- 10,544
- Columbia, MD.
- Parnelli_Bones
Car: 2002 Impreza Sedan WRX STi
Tuner: Rotary Junkie
Garage: RRV Motorworks
Best Lap: 1:23.221
To bring SUPERCAR to a close, we have a couple JDM machines. Here's the first.
Speed
Top Speed: 149.2 mph
Like VTiRoj's BMW M3 CSL, the Impreza WRX STi-511 is not not as muscular as some others. It's got 494 horsepower, making it more powerful than VTiRoj's BMW M3 CSL, and Macca's 350Z. It should have had more power than this, but RJ forgot to list an oil change as standard equipment.
Not to worry...this car still offers plenty of benefits other than pure Speed, and it ain't so bad with Speed & acceleration as tested.Even if I had allowed that oil change, this STi would have been among the lesser-powered cars. Instead of power, it relies on other qualities, and offers some possibilities not seen in any other SUPERCAR so far. Now, I'm not saying the others have been "all brawn/no brains", I'm simply stating that almost all of the Impreza's competitors have been heavier in comparison. More powerful, true--but in many cases these heavier autos lack the savvyness found in both this Impreza, and VTiRoj's Beemer. They feel heavier. The Impreza WRX STi-511 does not.
The 2.0 liter flat-4 engine features amazing flexibility...and a super-high redline of 8,000 rpms, which we'll never have any reason to touch. Peak power is way below this at 6,000 rpms, but this is not a spikey horsepower peak...it's more like a broad curve of power which stretches quite a bit, thanks to that Stage 5 turbo system. The Stage 5's spooling action retains its boost well past peak, well into the 7K range of revs, which means there's LOTS of revs to play with up high.
Very unlike that Typhoon I just drove, which loses boost rapidly once we pass peak.The engine also pulls from lower revs; as low as 3,500 rpms in 3rd gear. This makes 3rd an option out of slower areas; but beware, for there is also lots of understeer on-exit if you just flatten the gas-pedal without discretion.
Sometimes, it's simply better to drop into 2nd, but this depends on the variability of how we attack that corner. We can experience understeer in 2nd, as well, but it's somewhat easier to avoid. Understeer.
That's really the main issue I had with this car when trying to build acceleration out-of-turns. Traction is awesome; traction helps the best it can. There was no out-of-control rear-wheelspin showing up like I experienced occasionally with the STi Spec C from Heavyweight. Instead, the Impreza WRX STi-511's tires would often ACT like they were about to lose it. Just when you think some smokey tires are about to ruin everything, they "hook up", and you're on your way. 
These small moments of drama made my time behind the wheel of this car lotso fun. 👍 Gearing is busy....2nd thru 6th possibly come into play if you're being strict about keeping the engine in its true powerband/peak area. But at least there's some options with gearing. 6th is somewhat taller than the others. I used 6th down the longest straight (the car redlines if you don't upshift, finally stepping outside of its best power-zone) but didn't truely need 6th in any other spot. Although I did use 6th (for fun) down Motegi East's 2nd and 3rd longest straights, it was more convenient when going for Best Lap if I kept it in 5th instead.
So it's the understeer (and those resulting moments when I'd need to hold back when I wanted to just slam the throttle) that hurt acceleration, lap times, and therefore this Speed category most of all, not including the oil change RJ forgot to list.
Then again, if he HAD listed the oil change, there'd be more power, but there'd also be a tendency for more wheelspin. I know 'cause I tried this. 💡
17
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Handling
Already mentioned understeer. Let's back up, though...let's see what happens before this understeer occurs. 💡
Okay everyone, gather around, grab a soda, and check out those brakes!!!
The STi has GREAT brakes even when stock, which means Rotary Junky gets a head-start, but it doesn't hurt that he's also included a brake balancer, and strengthened its settings. These settings aren't massive, but it's okay. Like I said, this car has great brakes to start with, so RJ's has even BETTER ones. I could play with my braking areas to a great extent, even into super-tricky Turn 1. I could brake early (say...at 100 or 110 meters), giving the STi-511 plenty of time to get into a proper groove. OR... I could brake later (say...at 95 or 90 meters), SKEWING the car into a slideways slant as I approached the L, getting those tires a bit smokey.
