From our first look at the STI parked in our garage, we could tell that it was a pit bull compared with the cocker spaniel-like standard WRX. The smooth sides of the standard WRX get bulked out by meaty fenders on the STI, wide enough to make room for the 245/40R18 Dunlop Sport 600 summer tires wrapped around 18 inch rims. Big Brembro brakes sit in the rims, and special vents sit behind the front fenders ready to bleed off excess heat.



Where the standard WRX we tested was the sedan, the WRX STI only comes as a hatchback--an unnecessarily bulky body for a car that should not be consigned to grocery runs. The blister-like design of the new WRX looks even worse in the hatchback STI, with its weirdly rounded back end. We weren't at all impressed with the stock stereo in our STI, but the car can be optioned up with a navigation head unit that includes Bluetooth cell phone integration and an additional 20 watts for the audio system.

Test the tech: WRX comparedWhen we reviewed the standard WRX, we complained about the body roll in hard cornering. To tech test the STI, we took it over the same winding mountain road we had driven with the WRX to see if the handling and overall performance was different. Right from the start, we can attest to a major improvement, as the STI gripped the road and stayed flat in the hardest turns we could throw its way.

The STI gets big vents behind the front fenders, something not seen on the standard WRX.
The road we took runs from the California coast, near Stinson Beach, inland toward San Rafael, North of San Francisco. The first half of this road is about a lane and a half wide in total, without center markings, and running through ravines and along hillsides, with a number of rising hairpin turns. The second half broadens out to two marked lanes and has generally broader turns, although there are still a few sharp hairpins.