[Shotimes] OT - Test drove a Subaru Legacy GT today

Jarrod Clift clift@chartertn.net
Sun, 26 Sep 2004 23:06:47 -0400


Yeah basically it comes down to you can launch like heck but only if you're
willing to rev and sacrifice your car's clutch/tranny.  Seems like that
would make it an awkward daily driver.  One of the reasons I'm not a big fan
of these cars is because the times they have are misleading; they have great
0-60 times (I'm assuming from the killer launching ability) and 1/4 times
but poor trap speeds. 

-----Original Message-----
From: shotimes-admin@autox.team.net [mailto:shotimes-admin@autox.team.net]
On Behalf Of Donald Mallinson
Sent: Sunday, September 26, 2004 10:05 PM
To: shotimes@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: [Shotimes] OT - Test drove a Subaru Legacy GT today

Jarrod,

One key is the word "Turbo" and then add in that the cars 
listed all have pretty small engines with low torque till 
the turbo spools up.

Hard to get turbo boost off the line in a stock or mostly 
stock car.  Add in low torque and great traction and you 
have the conditions for "BOG" big time or you have to slip 
the clutch.

Most test drivers in magazines/TV will say it is very hard 
to launch these vehicles without bogging bad or slipping the 
clutch enough to seriously shorten its life.  If automatic, 
you just mash it and wait for the boost to come on.

Some AWD drag racers put on LESS sticky tires or up tire 
pressure etc to give away some traction to get some slip to 
keep rev's up at launch time.

Don Mallinson

Jarrod Clift wrote:

>>For ordinary folks, as you know, driving technique is a LARGE element. As
>>I've learned, an AWD STi or Evo is a harder launch to get right than a FWD
>>car like a SHO. Same issue with any turbo AWD, actually.
> 
> 
> Why is this?  Seems like an AWD car would be much easier to launch, just
rev
> and drop.  I've never driven one, but from what I've heard they're
> supposedly killer off the line because of AWD...
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