Another STI Convert

[showmeyourboost]

Hey guys, just got my CT4 BW on Tuesday, first brand new car and I couldn’t be happier. Black with black upgraded seats, manual, bronze calipers and the PDR package.

Car came in about 3 months, which was 3 months earlier than I was told. Now I gotta get some winter tires ASAP. It’s been raining here almost everyday since I picked it up so it’s already dirty.

 

[Rob]

Congrats and welcome!

 

[AACaptRet]

Nice Christmas gift. Enjoy.

 

[Speed Racer 007]

Hey guys, just got my CT4 BW on Tuesday, first brand new car and I couldn’t be happier. Black with black upgraded seats, manual, bronze calipers and the PDR package.

Car came in about 3 months, which was 3 months earlier than I was told. Now I gotta get some winter tires ASAP. It’s been raining here almost everyday since I picked it up so it’s already dirty.

Congrats and welcome!

 

[ArgentWing]

Nice!!!

 

[Bigfx]

Hey guys, just got my CT4 BW on Tuesday, first brand new car and I couldn’t be happier. Black with black upgraded seats, manual, bronze calipers and the PDR package.

Car came in about 3 months, which was 3 months earlier than I was told. Now I gotta get some winter tires ASAP. It’s been raining here almost everyday since I picked it up so it’s already dirty.

Did the same, never looked back lol.

 

[showmeyourboost]

Nice Christmas gift. Enjoy.

It’s my Christmas/birthday/graduation gift lol. I went back to school 6 years ago and finally got an engineering degree.

 

[Berserker]

o7 fellow NASIOC refugee.

I traded my '18 STI in to my dealer in July. My 4BW is on a train and due any day now.

 

[RDATLTE]

Hey guys, just got my CT4 BW on Tuesday, first brand new car and I couldn’t be happier. Black with black upgraded seats, manual, bronze calipers and the PDR package.

Car came in about 3 months, which was 3 months earlier than I was told. Now I gotta get some winter tires ASAP. It’s been raining here almost everyday since I picked it up so it’s already dirty.

Congratulations!

 

[PrimeTime]

Congrats, welcome! Drive it like its stolen! Enjoy!

 

[1Evil55]

Welcome from a former Evo driver

 

[jonnywaffles11]

 Welcome from a fellow engineer that works in Colmar! There's a few of us in the area, keep in touch as I'm sure we will be doing some meetups in the spring

 

[showmeyourboost]

 Welcome from a fellow engineer that works in Colmar! There's a few of us in the area, keep in touch as I'm sure we will be doing some meetups in the spring

I used to work at North Penn Mazda when I was in high school!

 

[Berserker]

Hey guys, just got my CT4 BW on Tuesday, first brand new car and I couldn’t be happier. Black with black upgraded seats, manual, bronze calipers and the PDR package.

o7 fellow NASIOC refugee.

I traded my '18 STI in to my dealer in July. My 4BW is on a train and due any day now.

Mine showed up at the dealer 3 days after I posted that, and I took it home the next day. I've got about 900 miles on it.

I'd be interested in knowing how you think it compares to the STI?

My thoughts:

4BW pros:
It is way faster. Even with the suspension in Tour mode it feels like it corners as fast as the STI, but is waaaay more comfortable doing it. Seats grip better than the Recaros in my STI Limited, but feel just as comfortable. It think I'm getting the same fuel efficacy despite having 50% more hp and torque on tap. The STI gearbox was pretty good, but the 4BW's is better. Rev matching downshift is really nice.

STI pros:
The STI had more steering feel; it's hard to beat hydraulic steering. The STI had better visibility, especially around the A pillars. The side view mirrors being mounted to the doors rather than the A pillar is a big part of the reason. The STI's stereo sounded better. The main way I listed to music is via USB drive, and the 4BW's USB folder navigation functionality is ridiculously lacking in functionality. Overall the STI is more "raw"; sometimes that rawness is a better experience, and sometimes it undesirable. After 18 years of driving Evos and WRXes, I was looking for something less raw.

Caveats:

While the 4BW is faster, there are 2 caveats.

1) I think the only reason we can drive something as powerful as a 4BW on the street without dying is that it has electronics that keep us out of trouble. The STI, OTOH, could be daily driven and spanked hard without all the gizmos. It has a more manageable amount of torque, and routes it through an AWD system full of limited slip diffs. Yes, it has gizmos, but my old Evo VIII had similar power and no gizmos except ABS and could be driven hard on the street.