This was alot more fun, obviously, but also more dangerous. Needed a bit of damage control if I did this. However, the fact that the Impreza WRX STi-511 ALLOWS us these options with "braking & entry" 
can't be ignored. 👍💡 Wings, tilted to the max both front & rear, also help with slowing down, offering their aerodynamic resistance. 👍 This limits overall speed & acceleration to a small degree, but notice this car has the BEST braking ability so far. 👍 Trail-braking in the STi-511 is therefore a dream come true for Parnelli. The only criticism one can make (and I'm not docking points for this) is that the front-end can become grabby under braking, and gets even grabbier, once we lift-off those brakes. But I'm not docking for this simply because:
A). I could work with this grabby behavior. Never found myself in a near-spin because of it.
B). This front-end behavior increases the STi-511's responsiveness when entering corners; offering us plenty of leeway and options with cornering lines on-entry. 👍
Only a n00b or intermediate driver may get overwhelmed by all this. I'm personally elated by it. I had lots of fun ENTERING every single Twin Ring East corner because of it.
Fun with braking? Is such a thing possible??? Apparently so. Slowing down doesn't always have to be a bummer. 
Lift-off throttle is also very massively strong, to the point that it's possible to get the entire car into a sideways jacknife if you want.
But if you don't want this, the solution is easy--don't crank the steering quite as hard next time you enter that curve. This is obviously a very responsive car, very different from some of the heavier luxury cruisers & Aussie sedans of TCV5 SUPERCAR, which (in comparison) have sometimes felt somewhat dead or numb while attacking these same curves.
The RRV Impreza WRX STi-511 features some radical settings in comparison to others; obviously a bit of a Rotary Junky trademark. The front-end is 10 mm higher than the rear, for instance. The entire car is much higher off the ground than any other so far, except one of the Jags, I think. Those front springs & stabilizers are much stronger than the rear ones (in this regard, the STi-511 is similar to some of Adamgp's tunes). RJ's damper settings seem to contradict those springs & stabilizers, since they're weaker up front. Well, the front bound dampers are. Interesting. This car also has a VCD automatically installed, which RJ has set with as strong a RWD bias as possible.
All of this seems like it could be wacky, yet this car works with us. 👍 Rumblies create a minimal negatory effect at times, but not enough to dock a point, since it's just as easy to avoid these moments. Traction is exemplary. The car gets into all kinds of fun slip-angles (helping Versatility massively) if you want it to. Or, you can drive more conservatively once you figure out how to use steering in more of a "partial" manner.
Despite its 140/130 mm ground clearance, the Impreza WRX STi-511's body only occasionally wobbles independantly from its chassis in a negative way. Most of the time, I could work with this car's rare wobbles and slips, especially into and out of hairpins and elles (and other slow areas).
The only major problem I had was with the limited-slip--specifically that rear Accel setting of "58". Very strong this is. Is it necessary?
The one trait that the STi-511 really loses points at (so far as Handling goes) is probably caused by this Accel/LSD setting: understeer on-exit. It's the one trait that ruined my otherwise stellar time while driving this car. Too many times I'd swear I had been careful to avoid plowing, yet I'd wind up in some grass, anyways.
But overall, Handling is looking good. Above-average when compared to every single car so far, except the BMW, which doesn't understeer as much.
19
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Versatility
This is one of the more versatile ones...almost too versatile at times!
It can tackle Motegi East's curves & corners in lots and lots of directions (especially into turns), after awhile you realize you almost have too many options, including the option to grab too far towards the inside line (and possibly into some grass. But having lots of options helps Versatility. Only a newbish driver will get confused by this car and all the behaviors it displays.It's when leaving corners that there's a few points minused.
As noted above in the Speed & Handling sections, understeer can easily show up under power, sometimes even if you've been careful to try and avoid it. You always have to consider how it's gonna show up, and how it's gonna affect you out of turns. This is true when driving more casually, as well as while tearing about.But into turns? Good lord, this one is so tossable. It explores the track like nobody else. You can chuck it this way and that, get it sideways, brake late....it won't matter!
