wombatsauce

iTrader: (7)

Shoot why stop there. How about 500hp and 45mpg? Maybe it should also fly and wash itself.

Driving was so much more fun for me back when 300hp seemed like a lot of power. Now, any idiot with a paycheck can hero-pass you in a 300hp Camry and more effectively block you with a lack of skill in the corners.

I wouldn't mind all this ridonkulous power if people knew how to drive or would pay attention while in control of a vehicle. If you have any joy for driving at all then you have frequently been stuck behind cars w/ more than 2x your power being driven by someone who should definitely be a passenger.

Personally I would like to see a light-as-hell, stripped down tight/hard little car with a 250-300hp high revving 2.0L. But, that is just because I REALLY LIKE DRIVING.

I used to consistently do track days back in 2000-2005. As cars started becoming more and more powerful and available, even track days became dreary, and the same crap that happens on the back roads happens there now but with CTS-V's and E63's and such that are going so slow I have to hit the brakes in my 1.8L Toyota. Sure, they get endless blue/yellow flags and told to "let the handling cars by" but it still makes the track day suck. Once the dread of daily driving reached track days, I didn't go as much. The last time out there, being held up by drivers in heavily modded cars with more than 2x my power, race tires/fuel, etc, I left without doing the last session because it was just boring driving around the track at the speed of today's drivers.

Another reason is because with a car like that, you have to KNOW how to get the power out. An example is that if you see an S2000 in front of you, the driver will need to know how to use it to get the power out of it and stay in front of you. Someone who gets out of an S2000 saying that it's "slow" because they punched it at 2krpm and it didn't blow their hair back is not a driving enthusiast. Put someone like that into a car like a "350hp STi" and you are going to just have more clogged up roads and race tracks.

Today, even though I enjoy my WRX more than my Corolla, I often grab the keys to the Corolla, because getting out on the road and just seeing a bunch of people clogging up the roads in front of you simply because they hate driving or don't know how to do it, is a lot easier to deal with from inside of a Corolla. Then when a hole opens up, it's pretty fun to handily run away from just about anything in a Corolla.

Of course - this is just my opinion.

Whether or not that is true, Lambo doors, Altezza taillights and chrome fender-vents have shown us that it really does not matter who does it first. When everyone starts doing it, you look stupid too. Yes, I am driving a 2005 Legacy GT right now. Pretty familiar with that grille. I still stand by my comments here in 2013.

That's even worse than what I thought people would say. How about a better power-to-weight ratio, achieved by producing a lighter car? That is something I would like to see. A 2500lb STi. Which of course won't happen.

OneManArmy

iTrader: (7)

See... you hit my point right on the head with the last thing you said.


You can get upset at all these opinions but facts are facts. The STI is a fatter softer car than it used to be.

They keep adding to the car. More weight. More comfort. But they don't add power and more importantly torque.

Is it still a great car. Yes.

Would I love to see it go back to being a stripped down light way car that's all brakes, transmission and fun. Yes.

Will that happen? No.


So instead... I ask them for more power. Get it back to a similar power/weight that it used to be.

Or do what I've been saying for years and what I said I hoped they'd do when they said they were splitting the platform.

Imprezza platform. Offer a base model and offer a loaded out old people version.

WRX. Offer a base model and a loaded out limited old dude version.
STI. Offer a loaded out version. Offer a track version. Less crap. No navi. No heated seats. None of that crap. Take a couple hundred pounds out of the car. Put nicer wheels on it and bigger brakes. Maybe a different exhaust and lighter tighter seats. Etc.


If you're gonna keep the power in that 300-330 range at least do that. Offer a lighter car.

But they won't do that so I ask for something that they should have done and could have done 3 years ago... add a few ponies.

330-350 is NOT 450/500 hp. It's a MASSIVE difference.

330-350hp give it that visual bump that people are looking for and it helps offset some of the weight and you can still do it reliably.


400 plus... that's not gonna be reliable in an out of the box car with the platform subaru is using. They're not going to give you a sleeved block, forged internal, cammed car. Because it'll get **** gas mileage and cost way too much. We'd be looking at a $55k STI.





HUGE difference. 330-350hp is not beyond reason and it's not beyond usability.

wombatsauce

iTrader: (7)

Please understand - I am not "all upset." I see you as a friend, even if we disagree sometimes - and I don't think that will ever change. I probably take "car stuff" a little too seriously as cars, motorsport, and driving have been a huge part of my life since I was a small child. This is just a discussion and we're just discussin' stuff.

A lot of times, I am sitting waiting for a device to reload or configs to sync, and it's stressful for me to watch pings that don't reply, or a blinking cursor for the ~27 minutes it takes for a switch stack to reload, and I like to write, so I guess I get into it a little too much sometimes..

