i am getting the WRX in less than a month. MT. and people tell me the WRX handles alot diffrent from most cars.AWD. but just from your personal experience is it that much harder to handle? because people have been telling me mad scary stories about bad handleing judgement when they drive there WRX..keep in mind it is my first time driving MT. do you think ill be fine...im not a bad driver im actually really good....any adivice or comments?
handleing
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I second that. http://www.nasaproracing.comFUNKED1 said:Take a performance driving school or a racing school or a shifter kart school. The street is not the place to learn how to drive fast.
Read up, it's not expensive.
-Jim
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They offer "HPDE" and Open track days. High Performance Driving Experience in your area is all you need to find. Keep us posted!!!!jester said:
-Jim
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Third (or is it fourth!) driving school.
But to answer your original question, it doesn't handle poorly, just differently. In fact its not hard at all once you get used to it - its actually very, very forgiving. No vices other than a bit of tendancy to understeer - something that can be drastically improved on the cheap. Oh, plus the stock tires are garbage. I've heard of people cutting a deal with the dealer at purchase to swap them out for better rubber.
Kudos to you for having the guts to switch to MT with the Rex. Might be a hassle at first, but I think you'll be happier in the long run. (NOT intended as a slam on anybody else, just a thumbs up for Jester!)
But to answer your original question, it doesn't handle poorly, just differently. In fact its not hard at all once you get used to it - its actually very, very forgiving. No vices other than a bit of tendancy to understeer - something that can be drastically improved on the cheap. Oh, plus the stock tires are garbage. I've heard of people cutting a deal with the dealer at purchase to swap them out for better rubber.
Kudos to you for having the guts to switch to MT with the Rex. Might be a hassle at first, but I think you'll be happier in the long run. (NOT intended as a slam on anybody else, just a thumbs up for Jester!)
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WRX Handling
This is very sound advice. Another good way to explore the limits of your car's handling capabilities is by participating in autocross. Check out the posts on the Road Racing and Autocross board.
Anyway, I commend you on asking the question. A lot of people new to the car seem only interested in finding out how fast they can make it go in a straight line.
The WRX is actually a very good-handling car, but as has been said, the AWD drive takes some adjustment and you have to learn the car. SLOW IN, FAST OUT is a good rule of thumb. Take care on your entry speed and you will be able to feed in throttle as you apex and get the AWD drive working effectively for you as you exit the turn.
The horror stories you have heard are about those who think they can do anything and get away with it because they're driving a WRX. It's not an Audi R8 racecar. Respect its limits and it'll be just fine for you.
jester,FUNKED1 said:Take a performance driving school or a racing school or a shifter kart school. The street is not the place to learn how to drive fast.
This is very sound advice. Another good way to explore the limits of your car's handling capabilities is by participating in autocross. Check out the posts on the Road Racing and Autocross board.
Anyway, I commend you on asking the question. A lot of people new to the car seem only interested in finding out how fast they can make it go in a straight line.
The WRX is actually a very good-handling car, but as has been said, the AWD drive takes some adjustment and you have to learn the car. SLOW IN, FAST OUT is a good rule of thumb. Take care on your entry speed and you will be able to feed in throttle as you apex and get the AWD drive working effectively for you as you exit the turn.
The horror stories you have heard are about those who think they can do anything and get away with it because they're driving a WRX. It's not an Audi R8 racecar. Respect its limits and it'll be just fine for you.
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GV27 made a reference to the stock tyres being crap. True, they are. However, I think in some ways, this can be a good thing when talking about learning the feel of a new car. Tyres is partly about grip, partly about handling(which can be dissociated from grip) and also about feel. It's a general consensus that the stockers have quite low grip, but this makes the limit a lot easier to get to and you can get a better grasp of how the car feels at lower speeds and decide what you want to change and what you need to adjust in approach.
Scoobysteve talked about slow in, fast out. I don't quite know if he was referring to coming in hard and blast out(hard in, hard out...). There are many different techniques and obviously different styles. The WRX is not about all out power, hard in and out is not necessarily the fastest way(especially given the soft suspension and brakes that aren't exactly excellent). The WRX does have high corner speed however....which is usually a more smooth approach in conserving momentum and exit speed on relatively low power cars. (think GP1/500 vs GP250 as an example....)
