Subaru Wrx STI Hatchback test drive since 2008 hatchback

Overview of the first batch of the long -awaited Subaru Impreza Wrx STI

Standard chairs are also good

Fans of Subaru Impreza machines may rejoice: finally, 5 and a half months after the Impreza modeling range, a new and long-awaited Subaru Impreza WRX STI model appeared on sale. It is interesting for what reason such a delay was allowed, really because of the desire to intrigue customers?, I thought, moving in the direction of Mount Fuji, where, like other representatives of the press, I had to get to know the new car better.

Naturally, the first thing that invited to the presentation began to be interested in was just the question of this 5-month delay. And it turned out that this could hardly be called a delay, since it was originally planned to start working on a new generation WRX STI car only after the Impreza basic model was launched. And, in fact, what is there? The company representative in turn asked. Indeed, from the very beginning it was officially announced that the release of the Subaru Impreza WRX STI model would be started about six months after the base. So if someone hastened to purchase a S-GT model, and now he is trying to shift the responsibility for his hasty choice to the dealer network, he acts unjustly.

It must be immediately noted that the new machine should, in theory, had the same length and width as the base model. So it is so, but at the same time the designers considered that to give the car more relief, it is required to equip the wings with blisters. That is why the width of the car was 55 mm larger and amounted to 1,795 mm. Other distinctive features include the massive upper spoiler on the roof and the repeaters of the stop signal mounted in the doorbread mirrors of the rear review of the LED. I repeat: all this additional equipment was prepared specifically for the Subaru Impreza series WRX STI.

The machine is equipped with a 2-liter 4-cylinder turbo engine with a horizontal-opposite location of the cylinders and a DOHC type gas distribution mechanism. It was still believed that the engine of such cubicature has nothing to develop power in more than 300 hp, but, as we see, this line finally turned out to be overcome, since the nominal power of the Subaru Impreza WRX STI engine is 308 horses , and the greatest torque is generally fantasy 43.0 kg-m. At the same time, the engineer who represented the machine spoke out that no one gave no special installations to overcome the 300-horsepower line, so it turned out, as they say, in the working order.

According to him, the main task when working on the engine was to eliminate the deficiency of the WRX STI of the previous generation. You know, he noticed that due to the fact that the speed characteristic (capacity and torque curve) took up too cool, when driving in normal mode, it was not entirely easy to control such a machine. We solved this problem, but the engine had to become a little more powerful, that's the whole truth. Yes, it sounds somehow prosaic, even, one might say, peacefully. And it was quite possible to believe this, if not for one but: after all the measures taken by the closest competitor to Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X with his 280-horsepower engine turned out to be in the role of catching up!

Well, well, I’m in a hurry to my car, they open the door of the salon, and suddenly I see the option of the front chair from the RECARO company. He had a seat with such hard edges that while you sigh, you have time to suffer. Well, the driver is clear! But the front passenger for him for what is the seat?! And if a girl or woman sits nearby? What, in this case, she will think about the car, and at the same time about her driver?! In a word, an urgent advice to men, especially those who have grumpy wives: do not experiment, better take a salon with standard seats, will be calmer!

Sport Sharp mode: rampant acceleration

I press the clutch pedal, after which I press the start button (as in Toyota cars, just one to one), and the engine starts. Luminescent devices flare up, and at the same time all the dash arrows available on the panel deviate to the right to the right, and then return to the set places. I must say that at this moment my eyes fled, so I could not thoroughly consider what's what. There is nothing to do: I had to jam the motor to repeat the whole procedure from the very beginning.

By the way, the clutch pedal seemed to me too supple. Not that it does not require much effort to press it, this in itself does not cause complaints. However, it is important to note: as a rule, all modern cars with a mechanical transmission are made in such a way that you just have to get behind the wheel and try out levers and pedals, and immediately becomes clear, what is this machine character and why, in fact, it is intended. For example, you get behind the wheel, click the clutch pedal, and it is quite actively resisting and does not want to squeeze out just like that. You immediately understand: a car with a sports character, well, and then you begin to pretend how to behave with it, and in general, whether it suits you or not. In this car, the clutch pedal turned out to be, so to speak, indifferent: after STI I moved behind the wheel of model 15s with a manual box. And, you know, I did not feel any particular difference in the work of the clutch pedal, although, in theory, I had to.

At first I walked at low speed for some time, and was in a sense surprised at how comfortable I felt. For example, if I were sitting behind the wheel of Honda Civic Type R, I would probably shake me properly. And here is nothing like that. But you will keep in mind: there was a chair from Recaro under me, so my body was practically deprived of freedom of choice: the body shakes, which means that it shakes me. In this case, the movement at low speed took place as smoothly as if I were sitting in an ordinary seat in a regular machine like home, for the family.

