-I have no plans on making over 400whp haha. I'm pretty happy with 326whp, but I know a quick 20G swap would put down 350-380whp (on E85) with ease, which IMO, is MORE than enough power for a daily driver.
-I'm a Subaru guy. I've loved Subaru's since WAY before they were popular. I used to long after the 98-01 2.5RS before the WRX came to the States. I wanted a WRX for years, and bought one as soon as I could afford one. I like Subaru's.
-EVO's have stronger motors... STI's have MUCH stronger drivetrains. EVO's have sissy clutches, weak transfer cases & the gearboxes themselves aren't too much better. STI's may not have as strong of a motor, but the drivetrain is beefy. People have pushed 700whp on stock STI transmissions, running low 10's ect, without an issue. Granted that's not the norm, but the gearboxes & transfer cases/center differentials are tough. Stock clutches are Exedy and handle a good bit of abuse. When making 450+whp, the first thing to break is half shafts, which are a hell of a lot easier/cheaper to live with than a $3000 transfer case. Go drive both, clutch take-up & shift feel are also better in the STI. To me, that's important.
-On the street, I preferred the STI. The EVO is deceptive fast, you don't notice just how fast you've picked up speed, you just look down at the speedo and say "holy crap, this things pretty quick". The STI has a lot more mid-range torque, and as such IMO, feels faster just due to the kick in the pants feeling it gives you... although it falls off up top. They're pretty similar stock vs stock, but I had more fun in the STI due to it's mid-range torque, and ease of getting the rear end out.
-They both have cheap interiors... both are under-par for their price segment, my MS6 was MUCH nicer. However, the STI's is a little nicer, although I would MUCH prefer the EVO's seats. STI seats=for fat people, not a lot of bolstering. EVO's interior screams "Rubber made".... whereas the STI at least somewhat seems "special" (or special ed lol), with it's blue carpet & seats. People who aren't familiar with it are always like "Blue? WTF?".
Sometimes I think I should have got the EVO just for mod potential, but then I remind myself that sometimes there's more to life than just mod potential haha.
Honestly, if I wanted to try and swing the payment I would be driving a 335xi
I drove the 135i not too long ago, and well, it was too small (couldn't really fit my son's rear facing car seat in the back), but I LOVED the way it drove! My STI would hand it it's ass on a road course, but BMW's are a GREAT compromise! I love the heavy steering, lots of steering feedback, the deep foot wells, good chassis balance, the shifter was AWESOME- so light and effortless... and then came the crown jewel, that motor! They say that peak torque is available as low as 1400rpm, and they're not joking! It felt like a V8, except smoother. They say they're also underrated, and I believe it. They say they actually make around 330hp, and that sounds about right. People are also making a lot of power out of those cars without doing much to them. Vishnu took a 335i and went 11.8@118mph with just basic bolt-ons & tuning (IIRC, only a cat-back, dual air filters & a tune via Procede on 100 octane). I'm just too cheap to pay $43k+ for one (335xi)
Oh well. Speaking of insurance, I just got a policy renewal notice, and my new 6-month policy is going to be $219 cheaper than my last one due to a couple things falling off my record! Woohoo! It's been over 2 years since I've received a ticket *knock-on-wood*, although I also drive more conservatively than I used to.... define irony: I haven't received a ticket since I bought my STI hahaha. Even with the foot high wing on the trunk & 3" turboback exhaust lol. Although, the exhaust is very stealthy for a 3" turboback, I'm running a Cobb catted downpipe (holy crap, I've grown up as none of my previous cars were catted haha) which helps keep the flames out the tailpipe down (along with noise), along with a Borla XR-1 cat-back, which looks pretty OEM.
LOL @ The douche with the 350Z! I used to own a 350Z... 300whp stock my ass haha. Maybe he can't do math, 287 HP at the crank, minus approximate 15% drivetrain loss, he would be damn lucky to hit 250whp lol (depending on dyno, most 350Z's are usually in the 230-240whp range). Silly kids. Robert K on these boards spent over $20k (a lot of which was on wheels, suspension, stereo ect, not all on motor) on parts for his 350Z to include a JWT twin turbo kit, Cosworth manifold, full intake/exhaust, UTEC, ect, and put down 487whp on MAC's dyno.... 800whp lol, sure. I know it's been done, and can be done, but that kid obviously had no idea what kind of money we're talking about spending to get to those power levels. He's right, a fully built block would be needed, and even at that point, reliability would be in the crapper. We're talking over $20k invested with parts & labor.... and I'm sure he has more than enough cash to drop on that kind of build, you know they're serious when they have "intake & lowering springs" haha.
I hear ya about the rambling lol. It's alright though, it's getting pretty slow today over here
Those bastards haha... a 500whp EVO isn't going to be streetable, i.e. peak boost not coming on until 4500-5000rpm, very laggy, very narrow powerband ect. Honestly, doesn't sound too fun to me, as off boost we're talking about an NA 4-cylinder with low compression pulling a 3200 lbs AWD sedan around... bah, I've driven dyno queens, and they never appealed to me much. Also something many people don't consider, unless they're running E85/meth, most of those big turbo 4-bangers don't make nearly as much power on straight pump gas. When I see things like "500whp on C16", what I think is "350whp on 91 octane" lol. 