Crushinator

Maybe you guys can help me out here. The car in my sig is my wife's and she absolutely loves it. I've always been the high horsepower freak with one "fun" car and a good-on-gas work car. I've been through Vipers, Supercharged Z06's and two Shelby's, with the last being about 850 horsepower. I sold the Shelby in January and have been stuck with a Toyota Corolla as my only transportation...and it sucks to say the least.

I've driven my wifes car countless times and would definitely consider buying one myself, but I really think it would appear stupid for both of us to drive the same exact car. Don't ask me why, because I can't give a reasonable answer.

With that said, I've decided to give up the ultra high performance fun car and just go with one car that can satisfy most of my horsepower craving, but also be an excellent all weather car. I almost pulled the trigger twice now on the new '15 Sti but I just can see spending $40,000 on a Subaru. Has anyone hear ever owned one that can help me decide if it is that good of a car or if my decision is warranted that it's not worth the money for a Impreza on steroids?

Here's what I'm looking for...
1. Performance
2. 4 doors
3. AWD
4. Manual transmission
5. Looks

Damn, did I just describe an S4 or what?

Just how good is the Sti compared to the S4?

svander

Apples to oranges.

I've always hated Subaru interiors and their cheap *** plastic everywhere. But they're fun and fast and easy to tune.

The S4 is a luxury sports sedan that is in a completely different league of car.

Depends entirely in what your priorities are, your budget and what you want out of a car.

AudiQ5sleeper

STI is a nice car but over priced.
Performance is good
4 doors are good. 2015 interior had increased their quality unlike the previous years.
AWD system is the best
Manual Transmission: pretty good but too light on the clutch
Looks: hmm I am starting to like the 2015 look.
Gas: Horrible
Tuning: every engine mod needs to be tuned with accessport or else you will run extremely lean and rich.
They are not hard to mod. everything else is pretty good for the STI besides the weight of the car. It feels like your driving a cardboard box on a windy day

FYI: don't compare the STI with the S4. even thou they are in the same price range. If you want more boost stick with the STI.

silverTL6

Slim pickings...but I think all of these are offered in manual

BMW 335xi
Acura TL SH-AWD
Acura TL SH-AWD

silverTL6

Oops that should be

BMW 335xi
Acura TL SH-AWD
Mitsu Evo MR

DrGP

FYI, C&D just did a comparison between an New Subaru STI VS a used 2010 B8 S4. They gave a slight nod to the Audi. Might want to read that article.

PhilNotHill

Jalopnik: the boy racer rear wing...

I hate it.

Much rather have the station wagon but understand they are not making any longer.

Best

r1eater

loved my STI, it was fast, felt nimble and i never had problems with it. However the interior was garbage compared to the S4. The S4 feels more grown up, its fast also, can be easily tuned too and the interior is just in a different league compared to the STI.

Really depends what you are looking for, luxury plus speed or nimbleness plus speed.

Crushinator

Thanks for all the input! You guys all have made excellent points. I think if I were 20 years old, the Sti would be fine. But being 40 with a 2 y/o daughter, I think I'd look immature driving a brightly colored car with a huge wing.

Another car I'm considering is an '07 or '08 RS4.

togatown

I think you are 100% dead on, it's where you are in life (and the look of the wing, lol).