Ever lose a bill in the couch cushions, or your homework in a pile or random notes? Well that's the sort of thing I've done with the track test information for our 2008 Subaru WRX STI.
Sorry, folks. We tested this thing almost as soon as the break-in process was completed and it never made it onto the net.
Follow the jump for the full results of our track testing done some 19,000-miles ago.
Vehicle: 2008 Subaru WRX STI
Date: 4-22-08
Driver: Josh Jacquot
Price: $39,678
Specifications:
Drive Type: All wheel-drive
Transmission Type: 6-speed manual
Engine Type:
| flat4 |
Displacement (cc / cu-in):
| 2457cc (150 cu-in) |
Redline (rpm):
| 6200 |
Horsepower (hp @ rpm):
| 305 @ 6000 |
Torque (lb-ft @ rpm):
| 290 @ 4000 |
Brake Type (front):
| 13.0-inch ventilated discs, four piston fixed calipers |
Brake Type (rear):
| 12.6-inch ventilated discs, two piston fixed calipers |
Steering System:
| Speed-proportional rack and pinion with hydraulic power assis |
Suspension Type (front):
| Independent, Inverted MacPherson Struts, Coil Springs, and Stabilizer Bar |
Suspension Type (rear):
| Independent, Double-Wishbone, Coil Springs, and Stabilizer Bar |
Tire Size (front):
| 245/40R18 93W |
Tire Size (rear):
| 245/40R18 93W |
Tire Brand:
| Dunlop |
Tire Model:
| SP Sport 600 |
Tire Type:
| summer |
Wheel Size:
| 18 X 8.5 inch |
Wheel Material (front/rear):
forged aluminum
As tested Curb Weight (lb):
3,372
Test Results:
0 - 30 (sec): 1.8
0 - 45 (sec): 3.4
0 - 60 (sec): 5.3
0 - 75 (sec): 7.7
1/4 Mile (sec @ mph): 13.5 @ 101.0
0-60 with 1-ft Rollout (sec): 5.0
30 - 0 (ft): 27
60 - 0 (ft): 109
Braking Rating: Very Good
Slalom (mph): 69.7
Skid Pad Lateral acceleration (g): 0.90
Handling Rating: Good
Db @ Idle: 50.6
Db @ Full Throttle: 77.8
Db @ 70 mph Cruise: 73.3
Acceleration Comments: Couldn't manage the trademark STI leaping start with this car-- it barked the tires then bogged. Best run required much clutch slipping. Still love the shift reminder "beep," but not the notchy linkage.
Braking Comments: Ample power and effectiveness, not very much feel or poise. Firm, not hard.
Handling Comments: (Skid pad) Understeer. And it's terminal. (Slalom) More resistant to direction change than Evo MR, but also more intuitive. STill, Subarus don't like the slalom.
Mike Magrath, Vehicle Testing Assistant
sfwrx says:
06:22 PM, 03/23/09
Now let's have a follow up performance testing of the Sti to see if it's holding up after the trashing on the road and here on internet! Bring in On for the next to final blog entry!
tsy says:
07:08 PM, 03/23/09
Wow Josh, 60-0 braking in 27 feet!!! That's impressive- like hitting a brick wall!!! But the 30-0 braking is terrible!!!!! :)
Too bad you couldn't get a nice launch- should be able to drop a few tenths of the 0-60 time. (and a few thousand miles off the clutch!)
Hope you turned the traction control off and the DCCD to either Auto(-) or lowest manual setting which helps with the understeer.
Also, the redline light and beep are programmable, so you can turn either or both off and set what rpm you want them to light/beep at.
tom
sfwrx says:
07:22 PM, 03/23/09
I found a earlier full test of a blue STI by Edmunds dated 12-01-2007 titled 'Full Test: 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI'. Now check out the 0-60 time is 4.8, 1/4 mile 13.3 @102.3 mph, 72mph slalom. Your long term STI is somehow slower or was it the test driver?
boxermike says:
07:48 PM, 03/23/09
"Wow Josh, 60-0 braking in 27 feet!!! That's impressive- like hitting a brick wall!!! But the 30-0 braking is terrible!!!!! :)"
Fixed!
