chiark

Mate, I had an impreza for nigh on 6 years - I knew how to drive it a little!

I was in second, holding revs, and occasionally varying speed to make sure I didn't hit the fabled ECU "bug" for emissions testing - although I never had this on the WRX, only on the MY00 I had prior to it. I was giving the car's all, and it wasn't playing. It was about 6 degrees C, everything was all as it should be, and I couldn't reel in a friggin' vRS

Fully agree, which is why I let him past - however, even in a straight line dash he was almost as quick as me, which I *really* did not expect at all. I was so shocked I even texted a mate that night to ask WTF was wrong .

I *really* shouldn't allow myself to be dragged in here again, should I ?

CraigH

Reminds me when I was with Ian in his PD150 Golf - 80ish mph, floor it in 5th, bugeye does the same and we start reeling him in.

Pathetic

hades

Standard bugeye WRX isn't really boosting properly at 80mph in top, certainly isn't very quick at that speed. Also, i assume the golf has 6 gears, so you were down one - the WRX will only have 5 so was in top. However, I never really thought 5th gear on a WRX was much use for accelerating until I tuned the car a bit to give it healthy torque and at lower rpm

What most people seem to overlook is that unless you're going for a fairly prolonged race, or the car is MUCH faster, you won't pull a big gap on someone else who is trying. As an example - say an unmodded WRX takes ~6.5 secs 30-70 (ish) An awful lot of rep-mobiles with 2L petrol or decent TDi engines will do it in say ~8.5. You let them get a 1 second jump on you, they'll be pulling away for half that dash, and you'll have only "recovered" the deficit by the time you reach 70. Throw in some good/bad driving etc, it's not surprising fairly humble kit can keep up with allegedly quite quick stuff. By the same token, a well driven WRX can stay surprisingly close to some genuinely quick cars in many "everyday" circumstances. It does take a surprising huge difference to genuinely "blast past" someone who is trying in only a few seconds.

Jamesemt

Well we own both - MY03 WRX andFabia vRS.

No way is the Fabia as quick AS STANDARD...

It all boils down to how much you want to risk. I can have fun in the wet - yet the other day some guy came flying past me in an Ibiza 1.4 'cool', I kept a distance and tried to judge how fast he was taking some of the bends. Some people will drive to the absolute limit - on a couple of bends I could feel the Scoob squirming so he must have been right on the very edge of ditching it...I am not prepared to do that in a 'my **** is bigger than yours' situation

I seriously considered chopping the Scoob in for another Fabia as they cost Peanuts to run - the problem is that when pushing on they don't instill confidence as they understeer and are a nightmare in the wet.

There is more to performance than straight line ability. Plus I enjoy being able to take wet roundabouts without braking

robertdon777

Although quite quick for a diesel these really NOT that quick.
Used to own a Saab 900 2.3 convertible (non turbo) which was very very close performance wise to the Jag. Jag will pull very well mid range but the limited rev range robs it of any real advantage over a similar powered car like the Saab which are very long geared (102mph in 3rd).

Purchased my first Subaru last week UK MY01 classic shape. There is no way a 2.0D Jag will keep up with this no matter what speed accelerating from (as long as the correct gear is selected). From a standing start would be SO FUNNY.

I've owned

205 gti 1.6
205 gti 1.9
205 gti Mi16 (still own)
BMW 316 (slow)
VW Golf Mk2 gti 8v
Saab 900 2.3 SE

Use a 9-3 Viggen convertible a fair bit aswell so have a few personal performance comparisons.

The Jag is a good performance diesel but try a BMW 330D, Audi 3.0 TDi even a golf 150tdi and then you will have a fast performance diesel.
Fabia vrs diesels are very good as already stated on this site and will happily keep up with the likes of a mini cooper s (standard).

chiark

I must admit that I didn't have a chance to ask the owner if the VRS was chipped at all - we need to develop a set of sign language for this sort of task

MJW

On a similar note, I overtook an Aston Martin DB9 on the motorway the other day in my MY02 WRX ; I had to get our lass to hold the steering wheel while I pulled my pants down and bared my **** to him ! I considered starting a thread on it on an Aston Martin forum, but figured it would be just needless gloating.

WRXPete

Erm, how can something doing 80mph be not as quick as something else doing 80mph

I think i know what you meant though

Comper100

Ahh you guys

Allan

iTrader: (1)

LOL.....

GrollySTI

erm....assume you don't mean my post is bollocks as we agree

Mark Miwurdz

What a bizarre thread.

Barmyclown

At an indicated 80 mph I would never us 5th to accelerate hard as it`s only just over 3000rpm. you need to drop to 4th which will put you at around 3700 - 3900rpm. And the turbo at the beginning of it`s range.