can adjust the seat on the seat base as well because the seat belt mount will get in the way of the seat if you move it too close to the transmission tunnel as I would have preferred. I ended up finding out about Recaro mounts made by Recaro of Japan. Believe me when I say that I must've spent hours and hours looking for a solution to this issue, and this was the best solution that I had found. Firstly, they correctly align the seat to where you want to be. Secondly, because it's a slider + mount in one, you shed a bit of weight from the seat base + slider setup. I don't have the exact figures but the Recaro mount is roughly the same weight as the Recaro sliders that I previously used, so you save at least the weight of the seat base. Moreover, unlike most aftermarket seat hardware options, the Recaro base frame looks very OEM, with an absence of ill-fitting seat brackets or ugly custom drilled holes. It really is the most elegant solution that I had found for installing these seats in my car. For driving, you sit about an inch and a half or so lower than the stock seat, which was enough to totally transform the feel of the car, going from driving an SUV to driving something more like a sports car. They are incredibly comfortable and very attractive to look at as well. The only reasonable improvement from these seats, in terms of support, are full racing buckets. For daily driving, these are perfect, and really what the car should've come with from the factory like with the S207 and S208.

The best part is that at the end of the day, the STI is still a 5-seater sedan, and comes with all the practicality that you get in the standard Impreza. The fuel consumption is definitely a bit shocking for a 4-cylinder, but wasn’t really an issue that stuck in my mind, especially once I started driving the car. Some of the interior materials are also a bit questionable but again, not a big deal for me as this was the class of cars that I grew up in anyway. Really, the only reason I don’t drive it more is because they don’t make it anymore, and so I want this one to last as long as possible, and so in July 2021, I purchased a 2006 Honda Civic Si as my daily/beater. More on that soon…

 

[wfooshee]

My mother had one of those mid-80s Oldsmobile Cutlasses, and its steering wheel and column was like that, slightly offset to the left of where it should be, and it annoyed me no end! Of course, it was her car and I couldn't be paid to have one, but I still pointed it out to her. She said she'd never noticed, but now she can't stand it.

Evil satisfaction achievement unlocked!

 

[1241Penguin]

My mother had one of those mid-80s Oldsmobile Cutlasses, and its steering wheel and column was like that, slightly offset to the left of where it should be, and it annoyed me no end! Of course, it was her car and I couldn't be paid to have one, but I still pointed it out to her. She said she'd never noticed, but now she can't stand it.

Evil satisfaction achievement unlocked!

I'm normally really picky about these things but so far, it only bothers me if I go out to look for it. Normally I forget about it as I'm driving .

 

[Korza]

Do you still have the FK8 Type R?

 

[1241Penguin]

Do you still have the FK8 Type R?

Yup, I'll make a post about it when I have the energy for a bit of writing.

 

[1241Penguin]

This is my 2006 Honda Civic Si. The Civic Si is a car that I’ve had a liking for ever since I first got my driver’s licence. While I was in university, driving around a rather plain Nissan Sentra, the Si was a car that I constantly dreamed of getting. It was an affordable and easy way to get into a sports car and learn how to drive a manual car, especially since I knew I wanted an STI in the future but wanted something cheaper to practise in. The eighth-generation Si, in particular, was an immediate standout for me because of the high revving K20Z3 that goes up to 8,000 rpm, which, to be honest, was the major reason why I gravitated towards this model over any other. As life happened though, in a rather ironic fashion, I managed to get my STI first, but having spent the first couple of years with my Subaru putting on plenty of kilometres on it and taking it far, I decided that, as the car of my dreams, which I never want to get rid of, it would be wise for me to retire it from daily driving, and to get a second car instead, and thus, here we are.

