Driving to work t'other morning on a stretch of road that I had driven 1000's of times before.

Little bit of moisture on the road - but, hey - that's nothing to these cars !!
Accelerated towards a left hand 30 degree (not more than 50mph ish) and whilst on the straight approach the back end wobbled like never before.
The front compensated and after 4 rocks all was back in control but I have a concern as this NEVER happened with my (now sold) MY99 I feel less secure in my MY05 PPP WRX atfer that episode - That and the seats aren't as "Bucketty"

 

Never happened to me but I regularly get the front left wheel off the ground on one of my favourite corners.

My last car was RWD so maybe I just don't notice it so much.

Get understeer in the wet a fair bit but the 4WD pulls me straight.

Its all fun.

BTW do you notice a flat spot about 5000rpm ? or is it just mine

ewan

 

Daft question, but have you checked your tyres. 4wd just speads the Torque between all 4 wheels. It's the tyres that grip the road. Check your tread and pressures. Amazing what decent tread does for a car in wet/slippery conditions.

 

I've had it around a couple of corners that aren't really fast corners - just keeeping some throttle on to settle the car can get the back end to slightly step out / mild oversteer which can catch you unawares...

Mine's an '05 STi... I thing the MY06 cars have had the DCCD-A ratios even out front / rear so I wonder if Subaru thought the 35% / 65% split was taking things a bit far on the MY05?

As mentioned before - they can also be sensitive to tyre pressure differences across an axle so don't let them get more than a pound or two apart at most.

 

Anyone know what the split front to rear on an 05 WRX (non STI), I've had my 05 WRX back end step put a little with hard accleration out of a junction, - all very controllbale but did wake me up !!
Pretty sure the tyres pressure where ok (check them every week). Put it down to damp patch at the time

Richard

 

same thing happened 2 me in my 05 wrx ppp when pulling out of a junction, back end went all over the shop.

 

Very cold last night and this morning with minus temps across the UK, combine that with damp and what do ya get????

A. An Ice rink!!!

Don't blame the scooby, it may well have been a lot worse in another car.

My MY99 lost traction on a roundabout at about 5-10 mph recently, as soon as you hit ice, you're a passenger, unless you've got winter tyres on.

All you can do is drive with enough caution so that f you do hit a patch, you'll be back in control before you hit anything.

Take care people, especially in the mornings and evenings!!

NS04

 

I used to be able to drift my back-end all over the shop, but since fitting the Whiteline rear ARB & links set at the stiffest setting I find it difficult to provoke it to do it let alone it do it itself. Weight transfer through body roll, minimise the roll and the tyres will stay better connected with the tarmac

 

Are the Whiteline ARBs good? thinking about getting a set fitted when I get the brakes upgraded.

ewan

 

The rear is outstanding, given much better body control through bends. I had mine fitted on the middle setting, like most people, but soon tried the stiffest which for me was much better again. Understeer is dramatically reduced too, as the body roll is reduced to the rear then the front tyres are more able to retain a good alignment to the road surface thus giving more grip. The best quick cheap mod you can do IMHO. The front will not give as big returns and is a more difficult job to fit, although if it looks like I'm keeping my car then I may as well add the front too along with the AST's

 

Noticed on my 53 plate STi (UK) that the back end power slides more when its 'cold'.

Does the VC center diff change characteristics as it warms ?, the front certainly crabs when reversing on full lock off the drive in winter, this vanishes when warm.

 

i think you'll find your tyres are the culprit.

lack of grip due to poor road conditions

or (most probable) your tyre's have "gone off".

usually they last for 10-12,000 miles with good grip and then they lose traction.

it'll get worse an' worse until you replace them

tho' they could last legally up to 18-20,000.


In other words you've had the best from your tyres and the rest is now downhill ( the right way tho)

happy shopping for new tyres....

P.S. After 2 sets of F1's I decided to forfeit the comfort, road noise, lack of tramlining and get proper tyres...

 

I think brand of tyres plays great part in oversteer on Scoobs. I found my Goodyear F1s were difficult to provoke into oversteer and produced a more gradual slide. My current Bridgestones can easily take me sideways without warning. Whiteline ARB and F1s on next months shopping list!!

 

thanks for these wise words, will make sure i take care on ice/snow as I didn't realise it made the roads all skiddy!!

