I'm definitely going to give it a test run... see what it's all about. On paper it looks like a great car, but you're dead on about the Volvo image (boxy, safe, slow, boring). I was hoping to drive one tomorrow, but the weather is supposed to be pretty crappy, so we'll see.

 

Then I know 3 people that will be laughing at you for spending too much on a slow POS.

I can't believe there are that many STis up there. Between my too homes (b-burg & Charlotte) I haven't seen a single one. Are you sure you know the difference between a WRX and a WRX STi?

I personally think they look pretty hot, but they could look like crap and I'd still want one with performance like that with that price tag. Here's Subaru's photo gallery:
http://www.subaru.com/servlet/resear...command=photos
I don't care for the blue with the gold rims (mostly the gold rims), but the silver and black ones with silver rims are hot. And those rims are 17" BBS alloys, no need to get rid of those.

Things like a driver controlled intercooler water sprayer, driver controlled center diff, and limited slip diffs front and rear put this car leagues ahead of just about everything on the road.

 

Yea, they are definitely STis. Two are the blue/gold (I like the shade of blue, but not the gold), the other is black. I work on a college campus that gets a large number of it's students from NYC - so there are a lot of "kids" driving "nicer" cars.

 

Oh, a college. That is cheating! I thought we were talking about an office building, in which case I would have to say you work with some cool peeps...

 

The only thing that sucks about the STi is that you can only get those ugly blue seats. It looks like you can get a pretty nice sound system, though.

 

What the HELL do you think your going to get with the Audi? it isnt any better than what you just mentioned! everybody is telling you, and again i have a friend whos dad OWNS an audi/vw dealership and he doesnt drive them!! that should tell us something right there. there are plenty of import cars out there that will go against the A4 and or volvo. simple.

 

you are the only one I know of that says that.

 

I'll say it too. I have a lot more fun driving the truck. I don't find it fun dropping to third gear (sometimes second) in the mountains. I don't find the total lack of acceleration fun.

On the other hand, would I trade it for a newer one? No [insert colorful expletive here] way!

 

The fact is for daily driving I would rather have some form of fast sports car that can grip the road. I miss having a sports car. I test drove an S2000 the other day and it had me grinning from ear to ear. While I enjoy driving the 4Runner, the real grinning doesn't start until the pavement ends...

 

I guess if I had ever driven a sports car my opinion might be different. I just find driving my 4runner alot of fun no matter what the surface is made of . As for the acceleration, yea I felt that way too, that is until I regeared in September and now my runner accel's like it used to.

 

I purchase mine 03 limited new back in Jan , with 17000 on ODO , not a single problem , except rattle Sunroof , I also have a 95 Nissan 240sx , with 182.000 , never have any problem except a oil leak , but it was replace under warranty , since then just regular tube up , and I drive really hard on the car .

 

By and large, I agree. I have sports cars, even race one of them, and my truck. The sports cars are a lot more fun to play around in on the pavement.

BUT.... I also spent some time and money making my previous truck work quite well in the handling department. It was a 2x4, so it was a lot easier to set up for handling, but it can be done. Front and rear sway bars, good tires, larger wheels, good shocks. At that point I had a truck that could chase many a sports car through the turns. They'd all still run away from me on the straights, but that wasn't of much importance to me.