We've had a great time driving this Blizzak-equipped Subie through some wicked Michigan snowstorms. While the '08 is less raw than the previous gen, our stealthy black hatchback is still just as exciting, and controllable, as its large-winged predecessor to slide around in the white stuff. Unfortunately, we've been noticing an odd power surge under full-throttle acceleration and a grinding noise from the brakes.


2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI - Long-Term Road Test Update
http://www.caranddriver.com/var/ezwebin_site/storage/images/reviews/hot_lists/car_shopping/long_term_road_tests/2008_subaru_impreza_wrx_sti_long_term_road_test_up date/2008_subaru_impreza_wrx_sti/subimp_wrxsti_08_longterm_brown_6/1939769-1-eng-US/subimp_wrxsti_08_longterm_brown_6_gallery_image_la rge.jpg

Current Mileage/Months in Fleet: 26,519 miles/9 months
Average Fuel Economy/Range: 20 mpg/338 miles
Service: $340
Normal Wear: $0
Repair: $0

Here in Ann Arbor, we’re pretty used to driving in the snow. If enough comes down, as it certainly has this year, it can paralyze the city, but we shrugged it off as our hooligan WRX STI plowed through eight, nine, even ten inches of snow with ease. It’s been a whole lot of fun.

Remount the Snow Tires
When our STI arrived last March, we ordered a set of 235/45R-17 Bridgestone Blizzak WS-60s and had them mounted on a set of black O-Z Racing Ultraleggera wheels. It handled the tail end of that winter like a champ and this year has been no different. Sideways shenanigans really bring this car to life, and we love the STI’s very liberal stability control system. Many a staff member has strolled in to work on mornings after a fresh snowfall sporting a huge grin from their commute—or play time—in the STI. Indeed, excitement over ice racing (http://videos.caranddriver.com/services/link/bcpid627028702/bclid674419803/bctid1438428654) the STI again began in early November and continues to build for the start of the season later this month.

Click here to read the rest at www.CARandDRIVER.com (http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/hot_lists/car_shopping/long_term_road_tests/2008_subaru_impreza_wrx_sti_long_term_road_test_up date)

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Can I buy it when you hit 40k?

I like the rims, thats a perfect size for those wheel wells imo

We've had a great time driving this Blizzak-equipped Subie through some wicked Michigan snowstorms. While the '08 is less raw than the previous gen, our stealthy black hatchback is still just as exciting, and controllable, as its large-winged predecessor to slide around in the white stuff. Unfortunately, we've been noticing an odd power surge under full-throttle acceleration and a grinding noise from the brakes.


http://www.caranddriver.com/var/ezwebin_site/storage/images/reviews/hot_lists/car_shopping/long_term_road_tests/2008_subaru_impreza_wrx_sti_long_term_road_test_up date/2008_subaru_impreza_wrx_sti/subimp_wrxsti_08_longterm_brown_1/1939699-1-eng-US/subimp_wrxsti_08_longterm_brown_1_gallery_image_la rge.jpg

Whats going on here?

Whats going on here?

alpine headunit has a detaching navigation module that can be taken with you outside the car.

he is placing the navi module inside the head unit.

something to that extent. I've seen something like this before. Personally I'm waiting to install a Kenwood/GARMIN unit into my 08 along with some improved speakers to make my daily commute more fun.

100LL? I think you misunderstood the premium UNleaded thing :lol: j/k of course.

20mpg/338 range :lol: You guys must drive like old ladies. This one gets no better mileage than my 05 in town and less on the freeway. :confused: I have driven it in i 95% of the time and mostly highway. Best on the highway was 20 mpg calculated which displayed 19.5 on computer. Around town with a very light foot I'm getting 17mpg. I used to get 12mpg around town in the 05, but I drove like a maniac, but 24 mpg on the highway. I didn't buy the car for gas mileage :devil:, just my observation. Mine only has 2000 miles so it may get better.

I don't know about you guys but it would really piss me off if I didn't get rear garment hooks:lol:

I've gotten as high as 28mpg on the highway but 23-25 seems to be standard for 65-75mph for me.

Average Fuel Economy/Range: 20 mpg/338 miles

I wish I could get that much :(

Just wondering what size those rims are, width and diameter...

Average Fuel Economy/Range: 20 mpg/338 miles

I wish I could get that much :(

^^ i get about that much.


I don't know about you guys but it would really piss me off if I didn't get rear garment hooks:lol:

^^ not that, but the heated mirrors woulda been nice. especially with our winters....

I dunno, the tranny problem and brake problems REALLY shouldn't surprise anyone as I'm sure all the people who have driven it drive it like it's stolen.

driving like you stole doesn't give an excuse for broken tranny/brakes...it is bred from racing and track use and should be able to take the abuse seeing as there is no way to test 10/10ths of the cars engineered limits on the street.

