I know there's a thread that covers this a little bit already, but it's degenerated into a bit of a mess and hasn't been updated for a couple of months.
I recently got tired of the build quality issues of my particular FR-S after 11 months of ownership and traded it in for a '13 STI last month.
Went from this:
To this:
Comparing the two is almost entirely pointless considering they are vastly different price ranges and build purpose. But from a DD perspective, I will say this:
I much prefer the FR-S.
Time in shop aside, the FR-S handled in a way I prefer, had a great driving position, had a better shifter (that is, when it wasn't fighting me on 1st and 2nd gear), and just gave me more of a rush when driving it.
The STI is a great car, it has just a ridiculous amount of power. Once you hit 3rd you are pretty much buried in your seat until you hit 3 digits. The STI is also wildy more practical for hauling people around in, which means I do get to show it off more.
But, the STI is a heavier car, it handles like a nimble sedan instead of a pure lightweight import RWD. Which isn't a knock against the STI, that's just how it was designed.
Both accomplish conveying what they were designed to do. I just happen to fancy what the 86 has to say.
2013 is possibly the last year of this generation WRX/STI, and you can really tell. Everything about the refinement and fine tuning of the vehicle just clues you in on how evolved a platform it is. No chirping fuel pump, no shifting problems, no surprise check engine lights.
The STI has known issues (oil pickup, ringland failures), but they are known issues and I don't suspect I'll end up having to explain the problem and cause to the dealership like I've had to with the FRS numerous times.
To break it down between pros and cons
FR-S Pros:
- Handles in a way I prefer.
- Uniqueness of a new platform. Turns a lot of heads.
- Looks sharp.
- After market parts are reliably better quality, buying anything for a WRX/STI requires weeding out all of the Chinese ebay shit.
- Special mention: The community.
Seriously. IWSTI and NASIOC are shitholes of the internet. Weeding through the worthless threads and posts on those terrible forums is tiring and simply not worth the effort. The staggering amount of space dedicated to advertisements is shameful on both sites, and it even commits the worst offense any site can commit, keyword popup ads in random places throughout the forum post message bodies.
FT86club is a fantastic place, if this is your first owner's club forum, then you have no idea how lucky you are.
FR-S Cons:
- Really screams for modification. I will revisit the platform, but next time I'm banking 5k or so for modifications. At least a tune and all new exhaust from the headers on back.
- Just a tad slow. I instantly identified with @
Dezoris video depicting him losing to a dodge minivan at a stop light. I had a similar experience with some pickup and I kinda shook my head the rest of the drive home.
- Scion / Toyota's apparently cluelessness about issues that the platform has. I have to assume it's willful ignorance, but either way it translates into every service request being a battle with the dealership.
STI Pros:
- Fast. Goddamn is this thing fast.
- No mods required. Honestly, it really only screams for a Cobb AP with an appropriate Stage 1 tune. Maybe new exhaust, but you aren't ever fighting a torque dip or lack of power.
- Refined. No surprises in the first few thousand miles.
- Practical. I can haul my drunk friends around without having to drive the wife's CX7.
STI Cons:
- Kind of ugly. But I have to say, the kid in me still loves the hood scoop.
- ~*~Turbo lag~*~.
- WRX's are traditionally driven by Douches. I should know, I drove one for 6 years prior to the FR-S and am an incredible douche. (It's sorta a chicken and egg thing though.)
- Expensive. Keep that credit score over 800, kids!
- Online community is borderline useless. If it wasn't for the excellent gents over on the SomethingAwful AI forum, I wouldn't even bother looking up any info online.
Seriously, pick any issue about an STI you want to know about. Say, how to operate the DCCD.
For the love of christ, don't post a thread, else you will be mocked in horribly broken english for not using the search button. Which normally would be fine, except that all searches yield are other threads with no information. Instead your search will only hit threads wherein some other unfortunate soul is being flamed for not using the search button.
It's like inception, only with grammatical idiocy instead of freaky dreams.
So in Conclusion, the STI is great, the FR-S is also great. I prefer the handling of the FR-S, but I also prefer the predicable build quality of the STI. In a perfect world I would buy a FR-S and have money left over for mods, but that exposes me to warranty violations on a platform that hasn't shown me I can trust it yet.
Maybe year model 2015 will have some of my grievances sorted out. I hope so, because I do want to revisit this platform. Until then I'll just have to suffer with this turbo wagon.