[droideka]

i picked up a '08 STI AP last weekend and Cobb suprised me by releasing the maps this week. sweet! dl'd the map (stg 1 93 oct) and loaded it onto my AP. the flash is a LOT easier for the '08 as you don't have to connect test wires, or listen for a fan to kick in or anything. just plug in and go! absolutely NO issues doing the flash. not a one.

Let me preface this review with a few points. I had an '04 STi at one time that I quickly tuned up to stg 2 with a Cobb catted DP, an AP and Cobb's off-the-shelf stg2 93 oct map. at stg 2 i thought that car was brutal and fast. i wasn't nearly as happy going stg 1 in that car as i have been the '08. i was never impressed with the short gears in the '04 gear box as i always found myself bouncing off the rev limiter at track out around tight, double-apex turns that required the torque of 2nd gear to motor out of. Once owners start to extract the torque potential of the GH which seems to be MUCH greater than the GD, people will start to drop the long gearing complaints.

In addition, i just traded in a '07 legacy gt, the first subaru model with the silly SI drive. that car with a stock ECU suffered from a ridiculous "stutter" and hesitation between 3-4K with anything over 50% throttle application. i grew to HATE that car because of this issue. i also understand that some people felt the same hesitation or thought that they did in random examples of the '07 STi. unfortunately, after raising the revs and applying more throttle this week in the '08, it too suffers from a bit of stuttering and hesitation in the same rev range.

IMPRESSIONS:

- SUPER easy install

- the power gains are much greater compared to an 04-07 "stage 1". you absolutely feel the car explode at 4K. this is stage 1.5 comparatively speaking. stage 2 is going to be nuts.

- the '08 engine is smoother and ballsier than previous versions of the EJ25 i've owned and driven. it is no longer a raucous cacaphony of grinding, screaming and spitting. it feels like a big V6 or small V8. the $35K price of admission has been realized in full now. it's an all-around better application of the 2.5L to this point. the "stutter" is completely gone and throttle input is now entirely up to you and smooth as silk.

- in stock form, the car might feel floaty or soft to some drivers depending on how they approach turn in and throttle application. i now believe that is due to the car be crippled from the factory and not having enough power to put any leverage on the suspension and make it tighten up in corners and under hard accelleration. it should have come from the factory this way. Cobb suggests a gain of +12%HP/+19%TRQ with the stg 1 93 oct map. that comes out to 342HP/345TQ at the crank, the power that should have been delivered from the factory. during a drive this early AM, i was applying judicious throttle upon diving into hard corners and the car just tears up the fvcking asphalt with grip now.

- i have not really messed around with the SI drive functionality. i just locked it in S# and started playing today. it *seems* to still pull back on throttle like in stock form in I and S so i do not think that Cobb re-engineered that application to apply 100% throttle with lower boost targets. i could be wrong.

- i have my 4 year-old son this weekend and have NOT been able to get out and watch the AP for target boost metrics, nor hit the kind of speeds to check for target boost in each gear. i do hope to accomplish that learning tomorrow evening. regardless, i am EXTREMELY happy with the power the car is making, the way it reacts to throttle and the way it explodes out of corners.

- YMMV. i've owned an '04 stage 2 GD for 24 months, an '07 legacy gt for 14 months and now the '08 GH for 10 days. it is hands down better FOR ME then either of those cars from a "driver's" standpoint, IMO.