STi on Rails
My third ride-along at last Sunday’s autocross event was with Ross, in his 2006 Subaru Impreza STi. I was impreza’d, I’m mean impressed! Ross is the Vice-President of the Spokes Club.
I had previously run 2 consecutive runs with Jerry in his ’90 Miata, alternating between over/understeer conditions throughout the course. On the other hand, with the Subaru’s symmetrical all-wheel drive, that car tracked the cone-formed corners like it was on rails.
The Miata was fun to toss, but the Subbie was in a whole other realm of control! Which is strange…before the run Ross was complaining that “Subaru’s turn like trucks!” I asked what he meant & he said that the turning radius was wide, not easy to turn around a tight course. Well Ross, as a passenger I thought it was FINE!
This Subara was pretty much stock (accept upgraded, but still street [not R compund], tires). Ross had decided to compete in the STU, SCCA rules “tire” class. He felt he could be more competative. Here’s a general intro about that from the SCCA website:
Street Touring (R) – This class is a fairly new class and is geared towards cars with common bolt-on modifications. Things like cold-air intakes, headers, lowering springs, etc. This is the only category that does not allow DOT competition R-compund tires – only high performance tires with a UTQG treadwear rating of 140 or higher are allowed (found on the tire sidewall).
Dan
