I always thought my ef4 was "doggy", not awful but it lacked pep down low. But it ripped up top which is why I liked it. And for some reason, I thought it smart to go t4 after that lol. It could be a turbo issue but I think its just the wheel sizes in the stock frame honestly, but worth monitoring. Even my 2.2L didn't help to make it kick down low.
I'll let you try my new/improved STS X when I get it running to compare