The best way to find out how to drive a WRX is to go to a track day at a local road course. Learn technique from the instructors and use them while driving your own car. It's a lot safer for everyone concerned rather than pushing your car hard on public roads.

--
0==WW==0
"…axles of evil…" - george w. bush

 

One more thing I thought I would mention --

The other major difference I noticed between RWD cars and my WRX is the effect of "engine braking" is much more pronounced. When you downshift without stepping on the gas, you are adding drag to all four wheels, rather than just the two rear ones. The result is that you have to brake less, and you can often get through a turn without braking at all, just using engine drag to maintain control. The drag is balanced between all four wheels, providing very even braking.

This technique is most dramatic with slippery conditions; any of you who have driven on snow & ice or in rain with an automatic vs a stick (or a "LO" gear in a truck) know what I am talking about. Everone else taps their brakes = out of control slide, me downshift = drive by safely, waving goodbye.

Obviously the limited-slip differentials mitigate this effect, so it isn't *that* dramatic, but I have noticed that I can get through many turns without braking (just shifting into 3rd or 2nd early and powering out of the turn) while the RWD or FWD cars ahead of me have to slam the brakes and then bog down as they reach the outside of the apex. In fact it is a pretty common experience for me to exit a curve so much faster than the car ahead of me that I then have to brake going OUT of the turn so I don't run up under their rear bumper! Myself and about six friends do "group drives" in the twisties in northern AZ, and I have noticed that I brake a lot less than the heavier cars (Audi Quattro, Chevy Impala) and maintain a more consistent speed in the turns.

With proper revmatching technique and good tranny fluid, this shouldn't be much more than normal wear-and-tear on a transmission, and more importantly it keeps your brake pads cool for when you REALLY need them (guy in front of you bails!)

 

Since the WRX is front heavy and more inclined to understeer...the first thing you should do is beef up your swaybars, get some Kartboy endlinks for the rear, get front and rear upper strut bars and MOST DEFINITELY get rid of those GAY *** RE92'S!!!! Also make sure you keep your RPMs between 4500-6000 rpms so you can maximize your BOOST!!! Once you do this, your turn in will be flat as a pancake...I promise!:banana:

 

Wicked,

Asking a forum how a car should be driven will, as you've seen, reward you with just about every possible answer you can imagine.

When I saw you were coming from a Miata to a WRX I figured I could help. I still drive a Miata on the street and race the WRX. They are very, very different and it's probably best to not compare them at all. All of the things you currently love about your Miata, the WRX lacks.

It's nose heavy, in anything near stock configuration it suffers from terminal understeer, lift throttle oversteer is easy to induce, but disappears immediately when you get back into the throttle.

Trailbraking gives nice turn in and will give nice rotation for as long as you stay on the brakes. Even throttle at the limit is understeer city, so do as little of it as possible. On-throttle exit feels good if you are not at the limit of cornering, feels like the car is neutral to oversteer biased, but it really isn't because at the very limit the car will still push. Trailbrake almost to the apex, have the car over-rotated by the apex to compensate for the understeer that will unfortunately bring the car all the way out to the exit.

It's going to take a lot of getting used to going from a Miata to a WRX on the track. It's hard to beat a Miata for balance.

Gary
Sheehan Motor Racing
www.teamSMR.com

 

Nothing will make it Miata-like. The 700 additional pounds, higher CG, 4 drive wheels and strut suspension will prevent that.

Our racecar still has mild understeer. It just doesn't go away with AWD. And with a stock car, you won't be able to get nearly enough negative front camber into the car to really help.

Gary
Sheehan Motor Racing
www.teamSMR.com

 

What is trail braking?

 

THANKS WICKED, so you just brake into the turn? when do u accel?, can u give me a little more info on this

 

A WRX is driven best with the throttle and with very smooth and minimal steering inputs. Brake early to set up for corners without reducing all your speed, then turn in under trailing throttle (no gas), at this point the car should rotate nicely, once pointing towards exit apply throttle smoothly until you're fully on the gas by apex, all the time balancing the car with the gas pedal and using as little steering lock as possible; exit just stay on the gas.

 

hey nice break down metalsolid i appreciate it.. time to go road race at buttonwillow and rule now :banana:

 

Metalsolid,

Apparently our driving styles are quite different.

Gary
Sheehan Motor Racing
www.teamSMR.com