These engines do respond well to a little bit of work.

Bear in mind mine is the 5.7L not the 6L. Claimed manufacturer power 245KW, Dyno at ~185KW.

Throw a cam, tune, and headers/zorst at it and 268KW at the wheels, or 83KW for under $5K. Even considering the extra weight of a Commode over a WRX, that is still a chunk of power to weight.

And yeah at the Elfin Barbagallo drive day, had John Hurney (he can drive) punting around a E series Clubbie with 4 people on board at full noise.

You would be surprised how well they go, and yeah for the Maloo v the SSV debate you are paying what another $13-14K, not bad value considering what you get, ie brakes, drivetrain, cosmetics.

When I had my 06 STi never got any better than 18L/100kms (except on one country run), fairly comparable to the various V8s I have owned.