- [Sean] On April 2nd, 1988
Subaru Corporation officially launched
a brand new motor sports division :
"Subaru Tecnica International."
Since its inception 32 years ago,
STI has taken Subaru to three world rally championships,
47 WRC overall wins,
and four class wins in Germany's 24 hours of Nürburgring.
And it didn't take long for STI
to start working on road cars either.
In 1992, it released the Legacy STI only in Japan.
Two years later, it created the first WRX STI;
then after winning its third rally championship in a row,
STI built the absolutely bonkers at the time,
insanely expensive today, 22B STI that we now know and love.
Alas, much like The Skyline,
us Americans would just have to sit back
and admire the flat engine rally beast
because it wasn't until 2004
that STI started exporting cars to the US,
which I'm both grateful for
and also incredibly furious about.
Anyways,
even with skimping out on US export STIs,
we still have gotten roughly
three and a half generations of STI stateside.
With various facelifts and significant year changes,
but which generation is the best generation?
Which one is the quickest, the most powerful
the most sought after,
packed full of history or character?
Or more importantly,
which one has the best combination of all of those things?
Well, lace up them walking boots boys,
because we're going to be talking about
which Subaru WRX STI is the best STI of all time.
That was a Subaru wire boot joke.
You didn't get it, the walking boots you know?
Because they spontaneously combust and self implode.
(dramatic music)
What's going on guys?
I'm Sean and if you like
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Now, let's get started.
Now before we get voted off the internet
for not talking about every single STI ever.
I'm only going to be focusing on the STI variants of
the Impreza and WRX that we got here in the US.
Only because those are the only ones
that I have any real experience with, all right?
So, with that being said,
let's start with the 2004 facelift of
the second generation WRX:
The United States' first STI
and boy, was it a good one.
The facelift itself brings the bug eye away from
that 90's round rally headlight styling,
into the 21st century
with a much more aggressive blob eye.
With sharper angles in a much better flowing overall design,
to really emphasize its width over the base models.
I don't mean to make it sound like
the bug eye was ugly or anything,
but the blob eye facelift
took the WRX from being a Subaru fan favorite,
to a real universally good looker.
I suppose launching the US's first STI with a
muscle car spanking,
300 horsepower probably helped a bit too.
And all that power came from a
2.5 liter turbocharged, four cylinder flat engine;
and it quite literally made some big waves in
the automotive scene for many reasons.
I mean, come on,
300 horsepower 2004 from a four cylinder
was a freaking game changer.
Let alone putting all that power down
in a convenient to own sedan.
The world-class all wheel drive system,
six speed manual transmission,
Brembo brakes, looks that could kill,
and most importantly:
more power than the Evo eight.
What's not to love?
It did literally everything good,
while sticking close to its root.
You could go beat up Mustangs on a weekend,
and then drive it to work through a snowstorm the next day.
It's genuinely, universally practical,
without sacrificing any of that performance.
And then along came the Hawkeye facelift,
the last facelift for the second generation.
spanning from '06 to '07.
Subaru essentially took the same successful formula
that they used to update the bug eye to the blob eye,
and they apply the same theory again.
Give the car some upgraded components in the center diff,
transmission, brakes, some rigidity,
and then upgrade the clutch a little bit
to handle a little more of that abuse
and turn the aggressive looks all the way up to fricking 10.
Come on, have you ever looked a goddamn Hawk in the eyes?
It's like the grim reaper staring into your soul.
The headlights became more angular
to look like they had an angry face,
the grill and the bumper styling overall,
is much more aggressive.
New roof spoiler made it look like
it was about ready to pounce on a goddamn prey,
and it frigging did it.
The looks, the performance,
and the roots driven improvements
have cemented the second-generation WRX STI
into history forever.
I mean hell, these things have actually
started going up in value recently,
and I'm kind of salty about it.
For 2008, though, Subaru brought
the third-generation WRX STI to the world
with a more mature version of its road going rally.
Fighter ditching the aggressive sedan body styling
in favor of a hatchback,
boosting the giant hood scoop
and the big old spoiler
for more moderately sized scoops and spoilers.
It's pretty apparent here that
Subaru was trying to appeal to a much more broad audience,
and overall, I think it worked.
You saw a lot more third-generation STIs on the road
in the hands of people that were more kind of outdoorsy
than they were actual car enthusiasts.
Power bumped up to a massive 305 horsepower,
with an unchanged amount of torque.
Although it does come out at 400 RPM earlier,
with the variable valve timing
making its way to the exhaust valves now.
The BBS wheels that used to be standard, are now optional
as were many other desirable attributes.
A fully optioned STI would now be closer to
$40,000, and weigh little bit more.
Again, maybe less enthusiast based
but giving it a more mass consumer appeal.
Mechanically the cars remained largely unchanged
from the second generation,
but grew almost four inches longer,
two inches wider and two inches lower,
which gave it that largely aggressive rally look
without kind of scaring all the young children.
With that added weight and softness,
the car was naturally a little bit slower
than the outgoing model in an on-road setting.