The only thing that ruins all this is when trying to re-introduce throttle. You can NEVER plant it early, like you could in a couple of the rear-drives. On the other hand, after awhile I learned I could brake into some areas super-late (Turn 6 hairpin is a great example), CRANK the steering so that the Impreza was now jack-knifed into a slide. Since the rear was moving with a greater orbit than the front, I now COULD drop the hammer full-force. Understeer might still show up, but usually I'd squashed it like a bug if I did this manuever right.
I didn't even bother with any Family Cups below +10. I had full confidence I'd just bake them all.
Predictably, the Impreza WRX STi-511 simply slaughtered +10. In this case, I wound up passing ALL except the leading NSX Prototype by the time I was at Turn 10/Lap 1. In lap 2, I caught up to the NSX as the STi was leaving Turn 5, and then I drafted him down the straight. Into the hairpin, the Impreza WRX STi-511 braked late, and then went into a wild jack-knife!, it's front tires well heated by this point. This looked awesome in the replay. 👍
It's that understeer (as I said) that ruins a perfect score. It's avoidable if you slow down a tad & explore for some Versatility-type laps, or go for a crazy manuever like I described above. But understeer still "rears its ugly head" (RJ's words) too often to ignore.
17
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Car versus Battle Monster
Last I heard, the poor BATTLE MONSTER team was secretly going broke.
A quick listen over an open radio line confirmed: the Gran Turismo GTR BATTLE MONSTER crew was apparently applying for Welfare & Food Stamps. Their spiffy sponsorhip deal with Walmart...down the drain. There have even been rumors they're even thinking of giving their precious Skyline over for America's current "Cash 4 Clunkers" deal!
14
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Improvement over Stock
Let's start with weight. RJ's Impreza is 4 kilograms heavier than a stock 2002 STi. This isn't significantly heavier, so I won't dock a point like I did with the Jaguar XJ220, which was 160 kg's over the stock car. 4 kg ain't enough to cause any pain. RJ probably included it so his car would just make the SUPERCAR limit. On the other hand, there's no points to be gained here.
Yikes. It's hard to award points for gearing, other than the fact that the RRV Impreza WRX STi-511 has those better drivetrain parts, which means gear shifts happen more immediately. The stock tranny in a stock '02 Impreza WRX STi assumes gear 6 doesn't see action, but it doesn't need to see action. Arguably, the stock tranny feels just fine at Twin Ring.
Aww, screw it.
No it doesn't. It could be slightly shorter. If the stock '02 Sti included 6th for an overall shorter set of throws, there would be an improvement to acceleration. As it is, the '02 STI feels somewhat sluggish due to its taller gearbox. There's another point for ya, Rj.The stock car also leans alot more, I noticed. I could use this behavior to my advantage, but the fact that the tuned car's firmer feel is overall more appropriate here at this technical track is a definate improvement. *Bing*.
Both cars have similar prowess while entering turns of all kinds. They both need to brake at the same spots, but the fact that the STi-511 is travelling at a much higher rate of speed while doing so represents another improvement. *Bing*. Also, the fact that the tuned car's got a stronger rearward VCD bias helps with another improvement point, as I definately noticed the car acts more like a RWD with FWD assist, rather than an AWD.
From here on, the points stop rolling in.
Both cars enter turns with similar prowess, like I mentioned. I could get either one sideways if I wanted, with plenty of lift-off oversteer..if I wanted. Or I could avoid this altogether for a more professional line. Either car offered me these options. The stock car's lack of wings don't matter, since it travels at a slower rate of speed. I could use its natural behavior to keep whatever speed I had going.
Both cars understeer on-exit once the pressure's on...the stock version only slightly less than the STi-511. The fact that the stock '02 has less power (and no aftermarket PD limited-slips) means understeer doesn't readily interfere under power. I'd dock a point here, except that the tuned car offers other options to help us avoid understeer if we're good. Plenty of alternate lines & tossability, for instance.
5
Total Score: 72
But I'm done. 
They tried to turn in thier Skyline to the "Cash 4 Clunkers" program, only to find they couldn't get a sizable chunk of bailout money. 
