Got to drive an 06 Sti today

[ZfrkS62]

Nothing special, just a quick sprint around the block, but WOW! I am impressed!

Louisiana has a mandatory state safety inspection that has to be done on every road going vehicle. New cars geta 2 year certification, everything else gets 1 year. Nothing huge, but if you knew how many cars were out there with shot bushings, brakes, tires, etc. You'd start wishing your state had one too

Anyways, the guy who owns this car is a friend of one of my coworkers and somewhat of an aquaintance of mine. He just got it 2 weeks ago, and for some reason the Scooby dealer never did the state inspection. So, he shows up at about 5:15 needing one, and luckily i was the only one there at the time who is certified to do the inspection One of the checks you have to do is make sure that from 20 mph the car will stop under normal braking within 20 feet. I mentioned this jokingly to him, but he tossed me the keys anyway (the car only has 830 miles!)

From my 2 mile jog with the car, i was really compelled to go to Baton Rouge and test drive another one The clutch is absolutely perfect! I didn't feel like i had to hunt for the bite point at all and my god does that thing grab!

The brake and gas is set on the border of being too far apart for my tastes, but they are just close enough to roll between them to blip the throttle under braking, which is so much more than what i was expecting. The pedal is pretty firm and is quite easy to threshold brake, which i still think i was safely below.

What took me by complete surprise was the grip and response when i made the quick right hander. This was the first time i had driven an all wheel drive car that didn't have a foot and a half of ground clearance :roll: so i didn't have much to compare it to, but i have never felt anything like it!!

The giddy-up was fucking awesome! Felt like an M3, but without the sound. IMO, the exhaust is too quiet. Even though the butt dyno approved, my ears were less than impressed. The steering felt pretty neutral as well. Didn't require a bunch of effort, but didn't have any extra play in either. Granted i've probably gotten too used to the Servotronic in the BMW's so my assesment of the steering may not be dead on, but for a japanese car, i am impressed.

Dingo, i can see why you love your WRX so much. I just wish i could afford to pay $548/mo for one I'm starting to get the feeling i'm not going to be able to afford a decent car anytime soon

(EDIT) The owner was riding shotgun and laughing his ass off at how much fun i was having.