Subaru Impreza Wrx STI 2001 test drive - 2003 sedan

Chaos of possibilities

For the uninitiated: STI is Subaru Tecnica International, a sports department of the Japanese company (like Motorsport GmbH in BMW), which is engaged in the preparation of particularly charged versions and the release of their limited batches in particular, for homologation of racing cars.

I will remember the meeting with Subaru Impreza WRX for a long time. Not a car, but a thermonuclear reaction, and even quite controlled! I went out of the car with cotton legs, a frantic knock in the temples and, according to my colleagues, with eyes, greatly looking like the headlights of the improvisa itself. Undoubtedly, I was not the only one whom the car brought into a state of ecstasy, but still one of those few lucky ones who received a chance to enter this state.
 
Alas, it is common for a person to get used to the most unusual things, and today instead of the previous second generation Impreza admiring! Yes, even WRX !!! More and more often you hear the arrogant-gaining just Impreza? Ah, WRX Well, Impreza, well, WRX and what's next?. Well, gentlemen, meet the Subaru Impreza Wrx STI, the continuation of the legend! A new mechanical drug for those who no longer take the old one.
 
For the uninitiated: STI is Subaru Tecnica International, a sports department of the Japanese company (like Motorsport GmbH in BMW), which is engaged in the preparation of particularly charged versions and the release of their limited batches in particular, for homologation of racing cars. So the WRX STI on the road is as serious as the Su-27C in the air. And for the initiates, I will give a brief list of changes made to the design of the original IMPEZA WRX.

So, a civilian version of the motor is installed on the car, on which Tommy Myakinen and Peter Solberg drive. The unit has been enhanced, forged pistons with molybdenum coating and a mirror of the original profile and forged connecting rods are used. The Active Valve Control System is implanted into the gas distribution mechanism. The new turbine provides a 23 percent increase in boost pressure, and the intercooler is increased in size and equipped with a forced cooling system: a tank with water is installed in the trunk, and by pressing a special button, the driver activates nozzles spraying the working surface of the intercooler. What, huh? Another solution came from the world of big sport: a tachometer with a sensor that allows you to set speed, upon reaching which a light bulb lights up and begins to squeak a bib.
 
The torque from the engine is transmitted to the wheels through a ceramic clutch and a six -speed gearbox, and it is distributed between the axes in an equal proportion. The function of blocking the center differential is entrusted to the WISKOFTA, and in the rear bridge a self -locking differential of high friction Supertrac is installed. The suspension is clamped in particular, the hardness of the silent blocks has increased. The track of the car became wider due to the use of wider Bridgestone Potenza tires. The transfer number of the steering mechanism has been changed, and now the steering wheel makes only 2.6 revolutions from the stop to the stop. Naturally, the brakes are revised: the advanced Brembo mechanisms are controlled by the ABS Super Sports system with the brake force distribution system integrated into it. In the electronic unit, ABS is used, which monitors the value of transverse acceleration.

WRX STI stands on seventeen -inch golden discs, frighteningly at the spoilers and staring intently at the world of headlights with black makeup. The car is produced in two performance: basic and exclusive Prodrive. The latter is distinguished only by elements of external decor primarily with giant rear -wing. The author of this composition is Peter Stevens, the chief designer of the British company Prodrive, which is building cars for the factory rally team.

The modest Salon of a simple WRX is great lively with inserts for aluminum and red stitching on the steering wheel, the levers of the checkpoint and the parking brake. And of course, magnificent blue chairs from the material that imitates suede, which tightly fix the body. In general, the ergonomics of the salon is so calculated that you don’t get in the car, you put it on like a suit. Such a classic blue Hollywood Superman costume with a fluttering cloak. Enough a pair of intersections to hopelessly become infected with the explosive energy of the car and start supermen to fully. You win all duels in half the course of the gas pedal: the motor almost immediately enters the turboson, and Impreza makes a dizzying jump into the space, leaving competitors in the distant past. And then the courage comes: you overtake in any gear, inside the turns and outside just in reverse. Damn how nice it is to make the owner of the five hundred and thirty feel the hopelessness, which he himself experienced at the wheel of nine yesterday, meeting this proud German!
 
However, you will soon realize that the game with the armpits is just a prelude. The main thing begins when, having ahead of all real and virtual rivals, you remain with the car alone, without witnesses. No, you don’t have to fight with her, despite the burning temperament, Impreza WRX STI is extremely obedient and the flexor. If anyone will have to fight with himself, it is with himself.

How about extreme acceleration? The pedal had not yet had time to touch the limiter, and Impreza was already teleported a hundred meters towards the horizon. A chill runs around the back caused by a clash of surprise, childhood delight and the instinct of self -preservation. From transmission to transmission, the picture is repeated exactly, and the intensity of the speed set does not fall! Until the speedometer has exchanged 150 km/h, it is difficult to break away from the chair (it is easy to calculate that when accelerating in the floor at the time of turning on the turbine, the driver presses the back of the chair with a force of 60-70% of its mass). I can’t even say what acceleration is realized by Japanese engineers more effective or negative. The intensity of slowdown is such that when braking in the floor, belts of safety are really helping to stay in the saddle. The clarity of the shifts of the gears is exemplary, the setting of the steering hydraulic control is ideal, and the smoothness of the stroke for the sports car is simply fantastic.
 
Truly a turning point in relations with the car comes when you admit to yourself that the Subaru Impreza test drive has turned into a test drive Leonid Klyuyev. The car happily performs all the commands, but does not hide what is clearly capable of more. Did you withstand acceleration and braking? Well done, now go around! At what speed? 80? And if 100? And 120 is weak? And even if there is enough courage and ability to stay 120 km/h under the squeal of tires (when all normal people keep 70 here), this still does not mean anything: Subaru is at ease at the clutch facial line! Playing an accelerator, we turn a light hint of the demolition of the front wheels into a side sliding, and if the turn is cooler, we provoke a skid, gracefully skating an arc ... Yes, theoretically this is done just like that. But almost probably, still weak. Well, let Impreza consider me a master, I will not be offended by her. By the way, I also have comments to her. They relate to a significant free stroke of the brake pedal and too hard noise insulation, which does not allow the driver to hear the beauty of the devilish roar that makes others turn around.

Of course, the WRX STI car is not for every day, because it is not every day that there is a mood to ride a simulator for astronauts, evaluating its ability to transfer overloads. The first trip on this car plunges into a slight shock, forcing to feel exhausted physically and psychologically. So again my eyes, like improvis, again, again weakness in my legs and a knock in the temples.

The car was provided by Subaru-Neva.
Text: Leonid Klyuyev
Photo: Roman Ostanin
 

 
 
 

 

 

 
 

A source: Wheel magazine [No. 57/2002]