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      01-28-2017, 08:01 PM   #45
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Originally Posted by juyeop View Post
You are the most qualified person to give me an opinion since you owned both. I think I'm gonna go buying M2 and leasing WRX route. I want to get a piece of WRX somehow.
Those are the two cars I own. I might sell the WRX. I originally told myself I'd only drive the M2 when it's dry and warmer than 45 degrees out, but I've recently been driving it on any day without precipitation. It's just too fun not to drive!
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      01-29-2017, 11:47 AM   #46
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Originally Posted by serrated View Post
Those are the two cars I own. I might sell the WRX. I originally told myself I'd only drive the M2 when it's dry and warmer than 45 degrees out, but I've recently been driving it on any day without precipitation. It's just too fun not to drive!
Owned a 2010 WRX for 5 years. It is a very rough beast, loud, huge turbo delay, cheap interior, tinny build. But, it was durable and with snow tires on, the most fun I have ever had in the snow, unstoppable. And half the cost of an M2.

So it depends what you want and can afford. But you cannot compare the two cars.
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      01-29-2017, 11:54 AM   #47
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Originally Posted by serrated View Post
Those are the two cars I own. I might sell the WRX. I originally told myself I'd only drive the M2 when it's dry and warmer than 45 degrees out, but I've recently been driving it on any day without precipitation. It's just too fun not to drive!
Nice. I need a second car anyway besides M2 since I drive a lot of highway commutes and being in Florida, your car will be swamped by all kinds of bugs after one drive on highway usually. I like keeping my car clean, so that will be bummer for me. What do you think about me leasing WRX base? You think I can get STI-ish feel out of WRX base?
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      01-29-2017, 12:17 PM   #48
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Originally Posted by Destroya View Post
Owned a 2010 WRX for 5 years. It is a very rough beast, loud, huge turbo delay, cheap interior, tinny build. But, it was durable and with snow tires on, the most fun I have ever had in the snow, unstoppable. And half the cost of an M2.

So it depends what you want and can afford. But you cannot compare the two cars.
I was in Cleveland for 4 years and bought a new 2012 WRX because I needed AWD (for various reasons) and wanted it to be a fun DD. Agree it was unstoppable with good snow tires in the snow and ice; better by far than any other AWD I saw up there. I'll be trading it in for my M2 but I do really enjoy the way it drives, warts and all. I will definitely miss the hydraulic steering.

That being said if you don't have snow/ice to deal with then RWD is the way to go IMO.
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      02-03-2017, 02:33 PM   #49
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I see you are in FLA, so you might not need the AWD, I did living in the Toronto area.
...oh you Torontonian, so cute....

Ice/Snow...AWD...I don't get the obsession, well not very well at least. I understand the obsession with 0-60 exists, but the "need" for AWD, is extremely limited. Its a nice to have, like an Automatic. And like an Automatic, AWD takes away some of the skills of driving.

I live in Manitoba, which this year has already broken many recent snowfall records. Recent strange warm weather brought ice storms. Regardless, I have driven my M235 RWD for the past 3 years just fine. Driving in this weather every day in RWD ensures good/better driving. So, even here, under the worst that "Winter'peg", butt hole of Canada has to offer, RWD is perfect.

And for the record, I've never got stuck. And I live rurally even further north than Winnipeg.

Don't get AWD, just don't, especially if you live in Florida! I await my M2 so that it can be the only shining light in my life as I am forced to live in a place colder than Siberia ...
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      02-03-2017, 06:53 PM   #50
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      02-04-2017, 10:42 PM   #51
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Originally Posted by juyeop View Post
Nice. I need a second car anyway besides M2 since I drive a lot of highway commutes and being in Florida, your car will be swamped by all kinds of bugs after one drive on highway usually. I like keeping my car clean, so that will be bummer for me. What do you think about me leasing WRX base? You think I can get STI-ish feel out of WRX base?
I've never been keen on leasing, but if you can get a good rate, why not? The WRX is sporty but way more compliant than the STi. The STi is pretty harsh. I imagine the 2017 models are worse since both the WRX and STi went up an inch in wheel diameter. (meaning less sidewall)

