Well, first of all, what have I done ? 3 pages of heated personal aggression
Still I'd like to react to a few posts - I'll try to keep it as on topic as possible.
That's what the aftermarket is for.
You could always use that argument for anything. I say there should be a stock option with 300 hp - properly balanced and with guarantee. It's supposed to be a sports car, so 300 hp aren't that over the top these days, are they ? That doesn't mean, that there is no need for the aftermarket apart from that...
Not enough fun?
Breaks down a lot?
Probably breaks down less often than his STI would if you did 20 successive 7000rpm clutch drops.
Ok, just a quick statement here because without explanation it might indeed sound ridicilous
So I seriously considered the R35 GT-R because you can get it used for around 55k EUR which would be the maximum I could afford in a year or two.
As for the fun part : Of course it is more fun than a 1.9 TDi Golf. But is it as much fun as another car you can get for 40-55k EUR ? I didn't drive one, but many motor journalists write/say that the handling perfection along with the double clutch transmission and the muted engine/exhaust sound - while making this heavy car extremly fast even for less skilled drivers - kills the fun of the driving experience. Everything is so smooth, the electronics do everything for you. So it's you watching the car doing the driving more than driving yourself. That's the impression I got.
You always have to consider that you can get other great cars for that money - BMW M3, Porsche 911 S, Corvette Z06, R34 GT-R V-spec just to name a few. Most of them slower, but obviously more fun to drive.
Still it would be a great deal if, yeah if, it was as realiable as the old GT-Rs.
I had a look at the Germans owners forum and was a bit shocked to be honest. Sure, in those forums you end up with more negative stuff than positive, because almost
everybody with problems goes there to vent some of the anger whereas those without problems often just drive the car without even knowing that such a forum exists.
The transmission is a weak point of the R35. Often it brakes down completely and some guys without mods or race track driving have their third transmission in that car. And even if it doesn't brake down completely certain parts are worn out pretty soon - result is a 5000 EUR bill instead of 15000 for the whole transmission. So far they run on guarantee. Buying a used GT-R would kill that option and I simply couldn't afford that kind of costs.
Others tuned their R35 and go on the track every second weekend without any failures.
I drove over 170.000 km in my slightly modded 2002 WRX STi without any serious problems - I know that the GT-R has to handle a lot more power, but I didn't hear too much about transmissions braking down in Porsche 911 turbos - which you can get for about 10k EUR more btw.
AWD just lets you get up to speed faster. Stability it grants is mostly a function of the electronics and fancy diffs. Plan old AWD sucks for the most part... just go out in an old Subaru and see how it feels.
AWD is great if you want a false sense of security.
Well my STi only has the differentials, no electronic helpers and I actually enjoy the driving experience. I wouldn't say that it is a false sense of security though. There is more stability - but of course an AWD doesn't rewrite the laws of physics for you. It's harder to spin out an AWD than an RWD, then there is rain and snow. You just have more traction at full throttle, that's a fact you can't deny.
Honestly, I love passing Subaru guys in my M3 snow because I bought the thing that makes way more of a difference - snow tires.
I don't know your "guys" but you certainly wouldn't pass me on my Dunlop SP Wintersport 3D and AWD with front,center and rear LSD, that's for sure
And I have to know, because I live in BMW country near Munich - I didn't meet a BMW that could keep up with me in snow, and that includes the X-models.
Ok back to this car - I didn't write anything about an AWD - I wanted the 300 hp engine. I agree that it might change the characteristics of the car too much.
How many miles do you have on your STI( just wondering)
105k miles. So far nothing major, although the little things tend to cost quite a bit, because of the boxer design and the crowded engine department they sometimes have to take the engine out in order to replace 2 50 $ parts resulting in another 800 $ of labor. Anyway, love the sound, love the performace and its reliability. Hence my interest in this Subaru coupe. But I'm used to torque and power, so for me personally there is no way that I'll go with the 200 hp version.