I think we probably agree with each other, from what you just said. I think the WRX and the WRX STi have been pretty close in spec, if not in price, for a long time. So, my plan would be to remove the luxury, weight, and un-needed crap as much as possible from the STi edition. To keep adding power, then the needed safety, then brakes, then more power, well - we will end up with a 4000lb WRX, or in other words, an Audi...

I think one reason I get tired of the "more power" thing is it comes from people that probably are a lot like the ones that make me sad out on the roads. It's a lot like the BRZ discussion that I just dropped out of a while back. People were saying that it would be hard to merge onto the freeway with 200hp, more power is "more funner" and stuff. I don't want to talk to people like that, but it's becoming the norm. When someone in the office introduces me to someone "because they like cars too" it's usually something I try to get out of ASAP (and that person usually just bought something new, powerful, and automatic - seems to be the case every time).

Effing video games... Ha! Like my friend who bought GT years ago and would win races with these cars w/ GOBS of power but no handling mods at all. He learned that just having waaaaay too much power is "f4st3r" because even if you folded it up in a corner, you could still power out and accelerate past all the folks that went around the corner without crashing. This is probably the biggest reason I felt GT needed damage....

slow04wrx

iTrader: (3)

All I can say is REGULAR WRX 1.10G on the skidpad!!


I've had a lot of subarus especially including my immediate family, none have ever had great styling besides the brz. I've always bought subaru for the value of the performance.





Sounds like you are in the wrong track day group.

Overbear

300hp may be plenty for a weak driver like...well you get the drift. However for people like me, that grew up with big HP and learning how to handle such...no, its no where near enough.

But I suspect you won't get it, and I suggest perhaps you get yourself a little smart car, you will be happier.


Now all that said, the new "wrx" line is ****ing ugly as ****, its lost its soul, and I will keep what I have now (just like I would not buy a FXT after 07)

subysteez

iTrader: (3)

Here is what I don't get. As OMA mentioned they have consistently made the sti heavier and more comfortable, clearly in an effort to attract non track enthusiasts. What's this obsession with creating a mass appeal sports car? Isn't subaru doing absurdly well selling models such as the outback and forester? it's not like It'd hurt them to produce an sti thats stripped down. If they keep this up they will slowly anleiente the enthusiasts that loyaly by the new model, because Subaru.

wombatsauce

iTrader: (7)

Oh, you.

runboyrun

I just want the STi to have more HP because I want Subaru and the STi to still be competitive and successful in this sector. Other manufacturers have been uping their game lately.

04GG

iTrader: (33)

"Handling it" is one thing. Having a place to USE it is another, and pretty much other than the track there ISN'T a place like that, so it isn't truly necessary for the street. That doesn't mean I'd like less power, just means there's a reality and want and they aren't always the same thing.

If they give you a good platform, you can build on it. I am going to go out on a limb and say that most people here don't leave much alone on their cars or they wouldn't be here.

Last time I checked there was no more Evo either and the replacement car was going to be "more comfortable". Car companies make what makes them money, not what a small segment of the market wants.

OneManArmy

iTrader: (7)

I think we do agree. My opinion on the HP is really just because I know the cars are heavier and that's not changing. So... more power. LOL!


And even if they were lighter... I'd still want 330-350hp. I can't figure out how they can have essentially the same power as they've had since 2004 and people can be happy with that. You can't keep making the same car and having people buy it. Eventually the market you're selling to gets saturated. There's always fan boys that will buy but the masses....

Just ask Apple.



oh and I don't take offense to people getting pissy... if I know them. LOL! We all love cars and arguing... that's why we're here.

chimchimm5

iTrader: (9)

WTF with the insults?

chimchimm5

iTrader: (9)

I know what you're talking about.

I haven't done a track day for a few years now, but the last one I did there were a bunch of Shelby Cobra's. Caught up to us on the straight so we'd give them a point by and then immediately regret it on the next turn as they putted around it. Eventually the solution was to try and start while they were about half way around the track. We were faster in corners, but they were faster on the straights.

And then similar things happen on the street when a huge SUV/truck roars to pass and then granny's the turn.

OneManArmy

iTrader: (7)

New here?

Overbear

That's kind of what I thought too. I mean, hell people grow a thicker skin, Half of you wouldn't last 2 posts on the PBB (pirate4x4.com)

tkmotorhead

iTrader: (5)

Ah yes, every time the new model comes out the people all talk about how it sucks. It's very entertaining to read. Remember when the 02 Wrx rolled off the trailer? Everyone hated on it.... Ha ha