I bought it for quite the steal at $4,000 CAD with just under 260,000 km on the clock. The car definitely needed a bit of love when I first got it. There were a few large dents on the body that slowly began rusting, the roof and trunk had typical Honda paint fade, the front bumper had caved in slightly, seemingly from meeting a tall curb, all the wheels had some kind of corrosion that lifted the paint and made it prone to peeling, the windshield was heavily scratched up, and the rear tint was falling apart. On the interior, the front seats had a loose back rest and needed replacing, there was a persistent SRS light, the radio didn’t work, the rearview mirror had some kind of growth under it, it lacked floor mats, and the sun visor was sagging. There were definitely many other parts that I had purchased for the car that I cannot remember right now, but all in all, I spent more money fixing it up than I did spend on the car, which might’ve been a bit of a mistake, but the result is a car that I will happily drive daily and I’m sure the car will happily do that for many more kilometres and years to come.

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Driving the Si is always a blast. I know that a 2006 model year car isn’t the oldest out there, but compared to where I was coming from, you can definitely feel its age, in the best way possible. There’s a lack of distractions in the car; nothing alludes to the modern luxuries like an infotainment system or driver assistance systems, which obviously has its benefits and drawbacks. The benefit is that the Si is a car that makes you feel connected to the act of driving, and the lack of distractions means that you can home in on the visceral experience that the car provides, like the engine when you hit the VTEC zone and the slick shifting gearbox. Below the VTEC zone, it’s easy to understand why some might feel that the car lacks in torque, although I never had a problem with it for city driving or highway driving. It might be more of an issue for long distance drives but I don’t do road trips too often myself. Once it’s in its powerband though, the car just wants to keep revving, and for a daily driver, where you need to be mindful of speed limits and other cars, the car has more than enough to give, and I think that it can be a lot of more fun to drive than the STI in more situations. The only areas about the driving experience which I don’t like are the driving position, which has you sitting too high in the cabin, and the steering feel. I’m not sure why but the Si steering wheel has a tendency to really want to return to centre. Perhaps it’s an alignment issue or it’s just a characteristic of the car, but I do find myself gripping the wheel harder mid-turn than what I would consider normal.

The inside is not too bad. I actually found the seats to be a hair more supportive than the original seats in the STI, and I’m not sure if that is praise for the Si or criticism of the STI’s seats. The sound system, while basic in features, actually produces a very good sound quality to my ears, which honestly surprised me given its age and the fact that it’s a Civic. Ergonomics inside were great too, where, apart from my aforementioned seating position complaints, the steering wheel, shifter, pedals, and handbrake all come to me very nicely. The raked windshield design for the eighth-gen Civic translates to a very long dashboard and very long side windows, both which make the inside feel quite capacious.

All in all, the Civic Si serves as a very good daily driver, and for my car in particular, given that it was already beat up when I got it, I am also happy to treat it as a bit of a beater car where I am willing to drive it hard and far and not worry about the longevity of it. Partly because it’s a beater and I wouldn’t be too bothered if it turns to dust by tomorrow morning, but mostly because it’s a Honda, which means it’ll probably last much longer than I expect it to.

 

[ImaRobot]

To this day, I still love the FG2. It was my first car out of highschool - a Nighthawk Black Pearl 2006 FG2. I had picked up a job and my mother helped me by Co-signing on it, and I would take care of all payments and maintenance. I had learned how to drive in a manual years prior to that so there wasn't any learning curve I needed to adjust to, fortunately.

I never modified it, but even in stock form, it stuck to the road very well, which likely has to do with it coming with an LSD. I wouldn't mind picking up another sometime in the future, although, I think I'd opt for the 4 door this time.

and the sun visor was sagging

Oddly enough, within a year of ownership my sun visor was shot too. Something inside had melted, I'm assuming, and it never sat right again. Sounds like a common issue then.

 

[1241Penguin]

I never modified it, but even in stock form, it stuck to the road very well, which likely has to do with it coming with an LSD. I wouldn't mind picking up another sometime in the future, although, I think I'd opt for the 4 door this time.

I also find the car to be well sorted. Even with all-season tires, the car never got stuck in the snow. Really, there's no reason for me to modify any thing about the car, it's already a very good car out of the box.

Funny you mention that though, I also wanted an FA5 initially, and that is still my preference for styling. The only problem is that, because of its association with the FD2 Type R (I'm assuming), they tend to be a bit more sought after. Although in Canada, we also have the Acura CSX Type S, which is basically the same thing as the Si sedan but is even closer to the FD2R in styling, and that might've eased the demand for the latter as a result. Still, the FG2 was the more readily available and cheaper option so I couldn't argue with that.

