[QUOTE]Originally posted by DavidM
[B]Hi 2kturkey,
The thing that really turns me off a WRX is not that it is 4WD ut that despite it being 4WD, it drives just like a FWD ... it has all handling traits/characteristics of a FWD car. If FWD characteristics apeal to someone then WRX is perfect for them. For me though a 4WD 'should' feel like RWD and when it needs to then transfer some power to the front wheels (not the other way around). Personally, I don't like FWD 'cos my needs/wants are performance oriented.

ps. The Winton times are in the latest Motor magazine where they have the latest

 

lol 2kturkey :-) Driving a FWD 'properly' is probably a little bit more 'natural' than a driving a RWD 'properly'. The natural instinct - to back-off when on the limit, is more favourable to FWDs. Also, the fact that FWD udersteers predominanlty makes it a much easier car to push hard (and more than likely safer). Also, FWD cars adopt much better the basic rules of "brake before the corner and keep the car straight", "Power on after you see the corner exit". You can drive a RWD car like that and do perfeclty fine, but from my experience you get most out of the car if you drive the car all the time on either the throttle or brake. Throttle is a very powerfull tool in the RWD ... you get to adjust the front end grip with it, the attitude of the car and not only that - you can constanlty play with this while in the corner. In a way, RWD needs a lot more input from the driver to get the most out of it. Personally, I love this about RWD cars ... I love the fact that I can tell the car where the weight should be transfered and hence load up any of the 4 tyres that I choose. I like the fact that I get to dictate the attitude of the car (ie. oversteer, neutral or understeer). The way you learn to drive a car 'like a RWD' is when you decide you're not fast enough and try to go faster.

To get most out of any car, you'd want the back to be a little bit loose (and front grippy) in slow tight corners. On fast corners you want it the other way around and you want the front to slip a bit and back to be grippy (at best you want to promote 4 wheel drift with heavy throttle). You can only get this from a RWD car (or a 4WD with RWD characteristics). I'm no expert on S2000 characteristics/dynamics (as I'm still an S2000 newbie) but from what I can tell so far, the car is very neutral ... in some ways too neutral (ie. the driver gets to choose whether the car understeers or oversteers), but if anything, I'm thinking that the car could have been better with a touch more understeer dialed in ... I think this might be doable by messing with the tyre pressures (I think I've got it set up like that right now). Ideally you want the front to start slipping in high speed corners and with the throttle you should be able to point the nose in (ie. by pushing the back out). The car should not have the front gripping like mad and the back hanging out though the fast sweepers.

I just read an article where they compared S2000 with BoxsterS, TT and M roadster - they commented on how the S2000 feels the best when you drive the car with understeer though the fast sweepers - this needs to be conciously done by the driver in the S2000. They said that if you don't do that then the S2000 has a tendency for the back to snap out. btw, the S2000 was the quicker by .01 sec from the BoxssterS.

ps. Can't wait to see some of you guys push the car around Calder :-)

[Edited by DavidM on 03-20-2001 at 04:13 PM]

 

Performance numbers don't look too bad. What I want to know is how they went from this:



to this:



Maybe it will grow on me.

 

200SX? Nissan?

 

What 200SX?

 

Yep, they're big in Oz. Basically a rebadged JDM Silvia - 2 litre, turbo, around 200HP, RWD.

 

It is going to sound so strange - I can't believe that I am defending the WRX. I don't have one and I have never had one but over the years, I have always had them nipping at the heels of my various cars in the past.

The base WRX is a quick car. The STi is a land based rocket. I had all hell trying to get away from them in my last car which was a 3.2 NSX so you sure as hell are not going to do it in a Stook.

Don't forget the standard STi in Oz is speed limited. You come upon one wth an ounce of work on it and you won't put any noticeable distance between yourself and it in an NSX below 200km/h.

If you do an STi in a Stook, the guy can't drive.