However,
another big change for the STI is a switch
from a strut-type rear suspension
to a double wishbone setup.
Subaru is quite proud to tell you that
the WRC factory Subaru driver: Peter Somberg,
made numerous trips to Japan
to help develop the car suspension tuning,
and it's titled to be quicker and more capable
than the old model in an actual rally, or off-road setting.
But just like the second generation,
the third generation got a much needed facelift.
For 2011 Subaru's STI engineers aim to improve grip,
steering accuracy and aerodynamics.
Front suspension is 16% stiffer,
pillow ball bushings replaced rubber units
in the control arms.
The rear springs' stiffness was up 53%.
The rear sub frame guts, different bushings
and the anti-roll bars got beefed up as well.
The drive train was, wow,
it was completely untouched.
Apparently,
making the same power in a heavier car than in 2004
didn't need an update.
But at the same time,
I guess everyone that I know who modified one of these cars
to make more power with this engine
has had catastrophic engine failure.
But maybe the most notable change of all,
the sedan was back baby,
and it looked much more aggressive.
STI fans, rejoice!
The updated front faciei was made
much more aggressive looking
with some updates to the bumper and the grill.
And not that the car had an actual deck lid,
a large rear spoiler was fitted
to let everyone know : "Hey, I'm not a base model!"
Although in sedan form,
you lost nearly eight cubic feet of cargo space.
It was more aerodynamic than the hatchback,
and it was everything that STI fans were asking for.
The sedan variant two
was actually a few thousand dollars cheaper
than the hatchback.
So, you know, value factor.
Then we move on to the year 2015,
when we were given the fourth,
and current generation of the Subaru WRX STI.
Available as sedan only, the 2015's overall styling
is much more attractive.
As the 2008 through 2014 become more and more
kind of dated looking.
It just seems so much more modern,
which I mean, yeah, duh
because it's the new one.
Either way, the new one is more sleek
while still retaining that wide stance,
hood scoop and spoiler.
You've got a more sinister face
with sharper edges above the headlights,
as well as becoming once again, slightly larger.
You also get a much needed interior upgrade
with things like a flat bottom steering wheel,
and just overall much more modern technology inside.
From a performance standpoint,
much of the updates were to the chassis itself.
Again, just improving with chassis stiffness,
hosting four different differentials
both mechanical and electronic.
But, if there's one thing I've learned
in the automotive industry,
it's that competition forces innovation
and the lack of competition creates weakness.
So, although this STI is much better looking
and universally more popular,
with the death of the Evo, what real motivation
does Subaru Technica International have to up power?
The 2015 WRX STI uses the same
2.5 liter turbocharged boxer floor as the 2008,
which produces the same 305 horsepower
and 290 pound feet of torque.
Five more than the 2000,
which I mean, I guess if it ain't broke, don't fix it,
but whereas 300 horsepower was a lot more than a decade ago.
These days, rental spec four cylinder Mustangs
and snowmobiles make more than 300 horsepower.
These days 300 horsepower is equivalent to a 200 horsepower
17 years ago, respectable enough number
but certainly not anything overly exciting.
Anyway, even with some of those gripes
I see these fricking things literally everywhere,
and that undoubtedly has to do
with the value that these cars do provide.
At the end of the day, a brand new 2021 WR access TI,
starts at $36,000, which means the price only increased
about $2,000 over the starting price of a 2014.
So with a fully refreshed chassis,
nicer interior and a much needed warranty
the value of a brand new STI really is there
and I totally understand the appeal.
But it's not just about appeal here today.
No, this is about which generation STI
is most exciting, is the most charismatic.
Sparks the most joy, presents a bunch of value,
and has an absolute presence when you roll into a car show.
Which one of these generations is the most STI of all STI?
The second generation STI
is the state side introduction of the STI,
and made waves with its nearly unrivaled performance
with gobs of power for the period.
And this is the most raw STI ever created.
The third generation tamed things down a bit,
but became a much more convenient car to own and use
with a love or hate it subdued styling.
And the fourth generation offers a ton of value
to the average consumer with a solid warranty,
and mostly modern technology.
But I think the one that really takes the cake here,
is going to be the second generation STI.
The second generation gives us
the fire-breathing blob eye that murdered its competition
and delivered us arguably,
one of the most significant STIs of all time, the Hawkeye.
It's also the lightest of the bunch,
making it the quickest accelerating STI
that's not a special edition, ever.
The second gen STI is also the closest related to its roots
of onward domination that we got stateside,
and they set the bar so high
that Subaru couldn't even beat themselves
at their own damn game.
The second generation WX STI is truly iconic;
and I honestly believe
if it wasn't for the hype of these early STIs,
the new ones that are keeping Subaru alive
would not be selling as hot as they are right now.
The blob eye and the Hawkeye STI,
is the best STI of all time.
And it will go down in history forever as such,
but that about wraps it up for this episode of
which generation is best.
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Thank you so much for watching.
Please. Don't hate me.
Peace.