[hokie_sti]

Background:

I'm new to STIs, but not new to Subaru. My previous car was a 2005 San Remo Red WRX Wagon with a fairly long mod list. The WRX Wagon was totaled in an accident in early December 2008. .

After the WRX Wagon was totaled, I started searching for a new car. I found out about the $7000 AND 63 month 0% financing deal Subaru was offering on the 2008 STIs, so I headed a mile up the road to Stohlman Subaru in Vienna, VA to see what they had in stock. The next day I had a 2008 Spark Silver Metallic STI!

Plans:

When I bought the STI, my plans were to leave it stock. Hah, that didn't last long!

My plan is to build a daily driver that sees the occasional autocross and track day (Summit Point, VIR).



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Current Mod List:

Engine
- WVE15 Recall ECU Reflash
- Cobb Stage 1 93 Oct v102

Suspension
- RCE Regular Guy Springs (320 F / 320 R lbs) | Post #93
- Performance Alignment | Post #94
- Whiteline 22mm adjustable REAR sway bar (BSR49XZ) w/ braces (KBR15) | Post #16
- Whiteline 22mm adjustable FRONT sway bar (BSF39Z) | Post #24
- Kartboy Front end links | Post #127
- Kartboy Rear end links | Post #130

Wheels and Tires
- 2005 Gold STI BBS (17x8) wrapped with Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3 225/50/17 ... (winter setup) | Post #6
- 2005 Hemi Orange BBS (17x8) wrapped in RE10Rs 245/45/17 ... (summer setup) | Post #75
- 2008 STi 5 spokes (18x8.5) wrapped in Dunlop SP600s 245/40/18 ... (in storage)

Exterior
- Track Decals | Post #7
- Painted Tails | Post #83
- OEM Subaru Crossbar kit with locks
- Thule 517 Peloton fork mount bike rack
- Thule 593 wheel-on wheel holder
- Thule SportRack ABR622 Nomad fork mount bike rack
- Thule 512 2 pack lock kit

Interior
- SPT Boost Gauge | Post #116
- OEM rubber trunk cargo mat
- OEM rubber winter mats

Gone but not forgotten
- Sparco Torino II seat | Post #43
- Sparco driver's side seat base (400SB071L) | Post #43

Ordered
- nothing

Waiting to Install
- nothing

Future Mod List:
- SPT catback or Cobb catback

[hokie_sti]

Day One:

Here are pics of the car about 1 hour after I took it home. The dealer badge was the first thing to come off.

[hokie_sti]

Reserved # 2

[hokie_sti]

Reserved # 3

[06STIlin]

Welcome! I would suggest getting the clear bra. The paint seems to be really fragile! Wish I would have done it off the bat!

[hokie_sti]

Winter Wheels and Tires

I bought the STI in December 2008 and snow/ice storms were fast approaching. I did NOT want to even attempt to run the sock Dunlops in even light snow let alone ice.

After reading through all the posts in the "2008 STI Winter Wheel and Tire" thread, I decided I wanted to get a set of 05-07 STI BBS wheels. I searched for a few days and came across a mint set of gold 05 BBS in Richmond, VA (110 miles away) that were MINT and CHEAP. I told my fiance I'd be driving to Richmond to get them and she said she wanted to come along for the road trip. I didn't mind driving to get them because it was an excuse to get through a good chunk of 1000 mile break-in

Before the trip I ordered a set of 225/50/17 Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3s from tire rack. They were delivered the day before I made the trip to pick up the wheels.

At any rate, I picked up the wheels and they were in fact MINT. When I got home later that I had them mounted and balanaced at a local tire shop. I was happy that I could fit 4 wheels (in boxes) AND 4 tires in the back of the STI with the seats down.

When I got home from the tire shop, I mounted the wheels on the car and here are the results:





The weight difference of the stock 5 spokes (~27 lbs) vs the 05 BBS (~17 lbs) was immediately noticable. So now I'd have to get a set of lighter wheels for summer

[hokie_sti]

Track Decals

I ordered some track outline decals of the tracks I've driven on ... Nurburgring and Summit Point Shenandoah Circuit. They are about 2" tall and are silver.

[ebo03]

Go Hokies! Hopefully they will have a better showing in the Orange Bowl than last year. Are you still in the Blacksburg area or in NOVA now?

[hokie_sti]

The car was finally broken in a few days ago 12/25/08...



I had the WVE15 reflash done around ~600 miles as well as an oil change. I didn't realize the dealer hadn't done this prior to me buying the car. I was disappointed by this. I hadn't gone over 4K yet, so hopefully no damage was done in that period. I'm hoping the few miles that were on the car when I picked it up were "gentle" miles.

Now that break-in is complete, I've been playing around with S and S# modes. The power is much improved over my WRX Wagon, but the handling is a little "mushy". I'm going to order 22mm F/R whiteline sways in January 2009 so that should help out with the body roll. I'll get a set of JDM sti pink springs eventually to firm up the ride even further as well as a performance alignment.

[RFFG]

Very nice, enjoy it