Oddly enough, within a year of ownership my sun visor was shot too. Something inside had melted, I'm assuming, and it never sat right again. Sounds like a common issue then.

I think it is a common issue after having read of many owner's complaints on forums. I ended up buying a cheap replacement on eBay but my dad managed to fix it on his own one day by screwing the sun visor back together after it had burst beforehand, which somehow made its hinge very loose.

 

[1241Penguin]

Out of left field, I decided to get a replacement for my Si as my daily driver. Truth be told, there was no justifiable reason for me to replace it, because, as I mentioned earlier, it was doing its job perfectly fine, and could very well have lasted much longer than I gave it credit for. However, around this time last year, one of my connections from work had claimed that he had a special edition Mitsubishi Lancer for sale for a mere $25,000. Now, he did have a bit of a language barrier so when he said special edition Mitsubishi Lancer, I immediately assumed he was talking about an Evolution X. And this assumption persisted for about two weeks, during which time I got myself excited at the prospect of being able to have a bit of a dream car garage, much like the ones we build up in Gran Turismo or whatever racing game we play. It was here that I began to realise that now that I was an adult with a job and capable of making my own decisions, I was able to live out the car enthusiast dream of being able to experience plenty of cool cars in their lifetime. I began to ask around my coworkers if anyone wanted to buy my Si, and there was one person who wanted it, so that helped out as I wouldn’t be able to fit three cars onto my driveway without annoying everyone else that I lived with. Before I could excite myself too much though, the connection with the Lancer showed up again at work one day, with a photo of said car. To my disappointment, when he said it was a special edition Lancer, he really meant just a Lancer SE, that is, a plain-Jane Lancer that I was completely not interested in. But for me, the urge to pursue this dream had already been ignited, and luckily, one of my coworkers noticed a 2017 Honda Civic Type R that was on sale at a nearby dealership which piqued my interest. I guess I just have a thing for high-performance Japanese sedans with a big wing on the back.

The car had just under 50,000 km, and the dealership was asking just over $40,000 CAD for it, which was around MSRP for a Civic Type R when it was brand new back in 2017. Bearing in mind the crazy car prices of the last couple years, and the fact that there were other similar mileage Type Rs going for far greater prices, this was a genuinely reasonable price. On my first visit to the dealership, I visually inspected the car and while there were a few cosmetic blemishes on it, there was nothing that really would’ve stood out unless one goes out of their way to look for the blemish. As a bonus, I found out that the previous owner had installed partial front end PPF, which was nice to have and saved me the trouble of getting it installed myself. It also had a clean CarFax which was vital. I tried haggling the price with the dealership by pointing out the blemishes and the fact that it only had one key, but truth be told, I knew I had little ground to stand on because I knew how reasonably priced it already was. However, I still maintained a bit of hesitation to pull the trigger because I knew at the time that the FL5 Type R was on the horizon. The only thing I didn’t know was what it would be priced at, and whether or not I’ll be able to secure one. If the FL5 were to be priced close to the 2021 Type R, at around $47,000 CAD, then I’ll look like an idiot. If, on the other hand, the FL5 would cost more than that on top of being hard to secure one, as plenty of cars were at the time, then buying the FK8 will be the good choice. After a bit of back and forth, and with the car coming out with a clean bill of health from a pre-purchase inspection by a Honda dealership, I made the decision to pick up the FK8. Looking back, almost a year after I made this decision, I think I lucked out.

The first thing I noticed as I sat in the Type R, were the amazing body hugging seats. Coming from the stock seats in the STI, the Type R’s are worlds apart. There’s actual thigh bolstering, and the lateral bolstering was actually effective for an average sized person. The other thing I noticed the first time sitting in the car was just how low the seat could get. While it probably isn’t any lower than a BRZ, for example, I still felt well sunken into the car. The dashboard appeared reasonably tall in front of me, while still maintaining a safe amount of visibility outside the car. Around corners, the seats hug you so well that I’d be happy to spend all day doing high G circles in the Type R. In fact, I find all the touch points on the Type R to be absolutely perfect. The seating position paired with the steering wheel and buttery smooth shifter and its tall mounting position make all the controls of the car easily in reach, and the net result from that is that my STI, which I had not modified the interior of up until this point, no longer felt like the sports car that it is. In fact, the Type R seats were so good that I really hated the STI seats as a result, as mentioned in my previous post, and was a huge catalyst in my decision to swap in Recaro Sportsters.

