If you are looking for an unbiased review of the current STI then sorry, you have come to the wrong place. My bias for Subaru is obvious from how much time I spend on putting together the Rex Driver Magazine, to how much I have spent on improving and maintaining my “Classic” STI! That being said; I’ll try not to turn this into too much of a love letter.
I was recently given the opportunity to take a Premium STI for an extended test drive by a fellow WRXSA club member, Kurtis Shillabeer from Eblens Subaru in Glenelg; for which I am extremely grateful! I picked the car up on Saturday afternoon and didn’t have to bring it back till Monday; which coincidentally I had arranged to be a day off from work!
As it turns out, this gave me the perfect opportunity to test it in a variety of conditions, ranging from perfect sunshine and driving rain; family runabout to solo hills run.
The first thing I did was fit the child seat in the back for my daughter Eva so she could join me for the trip home. The mounting point was very easily accessible with plenty of room to clip the mount into; anyone with kids will appreciate this little detail! The ride home was very sedate being a busy Saturday afternoon in Adelaide and it gave me a good chance to get the feel for stop / start city driving. After a couple of minutes I had adjusted to the new clutch feel and was pulling away from the lights smoothly, even with a little bit of aggression.
My first thought was that this is a comfortable car with all the modern features that people have come to expect in a new car and some extras that I didn’t even realise were available! In no time at all Eva was streaming the Moana Soundtrack from YouTube on my phone through the sound system on full blast; she loved it! And unlike when we are in my car she didn’t complain that the ride was too bumpy!
After a quick dinner out, darkness had fallen and I went for a quick run up Montacute Road and back, visibility was excellent, very important if you like going out after dark! On that topic I found general driver visibility very good with the A pillar being very unobtrusive as was the big rear wing; great for keeping an eye on those behind you.
Saturday was a trip out to the big rocking horse in Gumeracha; which means Gorge Road run! There was plenty of traffic out as it was a beautiful day with hardly a cloud in the sky; before I knew it Eva had fallen asleep in the back; testament to the fact that the car is smooth and quiet when not driven in anger, even on winding roads. Either that or I just drive far too slow! Regardless, it gave me a chance to deviate off Gorge Road, explore, and become more familiar with the feel of the car.
Even at a steady pace I found that on sweeping corners the auto setting on the DCCD was a little off-putting. Being used to my old STI, the electronic adjustments felt a little weird; switching it to sharper handing “Auto (-)” mode (torque bias to the rear) felt a lot more natural so when you are on a nice road with good traction I would strongly recommend that setting! There is also a manual setting that gives you the option set the front / rear bias, but I didn’t get much of a chance to play with that. Similarly I did not play around with the traction control settings either.
Heading back down Gorge Road after lunch we had all the windows down, the sunroof wide open; and this time playing the ‘Sing’ soundtrack at high volume; a quality family moment! We did get a few clear sections of road and I found that by this stage I had become very accustomed to the steering and throttle response and I was beginning to understand the personality of the car.
As I mentioned earlier I had taken the Monday off work, so once the kids were dropped off at daycare I was free to spend the morning taking photos and going for one last drive through the hills before I had to return the car at lunch time. While setting up for the shot that shows the two cars side by side, I was reminded just how raw driving the 2000 STI had become. To be fair it was quite a bit more comfortable and easy to drive before the new engine went in, the coilovers were installed and it was Tuned to E85. It is now more ‘race car’ than family car that’s for sure!
With the old STI now delivering almost 240kW at the wheels the 2017 car did feel a little bit lacking in direct comparison, but only at the top end; up to 4,000-5,000 RPM the new STI felt far more responsive than what I was used to.
Monday was the day for wet weather testing, the rain and drizzle had arrived overnight so once I had finished with photos I set off, up Gorge Road again to the Reservoir, then back down to Corkscrew road. I decided that now would be a good time to experiment with the SI Drive settings; this adjusts throttle response; Sports Sharp was my go to on Sunday when the weather was perfect but was a little unruly coming out of corners on the wet Monday morning. Switching it down to Sport Mode for these conditions made pulling up a wet Corkscrew Road a lot more predictable. I also found that switching the DCCD setting back to “Auto (+)” had a positive impact on the feel through the sharper corners.
All too soon it was time to head back down into the city where I found the cruise controls very helpful and easy to access. I’m not sure about you but coming straight off a good hills run, even a wet one, I struggle with how slow 60km/h feels through town. Before long I was back at Glenelg dropping the car off at Eblens.
It was not easy saying goodbye to the car, over just a couple of days I had become very comfortable with it, and had built a relationship that I could see continuing for much longer. Could a new car be on the cards? …maybe? But if it was I think my first choice would have to be the same demo car I borrowed. Because that is what a Subaru does, and so many other cars don’t do; it builds a relationship with you. This is why I could not bear to part with my classic, and why I think I need a much bigger garage!
So long STI 017, until we meet again…?
