I've had my G for almost 2 years now and it has been a great 33K miles. I was planning on keeping it when the lease ends in April of '09, until I discovered high volume Subaru dealers are offering 7K + off of the '08 STI and 0% financing for 63 months.

I made a deposit on one and I'm supposed to fly out and pick it up, on Thursday or Friday, but I'm having second thoughts, thinking of all that I would be giving up in the G, but being a long time Scooby maniac, and past STI owner, I miss my turbo charged engines. After the G's nav, I decided to never buy a car with factory nav again, so I opted for a base STI, but I'm going to miss my tech package toys.

Having owned 9 different cars in the past 11 years, I never thought I would be losing sleep over something like this. I'm also a bit peeved at Infiniti for how quickly the car depreciated, my residual is almost $27K, but if I go to trade in to get out of the lease early, 23K is all anyone wants to offer, so if I decide to take the STI plunge, I'll be keeping the G until the lease is up and Infiniti can eat their loss on the resale.

I'm just a power junkie and the STI has so many options for more power at a relatively cheap price, I was hoping for a TT or Supercharger kit for the G by now, but all we have are a bunch of $$$$$ per HP parts.

What would you do?

 

It's a tough call IMO. It really depends on what you are looking for right now. 1. The VQ35HR engine really does not have that much aftermarket support currently (I believe Greddy is the only one that has a TT for the VQ HR and I'm not too sure if it's out yet) while the STI has a ton of aftermarket support.
2. In general, people view the STI as a "rice boy" car and tends to generate some bad attention. Case in point, my friend constantly gets cops, street racers, and car thieves attention b/c he has the STI. Due to all the attention, he has been wanting to get rid of the car. On the flip side, the G is generally regarded as more of a refined "adult" ride.
3. IMO, I've been in and driven both and while the STI is simply an amazing car, my vote is down for the G

 

i think our G has plenty of enough power, but the STI is way more sport oriented but less "luxury". Though our interior is pretty sad compared to Audi's, acura, and even the new maxima....

 

Go for the suby if you are 18-20. If you are older go for something else. You don't have to go with the G. Try the 135. YOu can beat suby with that thing if you crank the boost. If you already have a second thought, you will regret it. I think the suby is ugly. Most likely it is just me but I can't stand them. You know it is might be fast and handles good but you have to get out of the car once and look at the damn thing.

You should sit down and think about it seriously.

tg

 

What TG said, take a look at the 135i, Chipped 335i kill a stock m3, imagine what a chipped 135i can do......

 

The 02 WRX wagon I traded in for my G had less interior noises. I like the G but I don't love it. It's the cheapest made expensive car money can buy. A car that list for almost 42K should be built better. But since I only paid 35K I can live with some of the short comings.

 

I'll have them both at the same time and with what I'm paying for the STI, I can probably sell it to Carmax and come out even, if I decide not to keep it. Gugarci, I traded in an '05 LGT wagon, and even with frameless windows, it too was quieter than the G. The BMWs are nice, but they are over priced.

The '08 STI is a big improvement over my '05 STI in the NVH area, as well as comfort. I'll just have to see. Thanks for the replies guys.

 

Coming for a EVO and then a 350Z. I loved the EVO's power(430hp) but cops followed my all the time and people wanted to race me all the time got old fast. I love my G and would not look to leave it to go back the tuner world. I do like the look of the new STI, I see one in the mornings waiting for the bus. But like someone eles said if you are 20-23 then get the STI but if you are older then either stay with the G or look into a Audi(S4) or BWM(135 or 335). I'm older ,married and having a family soon so the STI would be out for me but this is a personal choice of mine.Take everone elses opion with a grain of salt and make your own decision.. Just my .02

 

I never had a problem with cops and the '05 STI. I'm in my forties, so maybe they didn't see me as some young punk with a fast car, and I tend to leave my vehicles visually stock, no tint or overly loud exhaust, etc. I lived in CT at the time and could count on one hand, the number of times someone wanted to race me in the STI. The Porsche was another matter, people wanted to race that all the time, but street racing is idiotic and I would just ignore the idiots.

I also have a brady bunch of kids, 7 total between the wife and I, but my car is for my driving enjoyment, for "transportation," we have other options.

 

the *only* car at this point that would steer me away from the 08 sti is the upcoming 370z. both look fun, a little rowdy, and decently quick. the real jump in the sti is the easy power and you can drive it MUCH harder.

torque is nice to have. the sti will be a blast.

 

Done deal. I took delivery in Cherry Hill, NJ, last Friday and the drive home was great, the car has been refined a lot since I owned my '05. I'll post more of a comparison when I've had more seat time.

 

Congrats on the new ride

 

Thanks man!! In an ideal world, I would own them both. The G is the hot wife, but the STI is the hot mistress, that does what the wife won't

 

Nice choice man!!

As a former Eclipse GSX and WRX owner, I actually considered the EVO and STI before ultimately buying my G... I just couldn't pass up $9K off on a brand new 2008 G35S... The difference in interior and features was the kicker for me.... But the STI is a great car... the new one rides a little too soft and has too much body roll for my tastes (so does te G), but that is vy easy to fix with a few mods. Have fun with the new ride!!

 

I do love the interior of my G over the STI's, especially the sport seats.

Bigger sways are going to be my next mod, I decided to start with the Cobb AP. If I could have gotten an '08 for 9K off MSRP, I may have been singing a different tune.