The other thing about my STI that the Type R ruined for me was the power. I have some driving experience in modern high-powered sports cars such as the BMW M2 and Mercedes-Benz C43 AMG, so it’s not my first time driving something faster than the STI. Still, even though the Type R is not as quick as the BMW or Mercedes, it still delivers quite the punch at full throttle, especially once in 3rd gear and the tires have finally fully gripped onto the road. It just pulls so damn hard. There is torque almost immediately available down low, and there is hardly any discernible turbo lag. In comparison to the STI, the Type R feels electric, and while it does lose out on outright grip during hard acceleration from a stop, it more than makes up for it once it gets going, which is what matters the most anyway for daily driving. Of course, much of how the Type R is set up is obviously meant for high performance driving on a track, so acceleration notwithstanding, I don’t think there’s any area in the car’s dynamics which I can safely say I have fully experienced the limit of. All this means though is that the car translates very well into a fun and capable daily driver. It really is an incredible machine. Unlike the STI, where there were a few components that I felt the need to change or upgrade from stock, I am almost-fully satisfied with the Type R. There were moments in time where I wanted to install a louder exhaust, but having lived with it for longer, I find myself enjoying the stock exhaust quite a lot, especially when paired with the turbo noises that the car makes. Other than that, this car is the reason why I felt the need to upgrade a couple of things on the Subaru, as I have now done so with the seats. But desires to upgrade the driveline bushing, steering rack bushing, and any other conceivable upgrade to make the STI feel stiffer are all because of how good the Type R is and how wallowy it makes the STI feel in comparison. WRX fans can give the Type R all the crap they want for being a front-wheel drive car, but I suspect that short of driving on heavy wet race tracks, the Type R is the dynamically superior car in most areas in almost all other conditions.

The Type R is also the better daily driver as well. In addition to having superior fuel efficiency and more cargo area, it’s also a more comfortable car to drive. In Comfort mode, the dampers dampen out a reasonable amount of road imperfections to a point where I would almost liken the ride to that of a regular Civic. The stock 20 inch wheels do let the ride down as you go over larger bumps and cracks in the road as they deliver quite a bit of a jolt, but overall, it is a reasonably comfortable car that I’m happy to drive daily. As much as I religiously take care of all my cars, being a Honda, I’m also going to assume that it’ll be more reliable down the road as well. The interior also feels higher quality compared to the STI. In addition to the superior seats, the fit and finish of all the panels looks and feels tighter, and all the buttons and knobs, and everything else that you engage with feels just a bit sturdier. By comparison, most Subaru touch points have a light and cheap feel to them. I don’t even find the volume-knob-less infotainment system to be problematic, as the rocker switch on the steering wheel is easier to use anyway. I’ve also not had any experience with the system crashing on me; it’s been quite reliable so far. In fact, the only problem I’ve had with the Type R is the failed condenser, which, sadly, is a problem so common on tenth-generation Civics that Honda will replace them for free within 10 years of the in-service date. I am also not too big of a fan of the electronic parking brake, as I dread the day that the battery dies on the Type R while I’m in an inconvenient location, and there’s no way for me to push the car somewhere else if it was previously parked. The sound system also surprisingly seems to be of lesser quality than even the premium audio system in my Si, let alone the Harmon Kardon system in my STI. Other than that, it’s a very nice place to be in.

Overall, there is a place in my heart for both the STI and the Type R. I think that the STI is a car that excites and invigorates you whenever you go for a drive whether you were asking for excitement or not, kind of like a night out at a club partying with friends. It’s fun but you wouldn’t want to do that every single day. On the other hand, the Type R is like an evening of gaming with friends. Its level of excitement doesn’t peak as high as the STI, but it’s more consistently able to provide me entertainment without wearing me out.

