greasemonkey

Sure, but knowing Prodrive (and believe me I do! , they'll still want to make you pay for it.

You'd have to put yourself in their shoes and ask whether it'd be worth it. Sure, they start a cottage industry tuning JDM Subarus, but would it be worth losing the IM partnership (special build car development, PPP, Prodrive Style goodies, the lot), and possibly even the WRC contract?

Suppose it's not beyond the realms of possibility that some sort of deal could be worked out where Prodrive could custom tune roadcars on a small volume basis, while under the auspices of IM, but even there I can't see Japanese market cars forming acceptable candidates for modification.

Don't forget that a certain well known "independent" tuning house now has close links with Prodrive. It could well turn out to be that this is as close as the company will get to working independently of IM in the UK.

Oh sure. Still think there's a big difference between what the staffers do in their own time, and what they do in working hours. Sure, Simon now knows what it takes to install a JDM MY03 engine, loom and dash assembly in a GC8. I daresay he'd still want to be paid (handsomely) using hat knowledge on a commercial basis though.

Lol, go for it, you know you want to!

hawkeye

which one would that be then greasemonkey?

thats it you've talked me into it i'll compose a suitable email to mike

Jza

I understand that Mike said his brief was to produce the best ROAD car keeping cost down.... but why do we always always hear that are cars are second best because of this dreaded understeer??? Surely it must be possible to create a "neutral" handling car that doesnt immitate a rutting pig on every corner????? Isn't that down to geometry???

Jza

hawkeye

ROFLPMSL

Rutting pig LOL that's the BEST description of this handling trait ive ever heard



hawk


rutting pig (shakes head)

WR1 Wannabe

For the same reasons you hear all sorts of other rubbish.

You might find driving style has something to do with it as well. I don't really subscribe to this logic:

1) Car has a set of handling parameters
2) Deliberately drive car into corner too fast (outside parameters)
3) Car won't go round corner
4) There is something wrong with the car

It's not as if the damn thing falls off the road at every opportunity now is it?

hawkeye

no but it now RUTS like a PIG

Supercue

iTrader: (1)

LMFAO @ you lot

Senior_AP

I thought Prodive's tactic was to knock 3 seconds off of 0-100 times to sell cars to people that believe everything they read.

Prodrive have got it sussed cos it works!!!

hawkeye

meeeeeoooowwww hisssss spitttt tttt

handy bags at dawn me thinks

greasemonkey

I've asked you this before Jaz, but i don't recall you providing an answer:

What, exactly, is this "dreaded understeer" you keep referring to, and how do you know the WR1 does it? Have you driven one yourself yet or are you still transfixed by the Top Gear feature?

It's down to a whole number of factors. I'd say though (having driven one, rather than having the TG piece sat on my VCR for a while) that the WR1 is the most "neutral" roadcar that Prodrive have yet produced. I still can't work out where you get the idea that it is extremely understeery.

hawkeye

greasemonkey

I think the main problem is this people who haven't driven a WR1 thinks its a same old same old imprezza ie "IT UNDERSTEERS" watching the top gear program just confirms their "suspicions"

however like you after driving one I don't think it understeers unless you really provoke it to, then with throttle control you can bring it back.

Unless you did something INSANE I think the days of scooby tank slappers in a WR1 are gone.

all imho and i cant drive really so what do I know

one thing to note tho is a few geometry mods and std sti's can be made amazing mine certainly is!

hawk

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

The thing I find sad is that for years now, Prodrive have worked tirelessly to give those of us in the UK cars of a similar spec to those that are generally available in Japan. The P1, for example, might have been the star of the Classic range, but at the end of the day it was remarkably similar to the STI V's and VI's that people had been cheerfully importing for ages.

I know that at the time there were quotas on imports and that getting full Type Approval was therefore a big deal. Nowadays, though, isn't it the case that the 50/year quota has been lifted and replaced by the need to simply have a Model Report produced? Given that these Reports are available for the current JDM range anyway without any modification (apart from speedo, fog light, fuel filler), I can't see that being the problem.