The STi does give you that old EJ motor. People rag on it, but I also owned a 2011 WRX and I loved the sound of the UEL headers. I think the EJ motor with downpipe and Q300 exhaust is the way to go. Sounds really good and with a cobb stage 2 tune, it's actually pretty fast. That's the thing I hate about the WRX now, the sound. The FA20DIT motor is just boring. It doesn't pull as hard up top and it doesn't make any sound. It also seems like most aftermarket exhausts for the new motor sound ricey. Really farty. Not my bag of chips. (but to each their own)
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      02-08-2017, 07:04 PM   #52
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I feel the need to add my two cents.

I've had a 2004 STi, and a 2013 STi hatch, and I've test driven a 2015 and 2016. I ended up impulse-buying a 2016 M235i, and I'm all the better for it.

A few key points here, from my point of view:

- The M2 will be INFINITELY better on the highway. The 50-70 times in top gear are hours apart. The STi is an absolute dog on the highway. The M235i was magnificent. Hit the gas in 6th, and you're actually accelerating without waiting for the car to wake up!

- Build quality, especially paint, is not even a comparison. I've taken tons of rocks in the M235i, without a single mark. The STi loses paint with a stiff breeze. The M235i has been the best car I've ever owned for rattles. The STi, well... we all know the story there. Sadly, my wife's C450 AMG makes my old STi seem like it had no rattles...

- The boxer sounds great, but the inline-6 sounds great too.

- AWD isn't some silly thing just for snow, it gives a genuine advantage in virtually any conditions. The biggest advantage, in my opinion, is that I could still thrash my STi in the rain. Florida is always warm, but they get lots of rain. The M2 will be fantastic, but I know I pine a bit for my STi every time it rains...

Get the M2, it's the better car, in almost every single way. Don't lease a WRX for a daily driver/highway car - it's worse at both. For barely more than $10k over the cost of the STi, it really is a fantastic bargain.
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      02-08-2017, 08:41 PM   #53
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 3geekfamily View Post
I feel the need to add my two cents.

I've had a 2004 STi, and a 2013 STi hatch, and I've test driven a 2015 and 2016. I ended up impulse-buying a 2016 M235i, and I'm all the better for it.

A few key points here, from my point of view:

- The M2 will be INFINITELY better on the highway. The 50-70 times in top gear are hours apart. The STi is an absolute dog on the highway. The M235i was magnificent. Hit the gas in 6th, and you're actually accelerating without waiting for the car to wake up!

- Build quality, especially paint, is not even a comparison. I've taken tons of rocks in the M235i, without a single mark. The STi loses paint with a stiff breeze. The M235i has been the best car I've ever owned for rattles. The STi, well... we all know the story there. Sadly, my wife's C450 AMG makes my old STi seem like it had no rattles...

- The boxer sounds great, but the inline-6 sounds great too.

- AWD isn't some silly thing just for snow, it gives a genuine advantage in virtually any conditions. The biggest advantage, in my opinion, is that I could still thrash my STi in the rain. Florida is always warm, but they get lots of rain. The M2 will be fantastic, but I know I pine a bit for my STi every time it rains...

