by "Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678)
Published 11/25/2017 at 08:00
by "Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678)
Published 11/25/2017 at 08:00
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STARS: 11
On Friday after Thanksgiving I had to go to work in order to save my nearly nonexistent vacation time. Plus I had some things to do so it was fine to have to go into the office. At least I got out early so I was able to take a nice cruise on the way home with some daylight! On Wednesday I had taken the exact same route in the Miata so I wanted to compare how it would go in the Subaru. Considering the first portion of the drive is uphill, the Subaru SMOKED the Miata in climbing up the hills. Plus it held pretty solidly around the turns although I could not push it nearly as hard. These tires are done for but I knew that when buying the car. Still have to contact the tire shop for an update on when my Falkens are arriving!
So the route went from the PCH and up over the mountains onto Mulholland Highway and then Eastward to the Snake. This is a popular area apparently since there were a bunch of tuner cars around there and I always see people driving through there just like you would at the Tail of the Dragon. I’m sure its even more crowded on the weekend but I wont bother dealing with that. I still have yet to go driving up on Angeles Crest in either of my cars so I want to do that soon. Possibly this Sunday since my girlfriend has brunch plans with her friends.
And my dash cam footage of the drive. This time I actually condensed most of the file. Only the Snake is played at regular speed, the last few minutes of the video:
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I was finally able to push the car a little bit and really it is quite fun. It has tons and tons of grip, it is very hard to feel where the limit is. Definitely has that “hero car” feel where you think you have infinite grip. But I am sure it is there until it isn’t and then you understeer off a cliff. With better tires, I will feel comfortable pushing it a little further at least though. But so far I can see why “slow car fast” is kind of more fun with the Miata. The Miata has less grip even with my summer tires and coilovers and sway bars and roll bar for stiffness, but I can use over 100% of that grip without dying. But I can have just as much fun in either car but for different reasons. The biggest advantage to miata though is the Bride bucket seat and the 6 point harness, that I missed in the Subaru for sure! While the STi seats are quite grippy, the difference was noticeable. But its a compromise I am glad to make for a little more comfort on longer distance trips.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
11/25/2017 at 10:57, STARS: 0
Speaking from my experience with a couple grippy awd cars, the best way to tap into that hero car feeling is to not get too crazy and overcook things entering into corners, but do use a little bit of trail braking to help it turn in at non-insane speeds. Once the car takes a set in the turn, give it as much gas as you feel comfortable with and let the driveline take care of the rest. Especially since your STI has 3 LSDs you have a lot of leeway to give it a lot of gas.
"Bryan doesn't drive a 1M" (bryantakespictures)
11/25/2017 at 13:10, STARS: 0
Yep, and with the turbo lag of the EJ25, you can get on the gas just that little bit earlier. Just, you know, be safe about it.
"AestheticsInMotion" (aestheticsinmotion)
11/25/2017 at 14:23, STARS: 1
I’ve always wondered which one had more absolute grip. My miata on star specs, or the 08 outback with new all-seasons. I’m thinking the miata, but it’s such a huge difference in feel that it’s hard to compare! Plus pushing the Subaru to the limit sounds TERRIFYING...
"Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678)
11/25/2017 at 17:17, STARS: 0
Exactly, it is so different that I’m wondering the best way to compare. I’m getting 200tw Falkens installed on the Subaru today so at least it will have better tires than the Miata for now. But yeah I’m definitely terrified of taking it to any sort of limit lol.
I enjoy having two cars that are so different though. It helps keep things interesting depending on which one I take for the day.
"AestheticsInMotion" (aestheticsinmotion)
11/25/2017 at 19:33, STARS: 1
I’ve gone past the limits of traction in the outback once or twice. Thought for sure I was going to die. There’s no body roll to help you feel the limits like with a stock miata, but you don’t have the lightweight communicative feeling you get with a modded miata either. When it goes... The steering gets light as the front wheels lose traction first, and you just plow until the rear wheels break away. You really feel all the weight as the whole car gets unsettled. And it’s strange not knowing which side you’ll get grip from first... Not fun. I’m sure the sti handles things much better but still!
If you’re interested let’s do a little roadtrip and meet up sometime this spring!
"Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678)
11/26/2017 at 00:49, STARS: 0
This is why I like that my setup in the Miata is not overly stiff. And most of my stiffness comes from the sway bar instead of Springs. The flyin miata coilovers are far better than stock at least but there is still plenty of body roll and communication. The STi stock is WAYYYYYY stiffer and like you said, no body roll. So yeah I haven’t felt any loss of grip which makes it seem invincible. But I’m sure with those shitty tires I was moments away from under steering off a cliff. Now at least I can push it a bit more but never do I want to be riding the limit in that car. I’ll have to autocross it though just so that I know what it’s like in a safer environment. I wonder if it would just push all the time or if the rear end would get loose.
Anyways, yes definitely I’m down for that. I really want to get up north and explore either the Northern California coast or maybe even further up into Oregon. I meant to come that way on my cross country journey but it didn’t make sense with how late in the season I left.