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Subaru car name recently invited us to Japan to drive their latest hot hatch RHD JDM-spec WRX STI Wow, that's a lot of three-letter acronyms You can be sure, however, that the words that come out of our mouths the first a few laps around the Fuji Speedway was the variety of four letters.
Much of this was due to the fact that the steering wheel was on the right side of the car Although most had led drive cars by hand in the street, it's a little harder to get to the comfortable in a RHD car on an unknown track pushing the limit just when you thought you had placed the car for a ride, you realize that you are correctly positioned the right side of the car was the width of a drive from the top.
But for the love of science, we pushed harder and harder and OMG results.
WRX fans around the world mourned the death of their econorocket turbo favorite, and for good reason for the 2008 WRX is not much of a WRX is more like a Camrypreza with some extra horsepower WRX Old done people think fun, smiles and the laughter again made the driver think calm, refined, smooth and if you are unfortunate enough to drive really hard, roll, brake fade, and revel.
The new TSI is based, of course, this WRX, it bears much of the new refinement of the added drive, but where the new Rex is soft and spongy, the STI remains true to its roots because we rode the new TSI around the racetrack UltraSmooth Fuji, we can t even provide information on ride quality, but the WRX lack of roll rigidity is certainly missing not the roll of the body has wasn t, but it was not t Camry levels as it is in the WRX.
The TSI is very fast car around a race course If your right foot is anywhere near the accelerator pedal, understeer is what you will get, but the back end comes to life in high-speed corners if you ask the JDM market Recaro seats are extremely favorable, so you will not need an iron grip on the leather three-spoke steering to keep you up Brembo brakes began to complain the end of the day with extended pedal travel and a spongy feeling but almost not fade This is quite a feat given the moves they made and weak brakes WRX are compared.
Under the hood of the Japanese car market saw a turbocharged flat 2 0 liter four that's rated at about 295 hp and 299 lb-ft of torque My initial excitement of seeing to 8000 rpm high minute beginning the red line account -Tours halved when I saw that the peak of power took place in 6400 only the rest of the enthusiasm was reversed behind the wheel, although the apartment is a four spurs racing design is not particularly smooth, and does not make a lot of power, more than 7,000 revolutions per minute and acoustic magic of the four-cylinder 8000 rpm I m thinking as if I type this is definitely not there.
However, the 2 0 liters provides lots and lots of pushing his twin-scroll turbo built to stimulate more linear and smooth the last STI we drove the last generation 2 5 liter TSI -spec US While the boost this turbo hit the engine like a tidal wave, it oozes a Don hurricane await t push or a couple under 4000 rpm Strangely, excluding boost at low rpm, this engine felt stronger than 2 5 liter WRX in the United States which may be due to variable valve timing of the engine on both the inlet and the exhaust cam.
Anyway, this 2.0-liter mill won t be coming to the US Our STI continue to have a May 2 liter four, and it probably means even more power From what we understand, Subaru continues use the 2 0 liter engine for the Japanese market and Japanese market for it to me for the World Rally Championship homologated Oh wait, that's another acronym of three letters WRC.
And speaking of approval WRC, Subaru decided that a hatchback body is the best way to go, so that the STI is a hatchback sedan not The shorter door overhangs reduce inertia yaw and its shape allows for better aerodynamic balance front to rear and, compared to the last TSI, the wheelbase is 85 mm longer and the track is 40 and 45 mm wider front and rear, respectively.
The TSI does a body looking much more aggressive, too, with bulging fender flares front and rear While it looks a little jaded in the photos, it looks positively menacing in person, especially in dark colors.
The seats supersupportive Recaro won t come to the United States at least not initially, but some trick electronic gadgets will make the trip across the Pacific The first is a VDC stability control system, which for the first time, gives STI three normal operating mode all the systems on, off all electronic systems, ABS exception is disabled and a new mode called traction drive mode works similarly to other sports fashion manufacturers, he noted thresholds intervention and limits of traction control features for aggressive driving around the track, it works well smooth mitigate understeer without unnecessarily pulling power.
The second new electronic control in the TSI is DCCD Sample Control Center Subaru preceding differential DCCD applications have an automatic mode or a manual mode, the computer or the pilot to choose the polarization of the front-back strength DCCD new system maintains both modes, but adds two other cars, giving control of the computer, but favors loading the differential to maximize traction and overall Auto, trying to maximize the same way as the manipulation by promoting a differential open.
Subaru four-wheel drive system can vary torque distribution between the front and rear axles only 41 59-50 50, the difference in one of these modes is not drastic In fact, we could feel no difference grip on the top floor but we look forward to trying the system in more slippery conditions.
We will lead the US -specification ITS soon, and that experience will include both on the track and the conduct of the street We expect to learn much more about how the ITS then drove because a handful turns the wrong side of the car around a circuit is not just enough to give you a complete picture We are looking forward to, ah, as soon as possible.
2008 Subaru WRX STI (JapaneseSpec) New Reviews cars and wallpaper Automobile Magazine, 2008 subaru.