 

[DC5Remy]

I’m very jealous. I’m still rocking the dc5. I want a new R but they are so damn expensive.

 

[1241Penguin]

Just realized I got feature on the front page - thanks @Famine! Was wondering why I got so many reactions all of a sudden.

I’m very jealous. I’m still rocking the dc5. I want a new R but they are so damn expensive.

Enjoy your DC5 too! I definitely miss the high revving engine of my Si, and it's just one character of the older Hondas which has unfortunately become lost with the newer performance models.

The car market is quite unpredictable so you never know when they'll become reasonably priced again, if it happens. I've been keeping an eye on FK8 prices here in Canada and unfortunately, not much has changed since I got mine last year. Although from anecdotes, I hear that dealerships are slowly offering less money on FK8s to anyone who is trying to sell.

 

[SPhilli911]

Love the STI (also the Type R), your backstory is very similar to mine. Drooled over the 22B in Gran Turismo but also from rally games and that sort of thing. I was in high school when the U.S. got the first year of the STI, in 2003 as the 2004 model and was obsessed with the blobeye.

I bought a blobeye 2004 STI, blue with gold wheels of course, about a decade ago and daily drove it, mostly in city traffic unfortunately, for a few years before regrettably selling it off. I still keep my eye on new ones, maybe one day I can have my childhood dream car again.

 

[1241Penguin]

Love the STI (also the Type R), your backstory is very similar to mine. Drooled over the 22B in Gran Turismo but also from rally games and that sort of thing. I was in high school when the U.S. got the first year of the STI, in 2003 as the 2004 model and was obsessed with the blobeye.

I bought a blobeye 2004 STI, blue with gold wheels of course, about a decade ago and daily drove it, mostly in city traffic unfortunately, for a few years before regrettably selling it off. I still keep my eye on new ones, maybe one day I can have my childhood dream car again.

I remember following your thread very closely as you restored and modified your blobeye back when you had it. It was pretty much how I would have a blobeye set up if I had one, and it very cool to see someone on this forum being the owner of one. I actually got a brief chance to test drive a 2004 STI before I ended up with the Type R as there was someone selling one for a reasonable price. I almost ended up with two STIs but my mechanic remarkably recognized the 2004 when I sent him photos of it after my test drive. He said that he had it in his shop before for a PPI, and his team found that one of the previous owners installed a BOV on it and that it had failed a leak down test, so I sadly had to look elsewhere. But it was solid when I drove it; very clean and seriously the most beautiful STI in my opinion.

I still have a strong urge to own a clean blobeye though. The 2005 would be the ideal model year for me as it has the upgraded interior as well. If I could have that alongside my VA, that would be amazing.

 

[matrix_gt1]

I’m thinking of either going for a new civic type r or a new supra. What do you guys think? 1241penguin, your car is beautiful!

 

[YZRider926]

Nice cars. I got a 22 Si back in October. Love it so far and it’s my first Honda. Would love a Type R, maybe in a few years. Next up is a new Mustang for the wife. She learned to drive stick with the Si, main reason I bought one, and wants her next Mustang to be manual as well.

 

[SPhilli911]

I still have a strong urge to own a clean blobeye though. The 2005 would be the ideal model year for me as it has the upgraded interior as well. If I could have that alongside my VA, that would be amazing.

I wish you luck in your search if you do end up trying to find a 2005 model. Back when I was looking, I was actually dead set on the 2005 version due to the updated interior and slightly wider rear arches. I can't remember what swayed me towards the 2004 model, but the one I ended up buying was close to stock and in very good shape. Even at the time, the blobeye was nearing 10 years old and they were very hard to find unmodified.


In any case, enjoy your current STI, that thing is wild I am sure. Don't do what I did and sell it, you will regret it forever, trust me.

 

[1241Penguin]

I’m thinking of either going for a new civic type r or a new supra. What do you guys think? 1241penguin, your car is beautiful!

Thank you!

