2012 Subaru WRX STI: The Best Sports Car for the Money? - Ignition Episode 17
On this episode of Ignition
Category
🚗
MotorTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:02 This week on "Ignition," we drive one of the most
00:04 surprisingly capable cars on the road today.
00:06 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:25 [CAR ENGINE REVVING]
00:27 You know, with all this frankly well-deserved hubbub
00:30 about the Subaru BRZ, it's almost easy to forget about
00:33 the car that initially created the Subaru enthusiast.
00:37 It's quite a bit different than the BRZ, although it
00:38 still had two doors.
00:40 It was turbocharged, it was all-wheel drive, and it was
00:42 rugged as hell.
00:44 It was the Subaru WRX STI.
00:48 Today, there's nothing quite like the STI.
00:51 I mean, sure, you could argue that its Evo is the main
00:53 competitor, but it's not.
00:55 You could argue that its Evo is the main competitor.
00:58 But even that car in recent years has morphed into
01:00 something completely different.
01:02 It's more of a track car.
01:03 And while it's brilliant on the track, all the compromises
01:06 it makes to be brilliant sort of make the car worse on the
01:10 road.
01:11 [CAR ENGINE REVVING]
01:14 Now, this STI is a bit slower, frankly, but it's also a bit
01:19 more interesting.
01:20 I mean, this is a performance-oriented hatchback
01:24 with a 305-horsepower turbocharged flat-four,
01:26 six-speed manual, tons of cargo space, and it's genuinely
01:30 fun to drive.
01:32 I'd argue that for the money, there's nothing
01:35 quite like this car.
01:36 So an acceleration run in the Subaru STI is a little bit
01:45 more difficult than most.
01:46 We don't have launch control.
01:48 We have a six-speed manual and a clutch, so we've got to do
01:50 it the old-fashioned way.
01:52 We have a turbocharged engine and all-wheel drive, so that
01:54 means we have a ton of grip but not a lot of power.
01:57 And what power we do have comes on pretty
01:59 high in the RPM range.
02:00 So that means we have to use a lot of clutch slip to get this
02:02 thing out of the hole quickly.
02:04 So I dial in about 55, 5,000 RPM, slip the clutch, get a
02:09 lot of front chirp from the tires.
02:11 [TIRES SQUEALING]
02:17 It does get out of the hole really quickly.
02:20 You'll hit 60 in about 4.7 seconds, and that's about on
02:24 pace with the Camaro SS.
02:25 The top end does flatten out a bit, though, but you'll hit
02:31 the quarter mile in 13 and 1/2 seconds, just under 100
02:34 miles an hour.
02:35 Certainly quick by any modern standard.
02:41 And now we do our 60 to 0 braking test.
02:43 [TIRES SQUEALING]
02:48 Little bit of movement, but not bad overall.
02:50 Our best stop from 60 is 104 feet.
02:52 [TIRES SQUEALING]
02:58 As we begin the figure eight test in the STI, you're
03:01 reminded that the STI is a very, very capable car, but it
03:06 goes about handling quite differently than a lot of
03:09 sports cars.
03:10 It's a bit clumsier.
03:12 It kind of likes to be thrown around and treated rough, and
03:16 it's kind of fun because of that.
03:19 The thing rotates on throttle beautifully.
03:22 And it just gives you that slight bit of slip in the
03:26 chassis that gives you a little bit more accuracy.
03:29 It's finding that fine line between throwing it around and
03:38 treating it nicely.
03:40 It makes it for a fast lap.
03:41 [TIRES SQUEALING]
03:46 Doesn't like to slide, but it does like to go fast.
03:50 [TIRES SQUEALING]
03:52 [MUSIC PLAYING]
04:04 There's just an honesty and a humbleness that I feel like
04:08 so refreshing with Subarus.
04:09 I mean, this STI isn't trying to be anything that it's not.
04:14 There's no special dash treatment.
04:18 There's nothing faux luxury.
04:20 The dash is very honest.
04:22 The materials simply make the car what it is.
04:26 You may think, for near $40,000, shouldn't you have
04:29 something a bit nicer?
04:32 Well, let's back up for a bit.
04:33 I'm going to make a point here.
04:35 That might be quite controversial, but I think that
04:38 this car is the junior Porsche Panamera.
