What I ended up doing is stopping by my buddys house who has a WRX that runs roughly 300hp to the crank...similar power to the STi with a different curve. I've had lots of turbo cars so I'm used to the power curve (turbo mini, built turbo sr20 pickup, various diesels). The power was plenty adequate, I'm pretty sure I was not in Sport or S# I think I was all the way over to the right which is probably why.
I'm ordering it today: 2013 STi with Short Shifter, SiriusXM, and Aero Rack. Anything else I should definitely get?