and nothing defies the laws of out-and-out stupidity

 

awd would be fun

my friends 3k gt vr4 has more power than my car and weighs more than my car and has awd and has no trouble with luanching hard

you could always put in a alisson tranny and dana transfer case and have fun launching at 6k rpms

 

Your kidding right?


Every time I hear a VR-4 mentioned someone always goes.."Would be great if they didn't have a glass tranny"...

 

There's a reason they're trying to get EVOs and STi's out of ESP in the autox classes.

 

I remember the early 90's, the Australian supercar races were dominated by the AWD Nissan Skyline. 500lb ballast (or whatever weight) were used to handicap the vehicles so race organisers could achieve a more "even" race. Off the line to the 1st turn, the Godzillas were always ahead of the Ford/Holden contenders, and quite often they stayed ahead. After a couple of years of expected results, they banned the Godzillas from the series. probably more like they added rules to prevent AWD from the series.

For me it was still fun to watch though...

 

Form already pointed it out, but add sticky tires to those things and you'll granade the transmission. As for the Allison tranny and the Dana transfer case, you are talking about putting a truck (rear drive derived) drivetrain in a front wheel drive derived car. The car's engine and transmission sit sideways, the "transfer" is a take off from the front drive components. If you want to do something like this, just simply build your own car using a truck's drivetrain. It will be easier & cheaper.

BTW: All wheel drive WRXs are also earning a rep for for frying their clutches and breaking their drivetrains. WRXs were made for Rally Racing, which means they are made for dependable low traction racing, not street burnouts with high traction tires.

The STi is Subaru's 1st re-engineering of the drivetrain to try & cope with this, and there are a few aftermarket people who are offering parts that are stronger than the factory parts.

AWD is great on the track, and now a must-have on the Rally circuit. But, there are way too many people (especially young people) who view AWD as a way to do frequent 4 wheel burnouts and a liscense to drive like "Speed Racer" on icy roads. These cars were made for neither.

 

Unfortunately too many people treat this car as a drag racer and not the autox/track/rally car that it is. Drag racing is the reason said components are failing. While the STi's 6 speed tranny is an improvement over the WRX's 5 speed, Subaru clearly states in its documentation that it's not made for drag racing. That said, I think the STi's tranny/drivetrain is more than capable of handling sticky tires and 400 hp in autox, track and rally environments.

 

AWD is not good for drag racing, but it is by no means only good for low traction racing. Check out the results of the cannonball race from a couple of weeks ago. A mildly modified EVO came in 5th overall against cars like vipers, vettes, and porches. In some of the track events, it posted the lowest lap times. In an upcoming issue of car & driver they are doing another supertuner challenge. They invited this very same evo to compete against cars like the callaway vettes and hennesy vipers due to its impressive run. It's obviously out classed in power here, but I think you guys will be surprised with how well it hangs with the big guys, especially for a car you can build for around $45,000. The best thing is that the guy entering it uses it for his daily driver.

And as far as autocross is concerned, wait untill the '05 evos come out this November with more power, a limited slip up front and an active one in center. It's going to be one of the best track cars on the market.
The STi has been out since the 80's. It is by no means subaru's 1st attempt at improving the driveline.

 

i didn't know the cars were front wheel drive....

 

That's why I said they were great track cars. I'm a bit of a convert on this, because I'm an avid RWD fan. But the WRX has been impressive in the hands of people who appriciate them, and know what the car is about. But as you pointed out, and as you'll see every single time a thread on AWD comes up (and I most certainly don't mean just this site) there is always a group of people who wax poetic about the prospect of speeding on icy roads , or doing 4 wheel burn outs.

Never said it's a 1st attempt to improve the drivetrain. The car just recently got here to the US. Seems every country the car's been sold in previously, more mature young people have bought them, and used them well for what they were designed for. But since coming to the US, seems we have a higher percentage of abusive drivers then elsewhere who like to over-rev engines and do clutch drops.

The WRX is getting an undeserved reputation for being fragile, despite that it's NOT the cars, it's the drivers.

As for the STi changes, Press Release from earlier this year:
And another press release:

 

STI's suck big time as a daily driver...

Their turbo lag is horrendous..

 

the interesting thing about the Monaro-based Coupe4 (getting back to the originally-posted topic) isn't this model. It's the next one.
This thing's auto-only (and loses grunt via compromised exhaust paths) because this car was always designed to be a rear driver.
The next Commodore platform, which has been discussed a fair bit here, will be designed from scratch to take an all-wheel drive system, and so won't have the compromises demanded by this one. It's the difference between designing your house from scratch and renovating an old one. You get the whole family's input (including, in the VE's case, Opel, GM NA, Saab and China) and decide what it should have and what needs to be plumbed into where.
Having punted the Coupe4, it's very different to a Monaro. the grip is pretty big, but its doubly hurt by a) being an auto and, b) being THAT auto.

 

We have a better STi here in the States The ball-bearing VF 34 turbo and 2.5 L engine are much better with turbo lag than the other STi version sold overseas.

 

Mickey is the new auto going into the VZ?