The engine of the machine showed enviable smoothness, and if it occurred to someone to use a car for everyday trips, the car will be able to behave both calmly and measured. True, at a low speed, the engine is sometimes not enough torque, so in the city hustle and bustle will have to work quite actively to the gas pedal. And here the driver can wait, as they say, a surprise: you just need to set the motor with too high speeds, the gas turbine is instantly activated, and you will not have time to come to your senses how you will be racing at unjustified speed. In this regard, I want to warn all those who are used to driving a previous generation of the STI car: the new car is gaining speed much more intensively, so more careful with the accelerator!

The owners of the STI of the previous generation, as I know, are used to the fact that their cars, no matter what happens, behave too calmly. Moreover, among drivers there is an opinion that, they say, German cars are yes, with them you have to be extremely careful, and everything else is, they say, so seeds! Well, so, I believe that such careless riders will have to change their way of thinking somewhat. Otherwise, trouble!

I was distracted, but in fact I just wanted to say that, treating the STI of the new generation, you should not deceive, since all of itself affectionate cat is ready to show its claws at any moment. Especially if you were able to accidentally switch the SI-Drive system to Sport Sharp mode. Then look at both, otherwise it may happen that you won’t really have time to press the accelerator, and the car will already break and how crazy it will come from what speed.

It is also suitable for the role of a car for the home, for the family

If you ride Sport Sharp mode all the time, the speed of speed is dulling over time. Knowing this, I decided enough, it's time to try something else, the good that the Si-Drive system provides such an opportunity. Okay, for example, the Sport mode: in this case, in this case, it grew at just a stunning pace, so I even thought that the switching did not take place, and the system is still configured to Sport Sharp mode. Although, to be honest, this is me for a red word. In fact, the difference is evident: if you just drive Sport in mode, then you feel that everything is under your control, if this is the Sport Sharp mode, alas, the emphasis is not on controllability, but on the speed in its pure form. If you compare this with the running of the horse, then in the first case the car continues to obey the rods, and in the case when the Sport Sharp mode is valid, it has already bitten them.

But all this is from the world of sports, and if you want peace, then you need not experiment, but simply switch to Intelligent Mode. In this mode, the growth of engine speed does not lead to an intensive emission of energy, at least the driver feels a direct connection between how he presses on the gas, and how the car pulls. By the way, on the dashboard there is a special gear indicator, which works only in Intelligent Mode mode. However, it is so small that, against the background of other indicators, which, incidentally, have the same color, to see what he shows there is not so simple. So it would not be completely superfluous to make its numerical indications exactly as noticeable as the numbers on the scale of the tachometer with their characteristic flicker.

I can’t ignore such a seemingly convenient innovation, as a system for a smooth beginning of movement on the rise. It would seem good when you are touching the hill, knowing exactly that you have a margin of time to let go of the brake pedal and find an accelerator with your foot, and also choose the right gas to them. However, how much this electronic assistant is appropriate in the STI salon, that’s the question. Unless, of course, a driver is sitting behind the wheel, for which a manual box is something completely unusual and even frightening, for him a 3-second delay, during which the car certainly does not roll back even with squeezed clutch, then another conversation. But in this case, we are talking about equipment not a simple machine, but a WRX STI model. Well, why, tell me the mercy, such help to the driver who consciously chose this, I would say, a specific car?! Can’t he move out of his place, without any help? Why such increased custody simply does not understand!

The engineer, representing the company, explained everything by the fact that, they say, it would be difficult for her husband to convince his wife to purchase such a car as a car for a house, for a family. Well, well, there is some reason in this, although if frankly, what the car is not equipped, but if a woman sees the clutch pedal in the cabin, she will still say no more than yes.

I think that in fact, the new Subaru Impreza WRX STI can claim the role of a family car only in such families where his wife already has her own car, or where the wife does not have a voice at all. As for me, I am ready to applaud any man who can convince my spouse that the best version of the family car than Subaru Impreza WRX STI cannot be found. In fact, how much can you put up with such a position, they say, if you need a family car, then it must be a minivan?!

The cost of Subaru Impreza WRX STI with 18-inch cast discs is 3,654,000 yen ($ 33 \u200b\u200b163), with 17-inch 3,444,000 yen ($ 31,257).
 
Author: Foreigned Gorod
Photo: Kostya Seero
 






 

A source: AGN