Top 5 Things I Hate About my Subaru WRX STI

#subaru #WRX
Well.. it had to be done. Also I have no clue how this ended up being 35min long. Anyways here are 5 things I hate about this car after almost 3yrs of ownership. Enjoy this episode and let me know if this is truly helpful in your next car purchase or if I'm completely exaggerating and being dramatic! 2021 Subaru WRX STI... does it live up to my high school dreams?

[kunfupandarofl]

As someone with a 415 WHP STI, here are my 2 cents from the years of owning, researching, and discussing with people about this car, I want to add onto or correct some points for the vid:

TLDR: The car **is** shit stock. At least compared to its modern competitors. It's niche and may scratch a certain itch (4D AWD or sound) and that's why we all buy them, but the objective fact is that they suck if you keep them stock, yes, even compared to the 10 year old+ Evos. This car isn't a good OEM car, but it is an amazing tuner car and a a modder's dream. This exact EJ having a 15 year run time is probably one of the longest any engine has been continuously used and supported. Anything you could think about doing to it, someone has done it already and sell parts and hardware so you could do it in your garage. This is the main sell. If this doesn't sound like what you want, if you want OEM, the STI is probably not what you're looking for and you should definitely look at the WRX or more modern competitors because there are definitely some great cars out there.

Now to the points:

1. Definitely agree. The car from the factory is *not* fast. That 310 HP is at the crank and the STI having 2 LSDs and an additional center DCCD differential makes it the most complicated drivetrain in the price point. This translates to a BUNCH of drivetrain loss in power. A 310 HP STI dynos for about 245 horsepower to the wheels. Compare that to a 315 Civic Type R that gets about 290 wheel horsepower...

2. 6700 redline is pretty low for sports cars. My 370Z revving to 7500 isn't even high in the sports car world but it makes a world of difference. The short gearing doesn't help either. But the Pro of that is the peaky EJ engine. Sure you hit redline real quick... but you hit it REAL QUICK. Once the turbo gets going it pulls straight to redline and the short gearing actually helps keep the peaky turbo in the powerband, meaning, if you're driving fast and shifting fast, you're ALWAYS shooting to redline real quick and shifting without any turbo lag, which can be insane fun.

3. Reliability is definitely an issue. There's a class action lawsuit against these cars with the low bearing clearance that tends to cause spun bearings. Not to mention the oil pan not coming baffled meaning going up or down hills, or turning fast could sometimes make the oil pickup suck in air. Nothing an aftermarket oil pan can't fix though. The clearance, on the other hand, strictly demands better driving habits. No high load or boost before the engine being warm is a major one. By high load I literally mean those people saying "staying under 3k rpm no matter what." If you're going 8 mph in 2nd gear, YOU'RE PUTTING A HIGH LOAD and strain on the engine.

The other thing is, the stock tune on these are trash. It runs lean on purpose for fuel economy and emissions but the AFR is off and the engine runs hotter than it should and makes it more common to knock, not to mention the stupid rev hang. Aftermarket tunes are a MUST on this platform.

As for the people who say "I kept it stock, did everything I could." I can bet you that they did not know or do ALL of these things I or ONSITE mentioned in the video (intake temps and whatnot).

Now do you have to do this on other platforms? No. Does this mean the EJ is a trash engine? Yes. Other platforms are MUCH less sensitive to this stuff. Though on the other hand, if you know what you're doing, these engines can last forever. So no one is really going to fault you for not wanting this engine or platform.

4. Absolutely tune it. Don't keep the stock tune. But also don't use OTS (off the shelf tunes). OTS tunes aren't inherently bad, but they don't cover for an individual engine. As pointed out before, these things are extremely finicky, so even small differences could be big issues. Not to mention all the people who put on ebay or other brand parts like Perrin or Grimmspeed then proceed to get a Cobb OTS tune, obviously the tune isn't going to correctly account for the mods. The moment they mention the car is "stage 1" or "stage 3+, " you know they have no idea what they're talking about and their engine blowing up is just a matter of time.

5. Yes, even if you do do all the correct things, if you buy them used, 99% of the time the previous owner or owners did not do all the correct things. So at the end you still have a ticking time bomb. Especially more so because of who the target audience these cars are meant for, for sure whatever used one you were able to get is NOT in good condition.

6. "Spending 2 months in the shop" this is why you need to have mechanical knowledge and be able to fix things yourself. A small leak in the turbo is more commonly a hose or a gasket issue rather than the turbo. The turbo failing is extremely rare. It's weird hearing people thank the stealerships because often times they have no idea what they're talking about and charge an arm and a leg to replace something that isn't broken at all.