04:41 Stay with me.
04:42 The similarities--
04:43 they're both not very attractive.
04:45 They're both all-wheel drive.
04:47 You can get both with turbocharged engines.
04:49 They both seat plenty of people and have a ton of
04:52 interior space.
04:53 And they both have quite a bit of cargo space, too.
04:55 [TIRES SQUEALING]
04:58 To demonstrate just how much stuff this car can hold, we've
05:01 assembled all of the parts we need to make it a
05:04 Porsche Panamera.
05:05 We've assembled all the gear we use to film one of these
05:08 videos, with the exception, of course, being the camera
05:10 that's filming me right now.
05:11 We're going to take all this gear and see if we can put it
05:13 in the back of the STI.
05:15 Let's do it.
05:16 [MUSIC PLAYING]
05:18 Full speed, right?
05:19 [TIRES SQUEALING]
05:21 [MUSIC PLAYING]
05:23 [TIRES SQUEALING]
05:25 [MUSIC PLAYING]
05:26 [TIRES SQUEALING]
05:27 [MUSIC PLAYING]
05:30 One of the things I find utterly addicting about the STI is
05:33 the mechanical growl this makes when you
05:35 get on the throttle.
05:37 It's unique to the brand.
05:39 And it's sort of a trait that I love.
05:41 And I find that missing from the BRZ.
05:42 Also, enjoy the fact that this has four exhaust pipes.
05:48 I mean, four exhaust pipes.
05:50 Come on, that's just kind of the absurdity that makes this
05:52 car special.
05:54 This car is kind of like going out with a
05:58 rowdy drinking buddy.
05:59 You know you're going to have a crazy experience.
06:01 You're going to come home tomorrow with a good story,
06:04 and maybe a scar, too.
06:05 You know, the best examples of these cars aren't the clean
06:14 racetrack queens.
06:15 They aren't the one with the big diffusers and
06:17 wings and whatnot.
06:18 They're the hatchbacks.
06:19 They're the ones covered in dirt and mud and snow.
06:22 They're the ones with roof racks with bicycles and
06:25 snowboards and skis on.
06:26 They're the ones that have the camping gear, the band's
06:29 musical equipment, the amplifier in the back.
06:32 Those are the best STIs out there, because those are the
06:35 ones that see adventure on a regular basis.
06:38 Those are the ones that actually go
06:39 everywhere and do everything.
06:40 So then the problem with this STI that we're driving is
06:47 that it's much too clean.
06:50 Let's see if we can fix that.
06:52 [ENGINE REVVING]
06:58 [MUSIC PLAYING]
07:02 [ENGINE REVVING]
07:03 [MUSIC PLAYING]
07:07 [ENGINE REVVING]
07:10 [MUSIC PLAYING]
07:13 [ENGINE REVVING]
07:16 [MUSIC PLAYING]
07:19 [ENGINE REVVING]
07:22 [MUSIC PLAYING]
07:25 [ENGINE REVVING]
07:28 [MUSIC PLAYING]
07:31 [ENGINE REVVING]
07:34 [MUSIC PLAYING]
07:37 [ENGINE REVVING]
07:42 Now that is more like it.
07:44 And it makes me think that even though Subaru's World
07:46 Rally team isn't around anymore in any official capacity,
07:49 that team somehow led to this car.
07:52 Knowing that makes it a special car to drive, both in the dirt
07:55 but also on the road.
07:57 You know, the STI was a car born out of rallying.
07:59 And that birthplace gives it what
08:01 Liam Neeson might call a particular set of skills.
08:04 Those skills make it one of the most outstandingly well-rounded
08:08 conquer-all cars on the road today.
08:11 It can do the dirt road.
08:13 It can do the mountains.
08:14 It can do the racetrack.
08:15 It can do the commute.
08:16 And it can do them all fast.
08:20 [MUSIC PLAYING]
08:23 [ENGINE REVVING]
08:26 [MUSIC PLAYING]
08:29 [ENGINE REVVING]
08:32 [MUSIC PLAYING]
08:35 [ENGINE REVVING]
08:38 [MUSIC PLAYING]
08:41 [ENGINE REVVING]
08:44 [MUSIC PLAYING]
08:47 [MUSIC PLAYING]
08:50 (upbeat music)
08:53 (upbeat music)