I therefore find it rather surprising that Subaru, IM or whoever haven't used the SVA route at all for special editions since the 22B. At the end of the day, nobody cares why their car is completely legal to register and use in the UK, only that it is. Maybe getting 500 eSVA tests done costs more than one type approval - but with the proviso that the base car Prodrive use for modification must already be type approved?

That would certainly explain why the WR1 is based on the four-year-old Euro-spec engine and not the twin scroll setup. Frankly I can't think of any other good excuse. What a pity, though, that Prodrive then has to spend time working out how to extract more power and flexibility from an ageing engine (ironically producing something that wouldn't pass type approval in the process!), while STI themselves have been happily doing the same for the last four years.

Suffice to say I'll be test driving a JDM STI on Saturday, courtesy of Iain Litchfield

hawkeye

im sure greasemonkey will have something to say about this, im cat bring in jdm models iirc possibly due to licence agreements i dont know.

While it stays like it is the "world is an oyster" for the licho's out there.

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

Hehe... I'm sure he will!

Maybe it's just that the head honcho of Subaru in Japan hath decreed that Europe will get the European spec (type approved) car, the US will get the US car and so on - and that Japan will keep the best toys for itself. In any big company, it could be simple bureaucracy and red tape that prevents exceptions from being possible. Most European countries don't have an equivalent of SVA, I believe. I guess we should count ourselves lucky...

SomeDude

Although I haven't driven a WR1 yet, I'm truly amazed about the understeer comments.

Yes, the old shape Impreza UK/Euro model did understeer easily, and power oversteer was not exactly ready on tap on dry tarmac.

When I started experimenting with mine, and went through the "Prodrive settings" / Whiteline ARB's/DMS suspension / STi topmounts / ALK / bump steer adjustment yada yada, it would still understeer on power rather than oversteer.

I then fitted a Quaife ATB front diff, and although it "helped", it didn't remove the power understeer.

It was only after I fitted the Cusco Tarmac spec 35 front/65 rear centre diff (comparable to DCCD in open position) that I started to get some fun on airfields etc... I also noticed the standard rear diff doesn't exactly "lock" LOL, so I had to replace that with a Quaife ATB rear diff to really make things work.

The result is a rather "lively" car, and I already had to wind the ARB back a bit as the car was a bit too snappy for my likings

That said: if Subaru had come out with the car like mine is now, I bet 70 % would have found it's way into hedges & lampposts... (including me), it's a "handful" so to speak.

The WR1 has "similar" front and rear diffs, and with the DCCD fully unlocked, it should be capable of serious power oversteer without the need to lift off etc...

Unless the DCCD-A doesn't provide 35/65 ? (I would be surprised).

Apart from the color (I really don't like it, but that's personal opinion) I do think the WR1 is a very nice package, and I doubt even when given the "free hand" that Prodrive would change much to it.

Can anyone confirm the 35/65 power split on the WR1 ?

Sabre150

I've only just got past the 1000 mile mark on my WR1, and the public roads are not the place to really throw it around -- BUT -- Compared to my 1997 turbo PPP, there is little or no understeer to be found yet (although there is still some more "pushing" to be done). My old scooby had to have a bit of power applied in a tight corner to smooth out the understeer.
With the DCCD set to the rear on the WR1, in the wet rather a lot of fun can be had. It drives almost like a rear wheel drive car. You can play around and get the back end out using power rather than excessive speed (a bit safer on the road) A massive improvement on the old one. It also doesn't snap out to quickly either. I have a lot more learning to come and only want to push it a little further at a time. (unlike the guy in a DK Green 1998/1999 turbo trying to catch me up in the wet the other night, who now has lost one of his lifes and a lot of cash to repair the nearside rear axle after contact with the curb -- ouch!!) I hear what other people say about it compared to the evo (I've had a short ride in one and prefered the character of the scooby) but I just like the WR1 and have a smile on my face everytime I drive it. I think Prodrive have produce an extremely good all rounder for the British roads.