At the end of the day, the STI is the most blank slate car for modders. You want more power, with enough mods you can do 600WHP+ no issue. You want more revs, get it with the built block and upgrade the cams. You want it to be quieter as a daily, put some more sound deadening material in the doors, downsize the wheel and upsize the tires. If it's too bumpy, get quality coilovers that let you dial it in to make it a softer ride. You want reliability, get a cylinder 4 cooling mod, catch can/AOS, baffled oil pan and upgraded oil pickup and get a tune. It really doesn't make much sense for non-modders to buy these cars because there are so many good alternatives out there, but for a modder, these cars can literally be exactly what you want from a dream car.

[INEEDTOBEALONE]

I had a 2019 wrx, I did regular maintenance, oil changes, spark plugs, brakes, clutch, flywheel, took it on plenty backroads, canyons, lots of roll racing, drag racing, full bolt ons and full E85 flex fuel tuned from Delicious Tuning pushing 380 whp 350 wtq conservatively. It shot wicked flames and it was fast, about as fast as my friend’s F80 M3 Competition. The tuning aspect of these cars brought a whole new world to me, with each remap and eventually onto full E85, I remember the first drive home off the dyno, the top end of the power band felt absurdly powerful. I owned and daily drove this car for about 60k miles, was on E85 for about 8k miles and it blew up on me on the freeway in regular driving. Heart shattered.

I got it rebuilt, stripped off my coilovers, wheels, trunk, exhaust for my brother’s recently purchased 2019 STI. I sold the wrx and I ended up getting a 2021 3.0l premium supra with 20k miles after searching for roughly 5 months. The only part I miss about my wrx is the fact that I built it. I don’t even miss driving manual, I really love this supra. I believe it was a very good direction and good next car for my personal car journey. This Supra is fast right out of the box, I remember my first time test driving it completely shook me. Even still now after putting 10k miles on it, the amount of power it comes with stock from the factory always puts a smile on my face and always scares my girlfriend and my mom haha. I really did not want to modify it but recently Black Friday I couldn’t resist, I bought a VSRF downpipe, still on back order as we speak. I remember even my wrx on ethanol started to feel old to me and started to feel not that fast anymore. Something about this supra just always surprises me and makes me think where has this been all my life. The straight line speed of this car is insane to me to this day, and the handling it offers on the same backroads I used to take my wrx on is truly a night and day difference. This car handles like a dream, excellent grip, excellent turn-in, the car goes where you want it to go. I love the reliability of the B58 and the daily driver comfort this car offers because I do commute 50 minutes out and 50 minutes home with heavy traffic everyday. I always hated technology like digital gauges, sensors, even power seats, but I guess this car just won me over in every aspect because I appreciate and really love the technology this car offers. I’ve taken this Supra up and down from Northern California back down to Southern California comfortably, with lots of peace of mind and pretty good long distance gas mileage.

That being said though, my brothers STi always puts a smile on my face when I hear the loud boxer rumble and when we work on it together. It brings me back to the community and I’m glad he carries the soul of my wrx onwards with my exhaust, wheels, coilovers, and trunk haha. There is no manual transmission that I prefer over the STi transmission. Absolutely fell in love with his transmission, drivetrain, diff controller, sound. The STi will always have a place in this world no matter how much other cars change, the STi just feels like a modern day rendition of a perfect, raw analog sports car. Good power, good feel, excellent feedback, and so much fun with the diff controller.

[joseandra]

your exactly the kind of person i like buying cars from regardless of mileage

[Mike_]

All ej251/257s need these things/upgrades done to prolong their life:
1. Upgrade the Oil Pickup tube.
2. Do a Cylinder 4 Cooling mod.
3. Remove all banjo bolts filter screens throughout the motor.
4. Maintain the PCV valve periodically.
5. Replace the engine oil every 3K miles.
6. Keep the motor stock.
Do those, don't race/abuse the engine too long unnecessarily and these motors will last a long time.
My '05 Outback XT has 237K miles on it and it's still going.. They're really great cars, people just abuse the heck out of them.

[paulmarsdensr]

I love and appreciate the raw mechanical overall feel of the STI.

[paulmarsdensr]

A great video, brother. I own a 2020 WRX/STI and it will always be stock. I live in Oceanside Ca and I drivec50 miles to work everyday and back home to Oceanside everyday. I have done the research on this STI and the 2017 WRX I had before this one. I own the car so I have a meticulous maintenance contingency budget. Irvine Subaru does all of my maintenance. I'm @85K. I'm going to 400K. Subies forever and ever. Merry Christmas and happy New Year to you and your family Sir.

