The times I have noticed either equal performance- or close to it- is short, tight-turn courses that dont allow the turbo cars to get into boost very long. Having a N/A 6 cylinder is great for the short corner to corner stuff. Less shifting, lag, and more steering focus for the turns. Also, when the course gets a little rough, some wont push their daily driver very hard, the VX takes it better unless the other cars are modified with suspension goodies. I think I ran 1st gear the whole course, with a couple upshifts to second on 2 of the longer legs. Other than that I had both hands on the wheel, fully focusing on my cornering. I noticed that the 5 and 6 speeds were shifting a whole bunch, probably wasnt an advantage for that race, never getting past lag, and one car lost a tire from their wheel using low pressure when they caught traction sideways which = a DNF.

As much as I love STIs and would love to own one, 17" wheels without the ability to downsize due to their wonderful brakes just arent the best for rally. I would probably opt for a WRX due to the 5 speed (although the 6 speed does help on some tracks), smaller brakes for smaller wheels, and less wallet dumping as I thrash a perfectly good car