I know a few Type R owners "upgrading" to a Supra, and while you gain in luxury and performance, from what I understand, the Type R is still the superior driver's car. I haven't driven a Supra myself though so I can only go off on what others have said.

Nice cars. I got a 22 Si back in October. Love it so far and it’s my first Honda. Would love a Type R, maybe in a few years. Next up is a new Mustang for the wife. She learned to drive stick with the Si, main reason I bought one, and wants her next Mustang to be manual as well.

Thanks! Glad you're enjoying the Si. The 11th gen interior is very nice, and honestly makes me a bit jealous sometimes. I've driven a few Mustangs before and they were all a hoot to drive. None of them particularly sharp, but all full of character.

I wish you luck in your search if you do end up trying to find a 2005 model. Back when I was looking, I was actually dead set on the 2005 version due to the updated interior and slightly wider rear arches. I can't remember what swayed me towards the 2004 model, but the one I ended up buying was close to stock and in very good shape. Even at the time, the blobeye was nearing 10 years old and they were very hard to find unmodified.


In any case, enjoy your current STI, that thing is wild I am sure. Don't do what I did and sell it, you will regret it forever, trust me.

Oh for sure. I might even end up settling for any GD STI as long as it's blue and if finding a good condition blobeye turns out to be more difficult than it is worth. As they near 20 years old though, the chances of getting one become more and more slim. Sometimes I regret not picking up the slightly sketchy 2004 that I test drove, but then I remind myself that it was indeed sketchy and that the owner seemed to be a bit pushy to get it off his hands.

Regardless, I don't ever plan on selling my current STI, that car will stay with me as long as I live.

 

[1241Penguin]

Small teaser of some JDM OEM STI BBS wheels that just came in:

 

[1241Penguin]

Here we go!

 

[YZRider926]

Looking good.

 

[1241Penguin]

I missed the chance to weigh the wheels (silly me), but since I kept griping about the weight of the stock wheels, I tried to dig deeper into finding out the weight of these ones. Luckily I stumbled on a Best Motoring International video of the S203:

​

At 1:07, the narrator mentions the wheels weigh 1.5kg less than the standard STI wheels. The standard STI wheels at the time (the 17x8 BBS wheels used on 2005-2007 STIs) would've weighed 8.87kg/19.55lbs according to this thread. Taking 1.5kg off that figure results in 7.37kg or 16.25lbs. That is pretty damn lightweight.

Ignore what I said. The narrator said "wheel AND tire combination", not just tire. Back to doing some maths.

 

[KinLM]

Love reading this thread, and love the STI.

Now, of course I'm going to be biased to my Hawkeye and try to justify to myself that the 'lighter weight' somehow makes up for feeling like you're in an early 90's car as far as refinement. But it honestly is good to hear that the important unrefined elements of the STI remain, such as the engine and its idle, the ride, the ridiculous boost threshold, etc.

Reading this is important because it shows that the core elements of the STI remain. I've driven modern versions of other cars I own/have owned and they feel disconnected from the original ethos of the car. I think your writing shows that the STI maintains this but has at least adapted some essential creature comforts for the age we live in.

I love how your car looks. I especially love the wheels from your original post, because again I am biased due to the fact that I bought mine with the same wheels. It's funny how the 3rd gen of STI seems to unanimously have the ugliest design, yet the wheels from that gen seem to unanimously fit all other variants so well.

Also great to read that the abysmal fuel mileage hasn't changed, but it is what it is. I love that you enjoy the car for what it is, and took so much time on details such as precisely where you sit. Its little things like this that ruin the experience for me in other cars I drive - the seat is too far up, the pedals are too close compared to the wheel, the wheel won't come down enough, etc.

It's just very refreshing to read this thread. I hope the car keeps treating you well and your heads remain in tact! Looking forward to anything else you do.

 

[1241Penguin]

Love reading this thread, and love the STI.

Now, of course I'm going to be biased to my Hawkeye and try to justify to myself that the 'lighter weight' somehow makes up for feeling like you're in an early 90's car as far as refinement. But it honestly is good to hear that the important unrefined elements of the STI remain, such as the engine and its idle, the ride, the ridiculous boost threshold, etc.