2) I'm not sure the 4BW would be faster on a bumpy, wet back road out in the country. If it can be faster, I'm not sure I have the stones to access that speed. The 4BW struggles to put down power in the wet, and when I am accelerating and go over some uneven pavement I get an ugly feeling transmitted up from the rear. By contrast, my old Evo VIII had no gizmos except ABS. No trick center diff, no stability control. And I could drive that thing hard with confidence over any pavement in any weather. I once drove it back-to-back with a C6 Corvette, and remember being absolutely convinced that the Evo would be faster on back roads. The 4BW brings more stuff to the party than the C6 did - but I do not feel the confidence I had in the Evo.

In fairness, though, I did not have that confidence in the Evo until I had done a couple of track days in it. And I don't even have 1,000 miles in the 4BW yet - and the first 500 of those were break-in miles.

 

[showmeyourboost]

Mine showed up at the dealer 3 days after I posted that, and I took it home the next day. I've got about 900 miles on it.

I'd be interested in knowing how you think it compares to the STI?

My thoughts:

4BW pros:
It is way faster. Even with the suspension in Tour mode it feels like it corners as fast as the STI, but is waaaay more comfortable doing it. Seats grip better than the Recaros in my STI Limited, but feel just as comfortable. It think I'm getting the same fuel efficacy despite having 50% more hp and torque on tap. The STI gearbox was pretty good, but the 4BW's is better. Rev matching downshift is really nice.

STI pros:
The STI had more steering feel; it's hard to beat hydraulic steering. The STI had better visibility, especially around the A pillars. The side view mirrors being mounted to the doors rather than the A pillar is a big part of the reason. The STI's stereo sounded better. The main way I listed to music is via USB drive, and the 4BW's USB folder navigation functionality is ridiculously lacking in functionality. Overall the STI is more "raw"; sometimes that rawness is a better experience, and sometimes it undesirable. After 18 years of driving Evos and WRXes, I was looking for something less raw.

Caveats:

While the 4BW is faster, there are 2 caveats.

1) I think the only reason we can drive something as powerful as a 4BW on the street without dying is that it has electronics that keep us out of trouble. The STI, OTOH, could be daily driven and spanked hard without all the gizmos. It has a more manageable amount of torque, and routes it through an AWD system full of limited slip diffs. Yes, it has gizmos, but my old Evo VIII had similar power and no gizmos except ABS and could be driven hard on the street.

2) I'm not sure the 4BW would be faster on a bumpy, wet back road out in the country. If it can be faster, I'm not sure I have the stones to access that speed. The 4BW struggles to put down power in the wet, and when I am accelerating and go over some uneven pavement I get an ugly feeling transmitted up from the rear. By contrast, my old Evo VIII had no gizmos except ABS. No trick center diff, no stability control. And I could drive that thing hard with confidence over any pavement in any weather. I once drove it back-to-back with a C6 Corvette, and remember being absolutely convinced that the Evo would be faster on back roads. The 4BW brings more stuff to the party than the C6 did - but I do not feel the confidence I had in the Evo.

In fairness, though, I did not have that confidence in the Evo until I had done a couple of track days in it. And I don't even have 1,000 miles in the 4BW yet - and the first 500 of those were break-in miles.

I'm also at about 900 miles, and once the break in period was over I was so happy to let the engine sing to redline a few times. Breaking the tires loose in second gear brings a smile to my face every single time. Super excited to get a blue belt tune this spring with the new intake.

I 100% agree on the steering feel. The clutch in the BW took me a few days to get used to, but I think this 6 speed is far superior to the STI, especially with how it's geared. My biggest problem with my Subaru was driving it on the highway, it felt like it wasn't geared for cruising at 70-75mph.

Overall the BW is way more comfortable, way faster, and is more fun to drive. I'll miss driving the STI in the snow with way too much confidence, playing rally car on back roads was always a joy before the plows could clean things up. I can't wait for some warm weather to ditch these snow tires for the sticky summer rubber and see how well I can launch from a standstill.

 

[Berserker]

Breaking the tires loose in second gear brings a smile to my face every single time.

Yeah, this is actually a "thing" for me as well!

I'm thinking about ordering a new set of rear tires now. These aren't going to last very long.