People who can't drive break them.

Average Fuel Economy/Range: 20 mpg/338 miles

I wish I could get that much :(

You need to get that checked out but I pretty sure you may have control of that... right? right?;) Right.

Like the write up, also trying to see if I can get my self into a newer STI.

By any chance was someone driving this car on the 25th on I-96 from I-275 toward Detroit around 2pm? I swear that is the plate I saw on that ride. If it was, gave a wave and followed for a bit.

Awesome, but this car badly needs a tint job and different/blacked out tails :huh:

those rims are mean lookin on that car. they fit it nicely.

I think that's the manu plated STi I see parked around the corner from my house. It's fun, every morning I drive by this house and there are usually two different cars parked there. Today I think it was a Ram pickup and a Mazda6. The STi is a regular there. I was never sure which pub the owner was with.
Month or two back saw a GC that looked like ti just got a body kit put on. Swop? Track car?

i thought they fixed the wastegate problems on the 07's and up why are you guys having surging issues

Average Fuel Economy/Range: 20 mpg/338 miles

I wish I could get that much :(

No way we're gonna make that mileage driving to/from Downtown.

driving like you stole doesn't give an excuse for broken tranny/brakes...it is bred from racing and track use and should be able to take the abuse seeing as there is no way to test 10/10ths of the cars engineered limits on the street.

People who can't drive break them.


And when there is a LOT of people driving it like maniacs you are bound to see a LOT more wear and tear than normal.

Just wondering what size those rims are, width and diameter...

Tire size is 235/45/17... You can make a pretty educated guess from that;)

i thought they fixed the wastegate problems on the 07's and up why are you guys having surging issues

Because Subaru tunes in a lean spot between 3000-4000 rpms because thats where you typically sit when on the highway in order to get better mileage numbers. I had my car stg 1 tuned on the dyno and it is smooth, smooth, smooth, but get worse mileage on the highway. I get better mileage in town than on the highway. :confused:

Whats with the car popping out of second gear?
Thats random.

Tire size is 235/45/17... You can make a pretty educated guess from that

Well a certain size tire can fit on several different rim thicknesses. j/w which width it actually is.

If you're a sideways ice-freak like me, this C&D video is worth watching. (http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid627028702/bclid674419803/bctid1438428654)

All of the snowcross stuff in Colorado is tight like an autocross. We don't have any huge frozen lakes like this.

If you're a sideways ice-freak like me, this C&D video is worth watching. (http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid627028702/bclid674419803/bctid1438428654)

All of the snowcross stuff in Colorado is tight like an autocross. We don't have any huge frozen lakes like this.

Love that video, the event is coming up and wish I could make it this year, but a no go. Would like to talk personally with some of the C&D employees about this test drive.

These guys got the best jobs ever!

I want my 2 minutes back

thats a hot car

Got them beat! I'm just over 40,000 miles on my 08 sti, running stage two replaced brake pads twice and so far so good!!!

Got them beat! I'm just over 40,000 miles on my 08 sti, running stage two replaced brake pads twice and so far so good!!!

Either you are running track days or you love using the brakes. :confused: What pads are you using?

looks like a wanna be gti/ civic si .

blizzacks suck so hard too . being from michigan i figured you guys would know what real now tires are. blizzacks are for like nj suburban house wifes on their mini van.

you should get some nokian hakapalita 5's on that bitchness! and 10 " of snow???? yea ok what crack are you guys on? no way is that car going through 10" of snow with blizzacks on. whats it have 5"s of clearance ?

The brake noise issue is pretty widespread. Follow this thread.

http://www.iwsti.com/forums/gr-braking/117180-08-sti-brake-noise.html

I have it too.

Aftermarket pads seem to fix the noise. With replacement OEM pads the noise comes back.

I would turn the VDC off. The ABS makes the noise when heated. Should almost be like a grinding noise and you can even feel it through the pedal which is annoying but normal.

Letting it cool with the VDC off alleviates the noise, however if you leave it on, the noise continues for an extended period of time.

Also the VDC being on makes the throttle control a bit cumbersome because you are essentially never at even traction on all 4 wheels. This makes the TQ limiting factor of the VDC act weird at times as when it senses that any of the 2 wheels are even at traction it lets tq jump up until traction is once again lost then boost dives down again even at WOT.

Either you are running track days or you love using the brakes. :confused: What pads are you using?

Haha! Canyon runs! First pad replacement with Stock Brembo and two weeks ago turned front rotors and replaced pads with Hawk HPS!

Aftermarket pads seem to fix the noise. With replacement OEM pads the noise comes back.