Reading this is important because it shows that the core elements of the STI remain. I've driven modern versions of other cars I own/have owned and they feel disconnected from the original ethos of the car. I think your writing shows that the STI maintains this but has at least adapted some essential creature comforts for the age we live in.

Thank you!

I've only driven an older 2004 blobeye STI for comparison, and have sat inside a GR STI at an auto show, so my ability to compare my STI to older ones is limited. From what I can tell though, the powertrain between the 2004 and the VA feel largely unchanged, as you mentioned. It was honestly ridiculous how similar the blobeye felt from the moment I started driving it, and I say ridiculous because the rest of the car is so different. Of course, all cars have gotten larger over the years, and the STI is no different. Going from my VA to sitting inside the 2004, the greenhouse just feels like it has shrunk around you. The dashboard is smaller, the windshield is closer to you, and the cabin just feels closer to you as a driver. The newer STI, in a bid to improve outward visibility and safety, has a highly raked windshield which resulted in a much longer dashboard. If you have ever sat in a 4th gen Impreza or VA WRX/STI, you'll be amazed by how much distance there is between you and the bottom of the windshield, and this is made most obvious when you try cleaning your windshield .

I can also tell that the 2004 was an overall less refined car, with more cabin nose and a creakier interior. But honestly, for me, with an Apple CarPlay upgrade and some better speakers, I'd happily take a GD STI. As I mentioned before, the blobeye STI is my absolute favourite looking STI model, and so if that's the first STI that I got, I think I wouldn't have even bothered looking at other STIs. I mean, I'd happily have two, a GD and a VA. One to fulfill a dream, and the other to keep that dream true for many years to come.

I love how your car looks. I especially love the wheels from your original post, because again I am biased due to the fact that I bought mine with the same wheels. It's funny how the 3rd gen of STI seems to unanimously have the ugliest design, yet the wheels from that gen seem to unanimously fit all other variants so well.

Personally, I think the bugeye is the ugliest WRX design. I honestly don't know Subaru could go from the GC to the original GD fascia and think it was an acceptable successor, but then again it is Subaru, and they at least quickly fixed their car with the blobeye facelift. I'd even go out on a limb to say that the VB looks better than the bugeye. At least the VB's issues are more easily fixed by painting some of the black plastic. The bugeye needs a whole new fascia to look good. The 3rd gen's issues, from everything I've read, has to do with the crappy interior and how soft the initial cars were from a driving standpoint. Thankfully they fixed some of the problems with the 2011 models but I still don't see how people can prefer that over the VA.

Going back to what you said though, I definitely think that the BBS wheels that you and I have work very well on multiple generations of the STI. I think 18 inches is perfect for aesthetics for everything between the GD and the VA, and they are a decently lightweight wheel too. The only other OEM Subaru wheel that I think works across all generations is the second set of gold wheels that I got, and currently have on the car. In fact, Subaru did use this very design across three different STI generations, and a variant with a different bolt pattern and sizing for the Legacy S402.

Also great to read that the abysmal fuel mileage hasn't changed, but it is what it is. I love that you enjoy the car for what it is, and took so much time on details such as precisely where you sit. Its little things like this that ruin the experience for me in other cars I drive - the seat is too far up, the pedals are too close compared to the wheel, the wheel won't come down enough, etc.

It's just very refreshing to read this thread. I hope the car keeps treating you well and your heads remain in tact! Looking forward to anything else you do.

Appreciate it! You could say that I am building my STI in a way that I think Subaru should've built from the factory. I prefer to go with OEM parts, or parts that you wouldn't think are aftermarket, such as the Recaro Sportsters, but if it's not visible, then I'll just get whatever part has a good reputation. I think that as a sports car, there were definitely some things that left me a bit hanging. The original 19 wheels on 2018-2021 STIs were boat anchors that I loathed for how much they weighed and ruined the ride quality in addition to being a strain on the drivetrain. The original seats were rather unsupportive and sat too high, and the OEM shifter and shifter bushings were too sloppy. Changing those out with the Kartboy short shifter and shifter bushings made a huge difference to how changing gears feel. I think next in line are "feel-good" upgrades; steering rack bushing, suspension bushing, rear differential bushings, transmission mount, engine mount/pitch stop, and anything else that I might've forgotten about. If I feel like splurging again I'll even get a carbon driveshaft to "lighten-up" the power delivery. But I'd say the biggest fantasy I have is to replace the roof with carbon fibre, but that would be a stretch due to cost and the need to find a body shop that I can trust to deliver an OEM-like seal. I just don't like sunroofs.