Get the M2, it's the better car, in almost every single way. Don't lease a WRX for a daily driver/highway car - it's worse at both. For barely more than $10k over the cost of the STi, it really is a fantastic bargain.
Thanks for your advice. I'm set on buying M2 for sure, but I need to lease a car along with M2 since I drive on a highway a lot and I do get reimbursed for the mile. So I do get partial or full lease payment paid by the gas reimbursement. You said WRX base is not a great car to lease then what car would you recommend? I'm looking at brand new Civic manual too actually.
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      02-09-2017, 02:38 AM   #54
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Just so happens I have M2 DD car and a 98 STI 22B rally car which is pretty modded. Check some pics in my album. Get the M2 and nothing else. Its best for daily use because you will get in it every day and enjoy it the most. Don't worry about the bugs, rain etc - with the money you save on a lease wrx or whatever you can absorb the depreciation and get the next model in a few years whilst having fun every day
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      02-09-2017, 10:19 AM   #55
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Quote:
Originally Posted by juyeop View Post
So N55 being old too in BMW engine line up is still better than the one in STI I guess? What about WRX base engine then???
The N55 is was developed when, 2010? The EJ255/7 is a bored version of an engine designed in the 1990s. And when they moved to the 2.5, they brougth with them a lot of piston issues. They'd have stroked the motor if they could have, but it wouldn't fit in the cars. So they're stuck with the over-square, detonation machine that is the EJ257.

The base WRX engine, as of 2015, is a modern 2.0l DI powerplant. Much like BMW's N20.

The WRX is the better buy until the do something with the STIs engine. Embarrassing. It should have had a new motor in 2010, if not earlier. Now it's looking like 2020 at the earliest. A damn MS3 had a DI engine as of 2006 for god sakes.
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      02-09-2017, 08:36 PM   #56
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Quote:
Originally Posted by juyeop View Post
Thanks for your advice. I'm set on buying M2 for sure, but I need to lease a car along with M2 since I drive on a highway a lot and I do get reimbursed for the mile. So I do get partial or full lease payment paid by the gas reimbursement. You said WRX base is not a great car to lease then what car would you recommend? I'm looking at brand new Civic manual too actually.
Why do you need a second car? The M2 isn't a particularly limited car (only limited by production speed), and it's bound to be a phenomenal daily driver, and it will wear better than you'd ever expect. BMWs wear well, at least in aesthetics.

Getting a cheap DD has always been a silly concept to me. Spend your time in the car you enjoy, otherwise, what's the point? No sense in spending 5 days a week driving something you hate.
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      02-09-2017, 10:20 PM   #57
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Originally Posted by 3geekfamily View Post
Why do you need a second car? The M2 isn't a particularly limited car (only limited by production speed), and it's bound to be a phenomenal daily driver, and it will wear better than you'd ever expect. BMWs wear well, at least in aesthetics.

Getting a cheap DD has always been a silly concept to me. Spend your time in the car you enjoy, otherwise, what's the point? No sense in spending 5 days a week driving something you hate.
I know M2 is not a car that should be taken care of to the extreme from price standpoint, but I am OCD about keeping car clean and garaging it. My rationale of leasing/buying a beater car is to drive mainly when love bug seasons/rainy days come around in Florida, which is half of the year basically. I do understand where people come from given the fact that M2 is so fun to drive everyday. Maybe, I will go that route. On a side note, if you ever get swamped by love bugs on highway during lovebug season, you will not drive your beloved car at least during the lovebug season for real
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      02-09-2017, 10:23 PM   #58
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Originally Posted by PrematureApex View Post
The N55 is was developed when, 2010? The EJ255/7 is a bored version of an engine designed in the 1990s. And when they moved to the 2.5, they brougth with them a lot of piston issues. They'd have stroked the motor if they could have, but it wouldn't fit in the cars. So they're stuck with the over-square, detonation machine that is the EJ257.

The base WRX engine, as of 2015, is a modern 2.0l DI powerplant. Much like BMW's N20.

The WRX is the better buy until the do something with the STIs engine. Embarrassing. It should have had a new motor in 2010, if not earlier. Now it's looking like 2020 at the earliest. A damn MS3 had a DI engine as of 2006 for god sakes.
Thanks for your insight into technical aspects of both WRX and STI. Wish I have enough money to buy WRX too along with M2 haha.
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      02-13-2017, 03:38 PM   #59
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STI is garbage compared to the M2, no comparison. I bought a 16 STI Limited new in Nov 2015 as a stop gap car, drove it only 2,300 miles and hated every mile. Sold it and bought a 17 M2 and am much happier.