OEM pads are a bit on the soft side once heated for better /quicker braking capacity and less heating time but less overall longevity. When heated the brakes are softer and uou can feel the friction materials more through the pedal and they make grinding feel and noise. Aftermarket tends to be a bit harder (depending on formulation) and hence tend to be on the smoother side for longer periods of time. Hence lack of the grinding.

Haha! Canyon runs! First pad replacement with Stock Brembo and two weeks ago turned front rotors and replaced pads with Hawk HPS!

Subaru warranty brakes/brake pads up to 36k miles

Free replacement of both rotor and pads

Did this in my 05 once prior to hitting 30k miles

Free of charge all 4 corners :)

Subaru warranty brakes/brake pads up to 36k miles

Free replacement of both rotor and pads

Did this in my 05 once prior to hitting 30k miles

Free of charge all 4 corners :)

Yeah i kept my work local to my shop! Plus i had them changed earlier than they should have been! Like posts above when i run in the canyon they heat up and squeak bad! Now i'm trying HPS pads so far so good! Eventually gonna swap rotors out with some aftermarket stuff! Haven't chose which ones yet but probally another 30,000 to 20,000 miles away!
But rear end suspension is getting squeaky!

Is the power surge you are talking about just the enhanced feeling from the Dual AVCS over the single AVCS on previous years? I notice something similar around 4500 and up to redline the car seems to pull way harder. It is like it hits boost hard at 3200 RPM, than as soon as it gets into the upper 4000's like 45-4800 rpm it hits even harder.

The brake noise I noticed also, Hawk HP's seem to fix it, but they do not seem to react as well in the cold cold, untill you drive for some time.

Is the power surge you are talking about just the enhanced feeling from the Dual AVCS over the single AVCS on previous years? I notice something similar around 4500 and up to redline the car seems to pull way harder. It is like it hits boost hard at 3200 RPM, than as soon as it gets into the upper 4000's like 45-4800 rpm it hits even harder.

The brake noise I noticed also, Hawk HP's seem to fix it, but they do not seem to react as well in the cold cold, untill you drive for some time.

Probably not. I had my completely stock 08 tuned and picked up 40hp, 70tq and it is smooth as a babies butt. Doug from Topspeed was telling me that is was tuned into the car at 3000-4000 rpms to save fuel at cruising speeds. My car is sooooooo smooth now. It's a pleasure to drive now.

Is the power surge you are talking about just the enhanced feeling from the Dual AVCS over the single AVCS on previous years? I notice something similar around 4500 and up to redline the car seems to pull way harder. It is like it hits boost hard at 3200 RPM, than as soon as it gets into the upper 4000's like 45-4800 rpm it hits even harder.

It helps if you make all your passengers yell "VTEC JUST KICKED IN YO!!!!" every time you cross that rpm threshold.

I noticed the grinding sound with mine. My windshield washer quit working. Have you had any electrical problems on yours?

It helps if you make all your passengers yell "VTEC JUST KICKED IN YO!!!!" every time you cross that rpm threshold.

LOL :lol:

I noticed the grinding sound with mine. My windshield washer quit working. Have you had any electrical problems on yours?

I havent had electrical problems yet! Knock on Wood!!!! But i did bend my front tie rod!!!!! But came at a perfect time! Tires need replacing to! Three for one stupid stunt! Tie rod, tires, and alignment! Bought me some bad ass Maypop tires!!!!:lol: Only if i wasnt broke!

looks like a wanna be gti/ civic si .

blizzacks suck so hard too . being from michigan i figured you guys would know what real now tires are. blizzacks are for like nj suburban house wifes on their mini van.

you should get some nokian hakapalita 5's on that bitchness! and 10 " of snow???? yea ok what crack are you guys on? no way is that car going through 10" of snow with blizzacks on. whats it have 5"s of clearance ?

crack. stop smoking it

I agree, get off the crack. I have Blizzac re01 on my 05 and it rips through the snow...17 inches of it yesterday

ive had the same bizzacs you speak of and they sucked . no i dont do crack thanks . but do think bridgestones suck really hard .

it snowed here too whats your point?

just look at them. rip? i think not . i use nokian hakapelita's and would recogmend nothing less if you like grip in ice and snow.

bridgestones http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr343/watchunglava/blizzack.jpg


my nokians http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr343/watchunglava/Nokian_Hakkapeliitta_4.jpg

i want to see pics of you "ripping " through 17'' of snow in an 08 impreza with blizacks!

just look how wide those blizacks are gimmie a break dude , you know little about snow driving if you think blizacks are the bomb

now to other issues so hey, is the assisted drive capability on the 08 able to be disarmed by pulling a fuse like the abs?

if so pull it and see if you still have the issues

Love hatch STIs and always did - but sorry to hear about so many problems that it has under 30k miles.