I remember reading through your thread about your hawkeye back when you first posted about it, and I think you have a gem yourself, and I was a bit jealous too because I hadn't gotten my car at the time. Seeing your more recent post about it, you definitely sound like you're getting the true Subaru experience by having to fix many broken parts on it, but hey, that's part of the fun of owning these cars!

 

[1241Penguin]

I made a small but significant cosmetic change to my car. I had my brake calipers repainted in gold.

​

I always knew that I wanted gold wheels to go with my STI, even way before I actually bought the car. It's pretty much the colour combination for the WRX STI, and is seemingly recognizable even for those who aren't huge on Subarus. When Subaru upgraded the VA STI for the 2018 model year, I was a little disappointed by their choice of colour for the new 6-pot Brembos, now finished in highlighter yellow. It looked okay with the stock gunmetal wheels, but it looked out of place as soon as I installed gold wheels on the car. To my eyes, there were simply too many colours going on, with the blue paint, gold wheels, pink STI badges and accents, highlighter yellow calipers, and even the orange side markers.

To decide on a new caliper colour, I actually referred to Subarus of old, and recalled all the STIs that were sold with gold wheels as standard and the caliper colour that the car came with. Red on the 22B, gold on the GDs, black on the GR/GV/pre-facelift VA, and silver on limited edition VAs with gold wheels. I didn't want black because it was too bland, especially with the larger 6-pot calipers, and I also didn't want red because I simply do not like how it looks on a blue car (looks fine on my white Type R though 👀). That left me with gold and silver. Initially, silver was my first choice because it was a neutral colour but still stood out enough for me to see the caliper, but after thinking for a bit, I began to worry that it might have been too much of a contrast to the gold and blue surrounding it. Not to say I would have repainted my calipers if they came in silver as standard, but I soon realized that gold was more of what I wanted. As I mentioned before, the blobeye STI of the GD chassis is my favourite looking STI of all time, and painting the calipers gold would have harkened back to the factory calipers on the GD. I also like that the gold calipers, which is more of a copper colour, fits nicely with the lighter gold colour of the wheels, with neither really taking away attention from the other. It also blends nicely with the orange side markers which helps to subdue the craziness that was the rainbow of colours that was going on before. Blue, pink, and gold are sufficient for my eyes which are used to looking at WRX STIs.

This is the same gold that was used on a few other cars that had factory Brembos at the time, including the Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R and some Nismo Z cars too, so I believe that it's a factory Brembo colour. Unfortunately, I could not find any information regarding the paint code as Brembo seems to keep that information private, but I did find a forum user who had good luck with Honda YR532M to touch up their factory gold Brembo calipers, and so I put my faith in this person and sent the paint code to the shop to repaint my calipers. For the decal, I also took a leap of faith. The factory gold Brembo on the GD STIs had red Brembo branding on the calipers, but I didn't want the same for my calipers because I thought having it on the larger 6-pot calipers would make it look too busy. I decided to stick with the STI logo as stock, but had that done in a pink that is similar to the factory pink for the STI emblem. It was close but not a perfect match, but regardless I think it would have looked better than the stock black colour. As the car sits now, I feel that it is nearing my vision for the perfect OEM-like STI build in terms of aesthetics. I've always wanted to build something that I feel Subaru should have built from the factory. Someday I do hope to do a sunroof delete and make it look even sleeker.

​

 

[1241Penguin]

A few minor updates to note:

Facelift JDM fog bezels installed on the STI:

Clear side markers installed and aging black roof vinyl removed on the Type R. Trying to clean up the looks of the FK8 just a bit: