On this episode of Ignition
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MotorTranscript
00:00 [ENGINE REVVING]
00:02 Put the rally history aside, storied as it may be,
00:06 and the Subaru WRX STI's mix of performance hardware
00:09 and economy car versatility seems bizarre,
00:13 but hugely intriguing.
00:15 Why not have a sports car you can drive every day
00:18 and everywhere?
00:20 For 2015, we have the next generation STI,
00:23 which has a significantly stiffer chassis
00:26 and many other improvements.
00:27 But it isn't entirely all new.
00:30 The 2 and 1/2 liter turbo flat four
00:32 that's powered the STI since 2008 remains largely unchanged,
00:36 still channeling 305 horsepower and 290 pound feet of torque
00:41 to all four wheels through a six-speed manual.
00:43 And we're most interested in finding out whether the new STI
00:46 still has it.
00:48 The plan goes as follows.
00:50 We'll get our first taste of the STI
00:52 at the press launch at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
00:55 Then we'll run it through the ignition test treatment.
00:57 And then we'll take it along one of our favorite curvy roads.
01:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
01:03 Now, the STI on track.
01:27 I've had a bit of time to warm up in it.
01:28 And my initial impressions are pretty nice.
01:34 This is a car that it's really easy to get to speed with.
01:37 You can feel like you can reach for its limits really quickly.
01:42 It has a rather forgiving chassis balance and a tendency
01:46 to understeer.
01:49 Once you turn the wheel, the car feels like it
01:50 wants to turn quickly with it.
01:54 That's kind of an alien thing in Subaru, but I really like it.
01:59 The car doesn't flop around like I remember the old STIs doing.
02:04 Also, our car has a short shift kit.
02:07 And it's really nice to throw the gears in.
02:10 I like the interaction between the clutch pedal and the gas.
02:15 It's not difficult to get heel-toe downshifts right.
02:18 The car makes it pretty easy.
02:20 And the stability as we go over one here into fifth gear
02:24 at 100 miles an hour is pretty good.
02:28 This car has a brake-assisted torque vectoring system,
02:31 as we're calling it now, brake vectoring.
02:34 And it's off when you have the stability control completely
02:39 off, which we do now.
02:42 This car on the track has different pads in it
02:46 because a lot of journalists are cycling through this car.
02:48 And they don't want to burn the pads off.
02:50 But I'm curious about how the torque vectoring system is
02:53 going to wear a set of street pads.
02:56 That's something we'll have to find out.
02:58 Again, I'm impressed with the way the car comes
03:00 into a corner, how fast it can get in.
03:03 And the chassis balance mid-corner
03:05 is really nice, too, because of the way you can set it up.
03:08 Turn in, bounce.
03:10 That's the best corner on the track
03:12 as we go up to the corkscrew.
03:14 The sound is very good, too.
03:16 And it matches the way this car builds power
03:19 high in the RPM range.
03:21 We're catching up to our fellow journalists here.
03:32 High level of grips.
03:33 I really feel like I can push this car mid-corner way more
03:37 than I feel like I should be able to.
03:39 I have a lot of confidence driving this car fast.
03:43 And that's cool in a track environment.
03:48 We'll give him some room.
03:51 As we give the driver in front of us some room, let's reflect.
03:55 So let's talk about what's underneath the sheet metal,
03:58 because on the face of it, this doesn't seem
04:01 too different than a WRX.
04:03 Now, the front and rear suspension is much stiffer.
04:08 It has stiffer everything, basically.
04:10 And there's all kinds of percentages.
04:12 They're throwing at this car to make it sound stiffer.
04:15 The gist of it is the car is stiffer.
04:17 Overall, this STI is pretty fun.
04:28 First impressions, again, are very, very good.
04:31 Surprising, almost.
04:33 I was not expecting this car to be this fun, frankly.
04:38 [MUSIC PLAYING]
04:41 [BEEPING]
04:44 [ENGINE REVVING]
04:47 Despite the unchanged power and similar weight,
04:55 this STI handily out-accelerated last year's car,
04:58 although we don't recommend the red-line clutch dumps
05:00 it took to get that number.
05:03 Short gearing requires a shift to third
05:05 to reach 60, which the STI hits in 4.6 seconds.
05:09 [MUSIC PLAYING]
05:12 That's nearly a second faster than the new WRX.
05:18 The STI maintains that gap to the quarter mile,
05:20 reaching it in 13.1 seconds at 104.4 miles an hour.
05:25 That's also 0.7 second faster than last year's STI.
05:31 Peak stopping distance improved, too.
05:33 The Dunlop Sportmax tires and Brembo braking system,
05:37 comprised of 13-inch rotors with four-piston calipers front
05:40 and 12.4-inch rotors with dual-piston calipers rear,
05:43 required 108 feet to stop from 60.
05:48 The most telling benefit of the stiffer chassis
05:51 appeared on the figure 8, where the 2015 STI dropped its lap
05:54 time by a large half-second margin.
05:56 [MUSIC PLAYING]
06:01 At 24.9 seconds, it's 0.4 second faster than the new WRX.
06:07 Average lateral acceleration increased to 0.97 g.
06:10 [MUSIC PLAYING]
06:14 Now we have the STI in what would seem to be more
06:22 of its natural environment.
06:26 As good as this car handled on the track,
06:28 as fun as it was to drive, I think
06:30 the road is a true test of how fun these fast Subarus can be.
06:36 You can just palm down this.
06:42 These cars are great on bumpy, uneven roads
06:44 that you just want to go fast through.
06:45 You just keep your foot in it.
06:47 And don't worry about it.
06:48 The car's going to go all over the place and bump around.
06:50 And you just keep the steering straight, and it's fine.
06:57 Steering feel is quite nice.
07:01 You still have hydraulic assist, while the WRX
07:04 is an electric assist.
07:06 And you still hear, like the previous gen STIs,
07:08 you can still hear the hydraulic fluid going around
07:12 as you dial in some steering input.
07:16 But overall, the weighting is nice.
07:17 The feedback is nice.
07:19 And the response-- I'm impressed with how quickly the car
07:23 responds once you dial in steering input.
07:25 [ENGINE REVVING]
07:28 I like the sound of it, too.
07:37 They're piping in on this 2 and 1/2 liter.
07:39 They're piping in the induction sound.
07:41 You can actually hear some turbocharger whooshing
07:44 and sneezing as well.
07:46 And it's pretty cool at about 3,500 to 4,000 RPM.
07:49 That's when it starts getting in the meat of it, it sounds like.
07:52 [ENGINE REVVING]
07:56 Now, disappointments.
08:02 I'm disappointed in the fact that the 2 and 1/2 liter turbo
08:06 is just a carryover engine.
08:07 Now, that doesn't mean it's a bad engine.
08:09 It's just been around for a long time
08:11 with the same horsepower and torque figures.
08:15 They've done some changes to this,
08:16 but it still feels very much like the engine that
08:19 was in last year's STI.
08:20 Right now, though, I'm having a lot of fun.
08:23 There's a lot of confidence in this chassis.
08:28 There's a lot of confidence in this car.
08:30 And it has an ease and accessibility with driving it.
08:33 This car doesn't scare you.
08:35 There's no worries here.
08:36 [ENGINE REVVING]
08:39 In fact, when you're bombing down a mountain road that maybe
08:42 you haven't been on before, it's a nice thing.
08:45 [ENGINE REVVING]
08:49 [TIRES SCREECHING]
08:51 As is, the STI makes no effort to hide its intent.
08:55 You may think it's a responsible car.
08:57 It has four doors, after all, and all-wheel drive.
09:00 But it's not.
09:01 You aren't fooling anyone.
09:02 Just look at it.
09:03 Look at that wing.
09:04 Look at those gold wheels.
09:05 Everyone knows the real reason.
09:07 You just want to go fast.
09:09 Now, Subaru's received no shortage of criticism
09:12 on the design of the new STI.
09:14 It's rightfully earned, too, especially
09:15 when you put the finished product next to the WRX
09:18 concept of a few years ago.
09:20 On the other hand, Subaru's never really
09:22 been in the business of designing
09:23 particularly beautiful cars.
09:25 So perhaps we're expecting too much.
09:28 Now, the WRX and STI are getting a lot of flack
09:30 for not looking great.
09:32 And it's probably deserving.
09:35 Let's face it.
09:36 They aren't attractive cars.
09:38 But this is a bizarrely versatile, extremely unique
09:43 car.
09:44 And it retains those elements, those things
09:47 that I like so much about the last generation STI.
09:50 So why STI?
09:53 Because of the drivetrain.
09:55 While the WRX makes do with just a viscous center
09:58 diff at a nominal 50/50 torque split,
10:00 the STI has an electronically controlled and adjustable
10:03 center diff with a 41/59 split and locking
10:06 differentials on both axles.
10:08 Where the WRX begins to falter, the STI
10:10 gives the driver just that much more control.
10:14 Combined, it simply makes for a faster and better handling
10:17 car.
10:18 Graceful, it's not.
10:19 But the new STI is huge fun.
10:21 And it succeeds in giving its driver
10:23 both that versatility and big speed we love.
10:27 While we're disappointed the engine hasn't been updated
10:29 since 2008 and that you can't easily option gold wheels
10:33 and that it doesn't look that great,
10:35 we keep coming back to one simple truth.
10:37 The 2015 STI is the best driving STI yet.
10:43 Oh, yeah, bro.
10:44 Got our helmets.
10:46 Got our Alpine Star gear.
10:47 Oh, yeah.
10:49 Going to ride really slowly on a mountain road.
10:54 Cagers.
10:55 That's what motorcycles have slang for cars.
10:59 I didn't know that.
11:00 Because they've got a metal cage around them.
11:02 Cagers?
11:02 Yes, they're cagers.
11:04 I think you just made that up.
11:05 No, that's an actual thing.