personal experience tells me to DD an STI and MOD an EVO.
EDIT: I loved my STI but never again will I mod one. If i’m looking for performance gains i’d look evo, as they seem to take much more of a beating. I really really loved the STI though.
i dont see any stock block stock turbo STi’s on 30lbs of boost running around town?
Pauls evo makes 600hp and is stock block… id like to see an sti even come close to that.
if you’re going to mod it, get an evo.
edit: tuning seems to be way better for evo’s as well
Just buy a nice DD for a few grand. Seems as though you can afford it. Keep the cobra for a summer toy.
This. Buy a truck / grocery getter / home depot taxi and keep the Cobra in the garage :tup:
After seeing the first post, I knew this would go toward evo-vs-sti. Maybe NeonGLH will chime in as he has more experience with both than the rest of us.
I can say that I love having a fun DD that completely kicks ass in the snow with the 08 sti. Being a wagon also adds allot of functionality. I’ve had to take mine to the track a few times, and it hangs with 90% of tracked prepped cars out there, in fairly stock form. I say do it. After your first winter you won’t look back.
As for the evo - vs - sti thing, drive both before you decide. I’ve never owned an evo but I’ve driven a few I’ve had three STi’s and love them. My 2006 was winter driven with a catless exhaust, and tune and went around 30 track days on race gas at 21 psi and it never had a hickup.
I don’t see any origional transfer case Evo’s making that kind of power either :rl: There are STi’s in the low 10’s with stock drive-train all over the place.
It’s all about preference.
keep the cobra. sell the blazer and cobalt and buy a cheaper used fullsize pickup in the <10k range. that way you have a nice car for summer, pretty nice pickup for year round to put shit in when you pickup your own house and need to do work on it. then the rest of the money from the cobalt and blazer can go towards the down payment on the house.
keep the cobra and buy a cheap beater thats what i do and im working on saving for a house now. so i vote keep it
All good points mentioned…I myself, would definitely favor keeping the Cobra. But sometimes, you just need a change. And with the EVO/STI, your getting
speed and all year function. Personally, I don’t know how anyone could get tired of driving a Cobra…lol
mine is, stock 03 transfer case @ 600awhp for 2 years strong, along with the stock motor/head.
i did however blow my tranny sky high at around 500 on my first 35r.
^^^ I can’t even fathom a car like that pushing 600 to the wheels. That is sick…
only the 2007 GD STI had a fold down rear seat. 2004-06 did not
Evos take to modding much better than STIs. They are much more responsive to power mods. The STI 2.5l block is only good to about 400whp and at that point it is only a matter of time. The pistons can only take so much.
This is total BS. A Stage 2 (Turbo back exhaust and a tune) will last forever if you maintain it. The transmission is bullet proof. As mentioned above, the stock block is only good for 400whp on a dynojet before you will start to see issues. It also cost more to mod an STI to that power level than an Evo.
Even heavily modded STIs do not run 30 psi. Also boost is not the whole story. You do not need 30psi to make monster HP on an STI. I was making 350whp on Innovative’s dyno with a really mild tune and meth, which would work out to about 400whp on a dynojet with 23psi. To run 30psi, you would need a sleeved block. It is true again that an evo will always be faster mod for mod. Some say the STI is better for daily driving. I cant say either way. I always wanted the Subaru and that is why I got it over the Evo.
I dont know where anyone got the idea the Subaru isnt reliable. Any issues I have had have been due to modding and not any of the Subaru parts. My car at Stage 2 could take a beating and always came back for more. The STIs weak point on a DD are its front seats. Even for a DD car, they suck. If you keep it stockish and are happy with the power, I would recommend sway bars, a set of Ohlin fixed perch struts, RCE Yellow or black springs and swap out the front seats. Power wise, put a down pipe on it with a custom tune and call it a day. It will be decently quick in traffic and handle beautify.
FWIW, I have considered swapping my STI for an Evo, but at the end of the day I feel it looks nicer and has the nicer exhaust note. I know that I am bias, but can admit that Evos are impressive to make power and at the track, but I wouldnt trade my STI for one.
i’d rather have a cobra than an evo or an sti…
yes i said that…
wanna know why?
it has nothing to do with the cars… it’s the owners and the company you’ll have to keep 
siq burn
i see all these STi’s with 35r kits making garbage horsepower. Go look in the innovative tuning thread.
rrsti’s car was door to door with a bolt on evo8 until midway thru 4th gear from a dig. Sorry but that’s fucking garbage.
ill agree STi’s sound better, but if im going to MOD something… aka more than a “stage 2” im getting an evo (if its evo vs sti).
for a dd i think id rather have an 07+ wrx wagon/hatchback
and id rather be blowing up transfer cases than motors…?
haha i would love to trade u but unfortunately mines white. but i wouldnt get rid of the cobra if i was in ur situation.
rrsti’s car is a GT35 with built heads on the stock bottom end. It was running a mild tune on that setup to save the bottom end until he built the block. Unfortunately he gave up on the project before that and sold the car to a local guy here in Rochester. Even on just 20psi, that car was neck and neck with mine on a GT30 and 100% meth on 23psi. That car is capable of much more.
You arent wrong though. A bolt on Evo would have no problem hanging with my car and is the better choice to all out mod for power and speed.
LOL, niiice
I have nothing against Evo’s. I’ve logged plenty of seat time in Evo’s and they perform well. Going back and forth about which is better is like… ugh nevermind.
It’s relative I suppose. A car with the same setup as mine, and Todd’s old car was running 10’s. I don’t think that’s bad at all…
We should agree to disagree 
+1. I’ve owned both and I’d choose sti over evo for DD duties.
However, if you want to go ‘fast’ with minimal mods, the evo is the way to go.
Deebo,
Have you ever owned either car?
Isn’t your car always broken or in the process of breaking?
You sure seem to have a lot of opinions for someone whose car is worth less than a quarter of the current market value of a six year old example of either car you’re an apparent expert on.
Who cares. Buy what you like.
.