 

Ahh..!

That's where an EU import has the advantage..!

recently sat in a uk car and couldn't believe just how bad the seats are, feel like a big assed bench seat..! Maybe that's why there the same seats for the US market..!

Another vote for rear ARB upgrade a;ong with solid droplinks.

However, too much right foot in the wrong conditions and your in the ****e, regardless of the suspension upgrades..! Bear in mind that your summer tyres are CR@P under 7c or so..!

 

Unfortunately I think this is definitely true. My Eagles are a damn site better than the Bridgestone potatoes, however, after around 10,000 miles with plenty of legal tread left, performance has gone out of the window. Even with solid droplinks and 22mm adjustable arb, the predictable grip and slide you get with brand new GSD3's has completely gone. Bummer! Just feel stiff now, like they might chuck me into the next bush.

 

Before everyone rushes out and buys F1's, may I recommend Vredestein UltraC

 

Do you get commission for plugging those?

 

Good idea but no

Just a very good tyre for a very good price (if you know where to look) should people wish to try something other than F1's and Toyo's. I've got Toyo's and had F1's, and I rate these every bit as good if not better, and superb value.

 

I've got a MY00 turbo2000 and had that fishtail violently in a straight line on a damp road. Kept the power on and it didn't correct itself just got worse untill it threw me off the road. Hadn't had the car long and learnt the lesson that these cars don't like mixed tyres at the wrond pressures. Now got a set of Toyo T1R's on and they are awesome in the wet and dry.

 

I've got Pirelli P-zero Neros and they fell pretty good still. done about 9.5k.

Previously been a fan of toyo proxes

ewan

 

Sorry to sound patronising, but I'll ell you something for free, when I posted the message regarding my experience and advised everyone to take special care, I got several people saying words to this effect.

Guess what?

Within two days, at least two people posted to say they'd had a tail out experience and couldn't understand why. They were enquiring what was wrong with car....well, it most likely the driver- too fast for very slippery conditions!

Slow down when conditions are slippery. No car will do well in ice on std tyres!!

NS04

 

4WD's about traction not grip on tarmac, which's why so many 2WD cars were successful in certain rounds of the World Rally Championship back in the late '90s. A Scoob isn't going to defy the laws of physics because it has 4WD.

We've had 7 Imprezas from new and with the exception of S02PPs, I've never been that happy with the tyres the cars arrive on. Michelin HX that the Classic had in 1994 anyone?

Cheers

 

Had something quite similar in my WRX300! . . .Some chavtastic Chav in c**p old Civic with a big exhaust (which I think in his case actually slows the car down!) was trying to give it . . .Saying that , as I was getting away and just before a tight S bend slowed right down from 70 mph to say abt 20 or 30 . . Much fishtailing action there on . . .Recovered after the 5th pivot, and started reflecting on my life after this episode . .

Moral . . 1) Don't race Chavs - its downright lame
2) Dont brake too hard before entering a corner - it'd downright dangerous!

Enjoy!

 

Agree with #1, #2 however could be changed to "Acquire and read a copy of "Roadcraft", practise the techniques and possibly source some professional tuition to finely hone your driving skills" Trust me, I did this and you will rarely need to brake hard into a corner again, but will instead carry exceptional speed through the corner and be amazed how much grip is available when a car is balanced instead of violently transferring its weight.

 

I see yr point . . Any advanced driving schools out there you could please recommend . . Had a look at Don Palmer and I really dont mind paying the fee, but what I do mind is wearing my tires out . . .Potenza's aren.t cheap . .My dealer signed me up for on of those scooby driver training days . . .Anyone been?

 

I started my Roadcraft training with a Police officer I know. If you know any then ask them, but the guy I know is up here in Yorkshire so not much good for you.

 

Thanks . .I'l look in to it!

 

Off topic, but I was offered one too. Still on the list, but not heard anything yet. Anyone had a similar experience; if so, what was the day like?

 

I know it's not quite the same but the book's available on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...630615-9431920

This one's also quite good:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...630615-9431920

I would also recommend 5000+ hours of Gran Turismo on the PS2. ! Joking...?? No actually. The most difficult thing in the game is the braking - preparation and car balance being the key. It really does translate into the real world (yes I know I'm sad).

Anyway, the books are good background.

Rich