[lunozorrobo]

If you ever look into exhausts, definitely get the cobb or any of the hks offerings. I find they are the perfect OEM+ finish looking exhausts with no drone and enough tone to make them fun! Not too loud at low RPMS, and open up when you push it. Had an STI and got rid of it for similar issues but i modifed the piss out of it and my anxiety was through the roof lol. 420 whp on E85 and and did everything right mod wise. STill had small issues such as startups being way too rough, suspension was a tad too rough, and constant coolant leak from all the heat expanding the hoses. Was not worth it on a daily driver. Went to a second gen BRZ with just an intake and e85 pro tune with a HKS axleback and have no regrets. Nice and quiet with more than enough power to have fun with. Peace of mind is worth it

[AKGWolf]

some thoughts:

subaru is a good platform, same with other brands, a few mods will make it alot faster and that tune really helps

reliability should be just fine as long as you aren't modding it through the roof or tracking it without supporting mods, if you ignore all the hate subarus are actually one of the most reliable cars out there as long as you take care of them.

same rules apply to bogging (floor it in 4th or 5th at 2k) other cars, if you give it more fuel when it cant spin any faster to get more air... it's normal, I suggest getting an automatic if it is an issue, or just don't floor it in upper gears at sub optimal speeds

maintenance is the same with other cars too, if you beat the life out of it you have to check and change more often, its not that bad, oem coolant lasts freakin 137k mi (according to subaru)

I love my nameless performance axleback, anything that doesn't delete the resonator should have minimal drone and be reasonable noise level

the sti is more enthusiast oriented and allows for more connection though the car, if you want a people friendly suabru, the legacy gt and the outback xt are quiet, very nice and good power numbers for what they are

overall I think that you seem to be asking everything from a car; low maintenance, high performance, high reliability, loud, quiet. I don't think the sti i right for you I recommend leaving the sti or Subaru in general. problem is, you want everything, if you go and get an evo like you want you will have all the same issues if not more because it will be modified.

[ShengNotShane]

02 WRX = 230k, 04 WRX = 100k, 08 WRX = 166k. Same EJ. All tuned, modded. Have taken 16 hours, 12 hour, 8 hour road trips with them, no problems. Stop worring about it if theres nothing to worry about. The only thing I do with it more than my other cars is regularly checking the oil level while waiting for the gas to fill up. The EJ definitely consumes oil. All of mine have. If you don't, you're going to run into low oil pressure and take out the motor.

[LUVPHATGAL]

AWE touring, your gonna love it. No drone whatsoever. Babies sleep good wit no issues. Sound is amazing. If you wanna piss off ya neighbors get the AWE Track.

[paulmarsdensr]

I thought I was the only one that loved staying stock. That's me Mr Stock forever. 😂

[orchadork]

Least favorite thing about my 13 WRX hatch is the interior quality rattles and creaks everywhere!

[naticedog]

Time to say goodbye and get a reliable daily. The CTR or GRC, or even the new WRX VB would be better for you.

You don't seem to be a "modder", so you need the right package from factory. A beater car would help bring back the special feel of the STI.

To keep the car longer, you will have to get the right modifying parts to help cancel the negatives or make it more liveable. An exhaust is expensive, but easy to install and shouldn't void the warranty.

Good luck on your journey, the more cars you buy, the closer you will get to the right car for you. But it comes down to who we really are, not who we think we are.

[BushidoPhoto]

I've heavily modified my 2019 STI to 450 who and overall love it. The only thing I can complain about is the rear subframe welds can break doing autocross. I had to buy a new subframe and am about to weld supports to the sway bar bracket.

[paulmarsdensr]

I keep the car in Intelligent mode. When I want to have fun I put it in sport or sport sharp. 😊

[alexbruski]

Time to sell for a 3 row suv or gtr. No in-between

[bhrriss]

just get an intake with a solid protune/Etune man the sound will make you fall in love with the car again and if you’re able to get a boomba bypass valve you’ll get nice flutter and its full recirculating so you don’t have to worry about retuning. thats my setup btw haha! My tuner is Dmann if you’re interested, just do all your maintenance man and take care of her and she’ll take care of you🫂

[SMALLENGINECAMS]

I have the same car in the same color! I have the cobb titanium 3" catback exhaust part# 515140. I highly recommend it. It sounds great inside and outside the car without being too loud and it has no drone.

[goofyop]

Literally got the same car my friend I’m at 20k miles it was one of the best choices made after losing my evo it’s perfectly reliable and crazy sporty but I’ve modded mine and only getting crazier from there. I hope your car treats you well as mine and keeps on staying reliable

[patrickizumi]

Hi I have a 2021 WRX STi, just have the oem optional front under spoiler, and the STi Performance exhaust system (D441SVA000), which has the resonator. The stock exhaust was fine, but I wanted the deep rumble sound, and D441SVA000 is just right for that. Although for 2019-2021, Subaru stopped offering it for the WRX STi in the brochure, it fits just fine and my dealer installed it with no issues plus it's a genuine Subaru part. Looks good too. Drone for me only occurs after a cold start when warming up the vehicle, but I actually don't mind it.