-mike
clarkma5 says:
09:57 PM, 03/23/09
The redline's higher than 6200 RPM, right? It's marked at 6500 I think, or maybe even 6800.
israelgt says:
11:56 PM, 03/23/09
Whats new?
"We(edmunds) hate the STI, its the worst car out on the road, and oh wait we hate all Subarus (they don't like slaloms)"
...and the Subaru bashing machine goes on...
steve_s2006 says:
11:02 AM, 03/24/09
What do you expect… A bunch of people in southern California with no real need of AWD; just convertibles and coupes with summer tires so they can look like the rest of the beautiful people.
Try it in the Midwest or the Northeast year round with a couple of kids and see how opinions might change. There is a reason the top half/third of the country is where most Subaru’s are sold.
I’ll be glad to see this year’s test at an end and suggest skipping any further Subaru’s in your LTTF. Just stick with the BMW’s, Starbucks and Soy free, dairy free, wheatgrass, anti-oxidant…. You get the point.
kurtamaxxxguy says:
12:32 PM, 03/24/09
Edmunds is an interesting, sometimes conflicted place; family-friendly vehicle testing .vs. seasoned enthusiast fringe.
Enthusiasts will always prefer RWD. Always. Even the hallowed GT-R gets dinged because its unflappable AWD nature's at odds to the Drive-em-Smoke-em-Drift-em fullfilment RWD offers seasoned drivers.
Still, the disagreement on what's acceptable lean for a car in a turn is amazing.
ace47 says:
01:02 AM, 03/25/09
Can't you guys give the STi a more rear bias with the VD controls and then test it? Iam getting tired of reading about the understeer when there is something that can be done about it. Nice touch with the "STill" bit though, or was it a typo?
"Enthusiasts will always prefer RWD. Always. Even the hallowed GT-R gets dinged because its unflappable AWD nature's at odds to the Drive-em-Smoke-em-Drift-em fullfilment RWD offers seasoned drivers."
What exactly is it about burnouts that make people enthusiasts? I very much doubt that a rally racer would want to drive a rear wheel car through a forest with roads having two feet of dirt. So in that aspect he is not an enthusiast? Time attack people also prefer AWD cars. I will admit that rear driven cars offer a greater amount of control while one would have to rely more on the differentials on an AWD car but the basic reason people prefer RWD is because RWD means less weight.
bbastyr says:
09:08 AM, 03/25/09
"it barked the tires then bogged"
The performance from launch is much better with a stage 1 reprogramming of the ECU. The larger tires on the 08 are hard to spin stock. More power from the engine at stage 1 makes launching significantly easier, particularly if you add launch control and flat foot shifting.
Eddie1971 says:
09:26 AM, 03/25/09
I think the performance if fine. The Evo fan club here seems to forget that with the GSR, at 65 mph, the engine is screaming. Not good when you are driving on a trip, much less for the life of the car.
drphyzx says:
04:49 PM, 04/15/09
Yup, redline is 6700. Also, interesting that this is significantly slower than the previous tester. It would be useful to post the DCCD/VDC settings being used. In the dry, you'll do best with Auto(-) and VDC completely off.
On steering/handling: as I just posted in the other thread on steering, you should get that thing aligned. I'm willing to bet you have crazy toe-out like almost ever other GR STI seems to have been delivered with. Whoever is responsible for ensuring the alignment before delivery on these cars should lose their job.
zeph says:
03:01 PM, 05/ 5/09
This seems to be the last entry to the STi's long-term test blog, but they never formally waved it goodbye. Hey Edmunds, are you still running it or did you make it disappear through the backdoor?
PS Anybody notice how the Subaru website has been offline?