Scoobysteve talked about slow in, fast out. I don't quite know if he was referring to coming in hard and blast out(hard in, hard out...). There are many different techniques and obviously different styles. The WRX is not about all out power, hard in and out is not necessarily the fastest way(especially given the soft suspension and brakes that aren't exactly excellent). The WRX does have high corner speed however....which is usually a more smooth approach in conserving momentum and exit speed on relatively low power cars. (think GP1/500 vs GP250 as an example....)
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Yes, I agree. When you have more grip it usually means you go off the road faster when they do break lose. Another "plus" for the stockers is that they screetch like mad anywhere near the limit of adhesion - so you can hear that you are approaching the limit before the tires actually break loose.
I think ScoobySteve was talking about learning the handling - slow in hard out is a good way to learn. Once you figure it out though, by all means charge in hard, get it to rotate and charge back out. The Rex is pretty amazing out in that you can get on the gas way early and it'll just hang in there as you accelerate past the point you'd think you'd run out of grip.
C
I think ScoobySteve was talking about learning the handling - slow in hard out is a good way to learn. Once you figure it out though, by all means charge in hard, get it to rotate and charge back out. The Rex is pretty amazing out in that you can get on the gas way early and it'll just hang in there as you accelerate past the point you'd think you'd run out of grip.
C
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Thanks, GV27. That was my point. I agree with you that the car will take getting on the gas early, middle, late. It likes the throtte in the turns. But what I found out on the track was that charging in too hard was counterproductive. The car made some nice lurid skids in that attitude but I was scrubbing off too much speed early if I turned in too hard. Taking it a little easier turning in and then getting on the throttle hard just before the apex seemed to produce better results. At least for me.GV27 said:
You're right, the advice to turn in slow was aimed at someone new to the car. Avoidance of plowing understeer, or getting nervous about going in too hot and then letting off the throttle, or worse, hitting the brakes.
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Generally you wont go fast on tarmac by sliding the car around. Getting sideways eats up all your momentum and you will exit the turn slower as a result. Being an AWD car, if you get way out of shape, resist the urge to hit the brakes and stay on the gas. but then all of this will be covered in a performance driving course.
Alin
Alin
Jester, If this is your first MT car you should take it slow. Make sure your drivin the car alot and know the 'feel' of it. AWD, Turbo, and MT can be a bit tricky to drive.
Ive read severl threads of pple destroying transmissions and center differtials. Most of them were inexpericed in at least one way. Some never drove fast cars, turbo cars, or AWD cars, before the WRX.
I myslef have drove a few fast cars and turbo cars, and now AWD cars. It took me about 3-4k miles before I felt I could drive the piss out of her without breakin anything.
Above all DRIVE SMOOTH. Its jerky WOT moves that kill the drivetrain.
The WRX handles good, not the best ever, but its one of the most fun for sure. You can get it up set around a bend and just stomp the gas and the awd will striagiten you back out.
-The CassMan
Ive read severl threads of pple destroying transmissions and center differtials. Most of them were inexpericed in at least one way. Some never drove fast cars, turbo cars, or AWD cars, before the WRX.
I myslef have drove a few fast cars and turbo cars, and now AWD cars. It took me about 3-4k miles before I felt I could drive the piss out of her without breakin anything.
Above all DRIVE SMOOTH. Its jerky WOT moves that kill the drivetrain.
The WRX handles good, not the best ever, but its one of the most fun for sure. You can get it up set around a bend and just stomp the gas and the awd will striagiten you back out.
-The CassMan
thanks for the advice, i herd rotas are good tiers? and i plan on upgrading the WRX, turboback exhaust, new turbo, Vishnu 0, FMIC, over time..and a few other things that dont effect that car much...and for suspension either springs or coilovers and wheels.
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I think the rotas you mean are rims not tires. Some good tires are the Bridgestone Potenza SO-3 pole positions (so i've heard), also the pirelli p's are good. Anyway if you decide on a driving school make sure to tell me. Since you're in Tampa i'd like to go too. I made the mistake of hitting the brakes mid-corner....$13300 later and now wiser . I came from a FWD with no power so... there's a couple rally schools out east here... maybe we should see if we can get a group price for the people in the Tampa/st. pete area....
. I came from a FWD with no power so... there's a couple rally schools out east here... maybe we should see if we can get a group price for the people in the Tampa/st. pete area....
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Falken Azenis are also great. Grip is hella good and they're reasonably priced. They may be a better tire for California than Florida though. The big tread blocks which work so well on dry pavement may be a handicap in those gullywashing downpours you run into in Florida from time to time.
Other Azeni users, have you had any hydroplaning problems in the wet ?
Other Azeni users, have you had any hydroplaning problems in the wet ?
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