The STI has a cheap interior, albeit much better than previous STI's. The clutch pedal is terrible, it has a very long travel and only engages at the very top. Pair the clutch bite point with a super touchy throttle and it's difficult to drive smoothly from a stop and shifting between 1st and 2nd.

The power is pretty lacking after about 4,000 RPM and in general and I was scared to tune or modify mine due to all the engines blowing up and Subaru not covering modified cars. My STI was 41K sticker (sold it at $36,500) and the M2 was 55 and the difference is worth every penny and you can feel it everywhere.

Oh yeah the Subaru crowd has a lot of dumb flat brim hat wearing kids and D-bags.

Last edited by CosmosMpower; 02-13-2017 at 03:46 PM..
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      02-18-2017, 09:26 AM   #60
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PrematureApex View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Luv2 View Post
if you did a Stage 1 tune with the Cobb Accessport on the STI, it will be faster than the M2, for about 1K.
No. Not even close.

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Originally Posted by Luv2 View Post
Subies are super reliable
No. The EJ257 fails at an incredibly alarming rate. Subaru acknowledges the rod bearing and piston issues with the motor. They stock shortblocks all over the country for a reason.

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Originally Posted by Luv2 View Post
Have had the same engine since about '10.
No. While the turbo was changed, it's had the same engine since its introduction as a 2004.

That post was all kinds of wrong.
+1

I currently have 11 wrx, engine rod failure at 56000 stage 2, voided warranty so 11k later, I now converted it my dd.
Like Matt Farrah stated on his podcast no mater how much money you drop on upgrades, it always feels the same, cannot agree more!
My fantasy is to put a torque converter since the clutch is hard as hell.

M2 and STI are completely different cars. The M2 is a much more refined machine, better place to be overall. I would like it to be a hair more raw in my opinion, but love it so fair, makes me giggle every time.

The STI and wrx are just not dynamically exciting, their chassis don't teach you anything about car dynamics, other than understeer.
Power and sound good but gets boring quite easily.

If weather is concerning, just put winter tires on the M2 and you'll be fine unless there is more than a foot of snow.

STI are in serious need of stepping up the game, this engine needs to die. Horrible economy and poor reliability.
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      02-28-2017, 06:13 PM   #61
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Having owned an 04 Evo VIII, which is not an 17 STI. The Evo VIII was compared to the E46 M3, the M3 is better in every way except tunability for power, wet performance and traction in the snow. I am a fan the WRX and STI, great cars. I can say the are Not engineered like a BMW, especially an M2. If you could only drive both, you would easily see and feel why you cannot compare the two.
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      03-03-2017, 02:50 AM   #62
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I have 15 sti with stage 3 and 17 m2 ,both so fun on track,for daily use m2 she's more comfortable for sure.
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      03-03-2017, 02:08 PM   #63
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I have 15 sti with stage 3 and 17 m2 ,both so fun on track,for daily use m2 she's more comfortable for sure.
Oh wow, that is my dream combination of cars haha. I'm leaning toward leasing WRX and buying M2 now. I really really love how WRX looks whether it is STI or Non STI.
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      03-03-2017, 04:23 PM   #64
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How fundamentally wrong is it to have a TMIC that's located basically, the hottest part of the car, in the engine bay?
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      03-08-2017, 12:09 AM   #65
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To me the STI is very ugly and is a boy races. It is a high performance marvel though. I have no desire for the STI and would wait for years to get the M2 over if I had to.
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      03-27-2017, 07:02 PM   #66
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Ended up buying 2017 WRX base 6 speed with the STI performance exhaust, short throw shifter, STI knob, side underbody spoiler, front bumper spoiler and some other little stuff. I couldn't let go of my childhood dream car before it gets uglier (2018 WRX redesigned the model and it looks ugly as hell). I still have love for M2 and I'm gonna shoot for M2 CS (I know it is speculative still but....) Thanks for all the advice guys!!!!
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