STiMulated 
 
 
 

"On the road, it all means the APS STi is a more relaxing drive because you’re not constantly hunting back through the six-speed for a ratio that’s actually gonna spool up some herbs. The thing will actually accelerate in sixth now, which is really saying something."

Motor
Magazine 

 

 
 
 
 
  
 
In an absolute sense, the extra poke above 4000 rpm has also made the STi even quicker across the quarter mile.  Significantly quicker, in fact.  See, while it’s a laggy bugger, even the stocker is quick in a straight line because you’re not allowing the revs to fall below 4000 rpm.  So while drivability is up in the APS version, there was actually no guarantee it would be any quicker at full noise or take much of the standard car’s high-13 400 m time.  So it was smiles all round when the APS STi wafted down the Calder strip in 13.1 seconds and a super-impressive 0-100 km/h time of a fraction over five seconds flat.  The little extra up high in the revs means you can dial up 6000 or 6500 rpm – as you do in the factory version ̵ dump the clutch and, unlike the stocker, score enough wheelspin to keep the motor on the boil instead of having it bog down and fall off the boast curve.


Peter is happy to admit that this about as good as it gets without fiddling with the turbine housing and compression ratios, but it’s still a worthwhile improvement and will probably address 90 per cent of the bitches of the 90 per cent of STi owners. The under-bonnet stuff is neat and tidy in the APS way and you’d be pretty hard pressed to pick it from a stocker.  Hopefully, insurance companies will be just as impressed with the workmanship, although it’s doubtful that the Subaru factory will view the mods with as much enthusiasm as the average owner.

Aside from the tangible benefits, the other thing that should meet approval from STi-owning punters will be the price of the conversions.  At $3960, it’s got to be the most cost effective way to turn the STi into 70 per cent of what it should have been in the first place.  That includes all fitting, the dyno time to tune it and even before-and-after power and torque graphs for show-n-tell down at the pub afterwards.