I like my 2016 STI, but I'm not gonna lie- it's more of boy racer kind of car- unusually loud, rides pretty bad as well, and the interior reminds you many times of it's econobox roots. Lots of loose plastics, various rattles (at 12K they popped up), and the leather is cheap. Sheetmetal dings really easy, paint is really easy to scratch, you hear things working- like the brake pedal rod to master cylinder, makes the car sound really cheap, noisy and flimsy inside.
You row a lot of gears too, 1st is insanely short, STI gas mileage sucks too for it's displacement. You have to come to terms that you aren't going to have easy quiet cruising when you just want to drive. Not gonna happen.
What I did to at least quench the rattles was this- HVAC duct isolator foam. Every door, every trunk trim panel, the package tray. Didn't take very long since you can practically yank the most of the interior out with a phillips and your bare hands- literally
You do this, you can have a reasonably quiet rattle-free car- for a change.
