Hey everybody, new guy here w/ just a few quick questions (just like the title says of course). I am currently an E46 M3 owner here in Atlanta and am pretty big into the BMW tuning scene. I have decided to sell my car for several reasons and have come here to ask for some advice. I can either go with an E36 (97-99) M3 w/ a custom supercharger setup, the works. Or I can get an '04/05 Sti for hopefully in the mid 20's. Now I am a college student up here in Athens, don't really need backseats, but am looking for a car thats unique, fun as hell and lots of mod potential. The reason I am asking is b/c I have always loved the Sti, its a great car with a lot of potential. I was wondering what you guys think, now I know ya'll are partial but bear with me. Any and all feedback is appreciated. BTW - I drove an Evo8 awhile ago and was thoroughly unimpressed. Similarities or differences....... Also, I have been drifting for quite some time. I know that the Sti is 4 wheel drive but from some of you guys with experience, whats possible? Thanks, Nick
hey man, i will have to say that awd is awesome, there is nothing better than going flying around turns in the rain/snow past all big hp rear wheel cars. i am currently in my second wrx and absolutely love awd after having several rear wheel cars. i have always preferred the interior of the sti to the evo, but the evo handles about like a go kart. as far as drifting goes with awd, its a little harder to get sliding at first as you cant pull the ebrake, but in the wet its an absolute blast as there is tons of control, more so than any rwd ive driven. if you are ever down near duluth and its raining shoot me a pm and i will take you for a spin at this office park that we have permission to slide at, its huuuge, wide open, safe and tonnnns of fun. ill post up some vids of it tomorrow drew
first off, welcome to WRXatlanta theres tremendous modification potential on an STi... some of the biggest power STi's on this site that come to mind right now are owned by Genya, dlowman and undertow... all well over 400 hp at the wheels... shoot one of them a PM and see what they say i love the M3s... the e46 more so than the e36... but i love the feel of awd more... then again, i prefer going fast through corners instead of sideways... we have a BIG install day coming up (view link in my signature)... a LOT of us will be out there... come check it out... maybe u could ride along with some fixed up rides :bigthumb:
Thanks for the help so far guys. Is it gonna be possible for me to pick up a clean '04-05 Sti in the mid 20's? Also, how are they reliability wise and how hard is it to find a clean one? Where is this install day BTW?
More reliable than a BMW. I gave up my german car to get the STi. If you look in the paper, not many people sell their subaru's at all. One comes up for sale now and then though. I've seen them for $25-$29. If you must drift, the aftermarket does sell a transmission part so the STi is RWD only.
Welcome to the board Nick. If you are really serious about getting a used STI at the price you mentioned, look at Nasioc.com for their Cars for Sale Forum. You may be able to find something that fits your budget. Either car is great. I love my Subie, but at the same point would never turn down the chance at an M3. Repair and parts will most likely be a lot cheaper for the Subie, but to make big HP your are going to be spending alot just like with the BMW. Good luck, try to stop by our install day, meet the club, have a good time, and drink some beer in the cold.
Thanks for all the info so far guys, and I must say this is by far the nicest group of ppl I have met yet. I'll try to make it out to the installfest, where is it at BTW?
Welcome to WRXAtlanta.com I must say sti's or in some of our cases wrx r one of the best cars to modify to the core to gain superb horses or in my case camels(Ha Ha) the best thing about subaru's r their boxer machines just like a porshe and they r cheap to maintan and in any car if ur looking to do sumthing great then it will cost money, there is not alot of diffference in evo or a sti they r kinda same to same the biggest difference is the boxer in a sti and the stiff coils & etc.. so if u wanna hop in one of the members rides @ install day u will be glad u came and over all u will feel just like home with milo & rest of the crew.. & beer.... mmmmmm...donuts......i mean beer...
