Chaincat
05-21-2001, 02:57 AM
Well, I know the front says we all know the STi might come over but I was talking to the manager at the dealership about the possibility of an STi. First let me say that the guy was above and beyond my expectations. I thought I knew a lot about Scoobs but this guy knew more. (I've been a proud member of this board, getting edjumacated, for quite some time now http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/smile.gif )
So here is what he told me after I pretty much interogated him for a couple hours:
So when I took the WRX for a test drive I baited him by asking him how Subaru would respond to Mitsubishi bringing the EVO over here. Without my loading the question with STi he replied, "with the STi".
So I asked him how the STi would be different from the 'normal' WRX. He replied that it would most likely be tuned for 'much more' power and would have a lot of mods: suspension, seats, lights, pretty much anything that they could improve on from the original. He said that it would be above and beyond the expectations of most enthusiasts. Now here is the really strange thing. He said that if they brought it over it'd be limited to 300 cars and that they would probably be listed at 35k. Which he thought would take them well into the 40's with dealer gouging.
I was somewhat dubious because Japan obviously already has the STi and while it has signifigant changes, the changes didn't sound as epic as he was making them out to be. (Of course, this is a guy trying to sell cars so...) Anyways, when I saw the posting about 300 special edition scoobs in Britain it rang a bell of familiarity. This chat with the dealer was about two weeks ago so seeing that post opened my eyes a bit.
Anyways, some of the guys at the dealership (mechanics) own RS' and have tuned them a lot. One supposedly has a BPM half dog set, 500hp, and SE37 wheels (17's). http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/smile.gif (I know that's a kind of random list of mod's but it's just what he mentioned when I asked him questions like, "500hp, what has he done to his tranny?" and stuff like that) Anyways, he told me it would be a better bet to get a WRX because even if they're available it'd be cheaper to tune the engine/car and get exactly what I want with likely more power. Of course, he'd probably rather sell a WRX today than hope to sell an STi in a year or two... Oh, and my last couples of interesting tidbits from the chat. I asked him how the WRX transmission was different from the 1st Gen RS' and he told me he was almost positive that it is exactly the same. (Don't ask me, that sounds just plain crazy with all of the tranny problems I have heard of with stock RS', not to mention modded ones) Also, the dealership was an Acura/Scoob dealer and I asked him if they had any pre-orders for the Acura RSX and he said not a one. He said the WRX evoked a much bigger reaction. He's sold 17 already with more on order. (According to him) He said that no one has even come in asking about it when he's been working. So that was a bit surprising because I thought the Honda/Acura crowd would be rubbing their hands in anticipation. Anyways, I thought I would just post this since I saw the Britain posting.
-Brian
So here is what he told me after I pretty much interogated him for a couple hours:
So when I took the WRX for a test drive I baited him by asking him how Subaru would respond to Mitsubishi bringing the EVO over here. Without my loading the question with STi he replied, "with the STi".
So I asked him how the STi would be different from the 'normal' WRX. He replied that it would most likely be tuned for 'much more' power and would have a lot of mods: suspension, seats, lights, pretty much anything that they could improve on from the original. He said that it would be above and beyond the expectations of most enthusiasts. Now here is the really strange thing. He said that if they brought it over it'd be limited to 300 cars and that they would probably be listed at 35k. Which he thought would take them well into the 40's with dealer gouging.
I was somewhat dubious because Japan obviously already has the STi and while it has signifigant changes, the changes didn't sound as epic as he was making them out to be. (Of course, this is a guy trying to sell cars so...) Anyways, when I saw the posting about 300 special edition scoobs in Britain it rang a bell of familiarity. This chat with the dealer was about two weeks ago so seeing that post opened my eyes a bit.
Anyways, some of the guys at the dealership (mechanics) own RS' and have tuned them a lot. One supposedly has a BPM half dog set, 500hp, and SE37 wheels (17's). http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/smile.gif (I know that's a kind of random list of mod's but it's just what he mentioned when I asked him questions like, "500hp, what has he done to his tranny?" and stuff like that) Anyways, he told me it would be a better bet to get a WRX because even if they're available it'd be cheaper to tune the engine/car and get exactly what I want with likely more power. Of course, he'd probably rather sell a WRX today than hope to sell an STi in a year or two... Oh, and my last couples of interesting tidbits from the chat. I asked him how the WRX transmission was different from the 1st Gen RS' and he told me he was almost positive that it is exactly the same. (Don't ask me, that sounds just plain crazy with all of the tranny problems I have heard of with stock RS', not to mention modded ones) Also, the dealership was an Acura/Scoob dealer and I asked him if they had any pre-orders for the Acura RSX and he said not a one. He said the WRX evoked a much bigger reaction. He's sold 17 already with more on order. (According to him) He said that no one has even come in asking about it when he's been working. So that was a bit surprising because I thought the Honda/Acura crowd would be rubbing their hands in anticipation. Anyways, I thought I would just post this since I saw the Britain posting.
-Brian