High speed romp

[dangrass]

Had the opportunity to race a Honda ST 1100 for about 20 miles at speeds between 110 and 135 the other weekend. Both the Honda rider and me were surprised at how well the WRX did, basically outrunning the bike pretty handily. Somewhere around 125 the bike would start falling behind. The WRX runs really well in the 4500-5500 RPM range, accelerating more than adequately in the low 100s. The suspension is a little soft for those speeds, but the car is very stable and has negligible bump steer. Much easier to drive at such speeds than my now-departed C5. The ST1100 owner decided right then and there to go out and buy a WRX.

[StoplightWarrior]

what mods do you have? WRX's dont run too well at speed...

[j-style]

1100 is a big bike man i dunno .....

[dangrass]

Originally posted by StoplightWarrior
what mods do you have? WRX's dont run too well at speed...

I have a Cobb Stage 1 reflash, but I suspect the outcome would have been the same without it. I'm not sure why people believe that WRXs don't do well at high speeds, when they have top ends in the 140s and accelerate pretty well into the mid-130s. I could not have gone much faster on that stretch of road in my former '01 C5 (I know, I tried) as it was severely lacking in the "feel" department and tended to bottom out often going over relatively minor bumps at speeds of >110 or so. Given a long, smooth straight the C5 would definitely go (much) faster, but over the stretch we ran, the WRX did very well.

I think some of the perceptions evident on this board are from people who mostly drag race, and/or who have very short high-speed encounters, mostly on smooth roads with few curves. In conditions I like to think of as being more "real world", broad powerbands, good feel, good stability, and good top end are what makes the difference. Viewed in this context the WRX is a very able machine. The ST1100 rider certainly came to that conclusion...he told me so.

[tacomaboy138]

correct me if i am wrong, but you kept up with a motorcycle?

[StoplightWarrior]

Originally posted by tacomaboy138
correct me if i am wrong, but you kept up with a motorcycle?

werd, I got beat barely by a 600 kawasaki when I was in my old Supercharged GT...I call BS

[dangrass]

Originally posted by j-style
1100 is a big bike man i dunno .....

ST1100's are not hugely fast by bike standards. They have a top speed in the ~140 range, and are sport tourers rather than all out sportbikes. A 600cc sportbike would have been faster (at least for a while). I wasn't that surprised that the Roo outran the ST1100 at the very top, but what did surprise me was that it out-accelerated the bike from 125 on up. I expected the bike to fly right on by, with me maybe catching him at the very top on a really long straight...but it didn't happen that way. Not that I know, next time I'm out there on my Triumph Sprint I'll try to avoid confrontations with wayward Soobahroos.

[DTR rex]

i second the BS

[dangrass]

Originally posted by StoplightWarrior
werd, I got beat barely by a 600 kawasaki when I was in my old Supercharged GT...I call BS

Got beat doing what? A drag race from a stop? Absolutely. A run from 115-135? Maybe. A run from 135 to 150? I doubt it.

[tacomaboy138]

Originally posted by dangrass
ST1100's are not hugely fast by bike standards. They have a top speed in the ~140 range, and are sport tourers rather than all out sportbikes. A 600cc sportbike would have been faster (at least for a while). I wasn't that surprised that the Roo outran the ST1100 at the very top, but what did surprise me was that it out-accelerated the bike from 125 on up. I expected the bike to fly right on by, with me maybe catching him at the very top on a really long straight...but it didn't happen that way. Not that I know, next time I'm out there on my Triumph Sprint I'll try to avoid confrontations with wayward Soobahroos.

interesting, it is a touring bike, but the weight to power to difference is still too great to ignore. I would have guessed that even the slowest of motos would give even fast cars a run for their money. You could paint me surprised if i ever beat a motorcycle!! good kill i guess. Anybody with some more facts?

[dangrass]

Originally posted by DTR maxima
i second the BS

You guys just don't know what your funny little cars are capable of!

Let me be clear. I ride a bike that is capable of 11 second quarter miles at ~119. In a drag race over a quarter mile the bike would leave the Roo like there was not tomorrow. A typical Japanese 600 ss sportbike is capable of running a quarter in the high 10s at ~125, so it would be even worse.

But this wasn't a drag race, folks! It was a high speed race with bumps and curves. As any of you with bikes know, bikes have terrible aerodynamics compared to cars, so while they have hugely better power to weight ratios, they have dramatically power to drag ratios as the speeds increase. In addition, it's just plain easier to drive a car at speed over less than perfect roads than a bike.

So, to summarize, an ST1100 is a SPORT TOURER, not s SPORT BIKE, and this WAS NOT A DRAG RACE. In the words of the ST1100 rider, "I've never ridden this thing so fast", and "that car is amazing....I want to buy on".

So, the moral of the story is, if you use your WRX for what it's really good at, it will do really well. For drag racing, I'd buy a Camaro.

[tacomaboy138]

Originally posted by dangrass
You guys just don't know what your funny little cars are capable of! ...
So, the moral of the story is, if you use your WRX for what it's really good at, it will do really well. For drag racing, I'd buy a Camaro.

that is funny...yeah these cars are not built for dragging that is for sure. I was just looking at pics of the st1100, it really does't look like a performer by any means. I think that any sportbike would have kept up and passed at those speeds, curvy roads or not. Good Kill!!!!

[StoplightWarrior]

Originally posted by dangrass
Got beat doing what? A drag race from a stop? Absolutely. A run from 115-135? Maybe. A run from 135 to 150? I doubt it.

75-130, he took the jump, I gave chase...he had about 3 cars on me when we shut down...I was doing 130-135 at that time...

and my gt PULLED at speed...I would have DESTROYED your wrx from a high speed roll...

[j-style]

so you mean you raced a harley with a gull wing

[dangrass]

Originally posted by tacomaboy138
that is funny...yeah these cars are not built for dragging that is for sure. I was just looking at pics of the st1100, it really does't look like a performer by any means. I think that any sportbike would have kept up and passed at those speeds, curvy roads or not. Good Kill!!!!

Yes, a sportbike would have been faster. An ST100 is fast by car standards, but not by bike standards. Part of the deal though, is that these really great roads are far away from civilization, so few sport bikes make it to such venues, as they as just too uncomfortable to ride such distances. The result is that the bikes I generally run into at such places are bikes than can be ridden 500 miles in a day, so the field is somewhat limited.