I agree, get off the crack. I have Blizzac re01 on my 05 and it rips through the snow...17 inches of it yesterday

Just curious - you didn't lose your front bumper driving through those 17 inches, did you? :) Or were you driving behind the sander?

I drove my STI through the worst unplowed snow storm last year we had which was like about 1 foot within 5-6 hours. I had no problem controlling the car, but broke my front lip.

I think even STI would get stock in 17 inches of snow standing still and spinning all 4 wheels, no matter what tires it has - so mine did in the dunes of sand on a wild beach in Ocean City with a restricted access. Thought I could do some rally... Cops brought me a showel and after couple hours of digging pushed me out. As a prize, gave me a $45 ticket for entering without a special permit for 4WD vehicles :lol:.

Test.

Okay, just making sure the edit button works. It was the only explanation I could think of for watchunglava posting 4 different replies within 7 minutes of each other.

You outback drivers should slow down a little!!!!!:banana:

That's funny. My wife who drives like a Grandma got a ticket in her silver OB. I got pulled over in it, but didn't get a ticket. Cops hate soccer moms.

The only really annoying issue I had with my '08 early on (other than that stupid clutch gurgle at startup) was going from 1st to 2nd at redline would occasionally yield a horrible grind. It wouldn't happen all the time and I could be as deliberate with my clutching/shifting as a wanted and it would still do it. Once I put the Kartboy shifter bushings + TiC pivot bushing in, the issue went away. This happened at stage 1 power levels. My '05 never exhibited this 2nd gear grind, though 3, 4, and 5 would sometimes act up. :)

Other than that, this car has actually been more reliable than my '05 which had a DCCD CM failure 2 weeks after taking ownership, had tons of rattles, strut clunk, faulty clutch release bearing, synchro issues (but never a failure), etc. I loved that car though. :)

nice review.

You should let me test some cars for you. I drive up to 35K miles per year.:)

hey sorry if i missed it in the thread, or in another, but does anyone know what rims those are? theyre reallll sick... :D

Is the power surge you are talking about just the enhanced feeling from the Dual AVCS over the single AVCS on previous years? I notice something similar around 4500 and up to redline the car seems to pull way harder. It is like it hits boost hard at 3200 RPM, than as soon as it gets into the upper 4000's like 45-4800 rpm it hits even harder.

The brake noise I noticed also, Hawk HP's seem to fix it, but they do not seem to react as well in the cold cold, untill you drive for some time.

The Dual AVCS limits power under 4k's to enhance the EPA. it doesn't make the car faster, it just feels like a vtec sorta....the wrx's dont have that though

My car is tuned now and I do not notice any of the Above posted "surges" any longer. Very smooth for the full power band.

my frikkin 01 rs gets 20mpg between city n highway. i hate it. mods r delta 2000 grind cams, borla replica headers, and megan exhaust, not sure if its supposed 2 make only 20mpg on average. 08 sti's r growing on me though, i totally didn't like the look at all at first.

i want to see pics of you "ripping " through 17'' of snow in an 08 impreza with blizacks!

dude i have an 06 impreza with summer tires on and i drive through 10-12 inches of snow all the time. I drive in the snow all the time since i plow, (not with my car obviously) and if i had snow tires it would probably go through 17 inches of snow.. just wouldn't want to stop on any inclines or you would be stuck. so basically to say an sti with blizzaks isnt going to go through 10 inches of snow is pretty dumb.

dude i have an 06 impreza with summer tires on and i drive through 10-12 inches of snow all the time. I drive in the snow all the time since i plow, (not with my car obviously) and if i had snow tires it would probably go through 17 inches of snow.. just wouldn't want to stop on any inclines or you would be stuck. so basically to say an sti with blizzaks isnt going to go through 10 inches of snow is pretty dumb.

lol, I plowed WITH my car up in AK sometimes...

... not on purpose... Not much ya can do when there is 4 feet of snow and you want to play ^_^.

But hell my 04 STi loved it. Even when I had to go 5 mph due to the fact that I couldn't see(like I said... snow plow). I was amazed at the places that car would go with those hankook ipikes!

I got about 28mpg on the highway with the Superzilla 49 also.



[man... I need to get my car and driver subscription back!!]

A averaged 23MPG getting on the gas ocasionally in my BBQ 08. It was lower when I drove it fast. You may not like the looks of the hatch but will love the Utility. 40X80 inches.....:D

my frikkin 01 rs gets 20mpg between city n highway. i hate it. mods r delta 2000 grind cams, borla replica headers, and megan exhaust, not sure if its supposed 2 make only 20mpg on average. 08 sti's r growing on me though, i totally didn't like the look at all at first.