Welcome, welcome! I will try not to repeat what everyone has said. As Milo put it, I much prefer going fast through the corners rather than sliding (plus I do not have an unlimited tire budget ). A stock STi has plenty of power to start you off in the right direction. I recommend that you come to our install day this weekend and meet a few of us here in the Atlanta Subaru community, check out a few of the cars and share a few beers with us. You may learn something about Subaru's that you do not already know
I am bringing my evo to the install day if you want to check it out. I don't think that the interior is too bad in it, and they are pretty much equal on the track. My wife has an STi, and I drove both back and forth quite often, and consider them fairly equal. Nevertheless, they are better than most of the cars on the road. new pics: http://mere.darg.net/tgp-01-21-06 -- Brian
Welcome to the site. Since recently purchasing a WRX and coming from the Mustang GT/Cobra community I am honestly blown away by the bang for buck/ reliability and overall performance aspects of the Subaru Impreza. To me it is truly the "complete package". I know from a Mustang vs. M3 perspective it is hard to make a true comparison well maybe a Cobra that has full suspension mod's but from the change between big HP/AWD vs. big HP/RWD it is like night and day. From a reliability perspective I believe based on at least consumer reports neither German or domestic cars are the highest on the reliability charts German actually worse than even domestic you will be very, very pleased with the over all reliability ratings of Subaru's especially the Impreza. You will have to refer to the other folsk on the post for drifting info and cost. Although you could pick up a WRX for allot less and just modify the hell out of it Good luck and you are right this is a great group opf people here!
Welcome, It sounds like you are wanting to upgrade whatever vehicle you buy. I would suggest also looking at what aftermarket parts cost for both cars. I have checked out parts for an 99 M3 before and they are astronomical compared to some of the stuff out the for my WRX. This last Sunday at an autox in the rain, 9 out of 10 of the fastest times were from all wheel drive and front wheel drive. Just make sure you do some car fax, because you don't want to get some young kids dump on car.
Welcome! all these guyz have made really good points! When I brought my wrx there was an sti for around 21 so yes you can find one around that price. I use to love the m3's and still like them but I wouldn't own one because of the maintance and once you go AWD there is NO trunin back. Even in my stock wrx (for now) I can out handle most cars that cost waay more.
Wow guys, thanks for all the support so far. I'll definately try to stop by the install meet. Any other cars in the mid 20's that ya'll would consider (although I know you're gonna be a bit biased).
Welcome Nick! I started hangin out here back in December. I do not drive a Subaru, but will most likely be purchasing one in the near future. I will be at the install day at Milo's place this weekend, so you will not be the only newbie there. Hopefully I can get a ride with one or more of these guys to further solidify my decision to go with the Subaru. See you Saturday! Jonathan
By the way, your comment about everyone being very nice is the same way I felt. It seems like on a lot of these car forums the people are ignorant and rude, but not the case here. Everyone is well-educated or is still getting well-educated (for us that graduated or will graduated from Ga Tech - sorry had to throw that in, I noticed you are from UGA - no hard feelings) and that translates into people intelligently talking about cars instead of a lot of college aged people including myself at one time in my life that do stupid stuff to their cars with the little money they had at the time.
no downs on the evo or the sti. I really like the newer m3's. Personally i would not own a bmw for a couple reasons. 1. they are expensive as shiat to fix, and 2. at work we have a saying. In a rather *prissey and proper voice*, "I drive a BMW". haha. Now not to sound biased, and dont get me wrong bmw makes a great car just htat the people i have met in there scene have come off as snobbey and to good for me and not just when i have owned my subi. Anyway you go your more than welcome to come hang out with us, and i hope we can answer any questions you have. good luck with your purchase!
yeah the the new m3s are great... my brother has an o4 with a crapload done to it.. its prettty much the fastest car ive been in =P
I like BMWs, but i really don't like the newer models. I drove a 525i and a 325 at one of those drive a BMW without a dealer deals and i was not impressed. It seems to me that lately BMW's focus has been on luxury not performace, but I can't blame them cause that's what the US market wants. Both cars i drove felt heavy and sedated. Meanwhile my friend runs a small shop that makes turbo kits for BMWs only. The cars he has build up have been late 80s to mid90s and they are awesome. I really would like to buy a e30 or e36 as a track/autox car but don't have the garage space since there is a dead crx there. I haven't been in the lastest e46 m3 so I really can't compare, but I don't know why i like the e30 and e 36 models better. I guess it just comes down to want you want in a car, mostly performance or some performance with luxury. I see the e46 and e96 models as more luxury than performance. I would suggest personally a older BMW than a newer one if you going for performance. However I do love my STi to death.