Zeon

Hi All,

Just as a bit of background I have a Rover 416 as my daily driver and although it is not the fastest thing on earth I've always found that I can make smooth decent cross country progress in the car (relatively speaking). Ok, the steering isn't the last word in response/feedback but it feels like the clutch and gearbox are all working as one.

The problem comes when I get in my Impreza (Hawk-eye WRX). I don't seem to be able to replicate the same smooth driving except if I'm driving like I was taking my driving test. And I always feel like I'm doing damage to some expensive mechanical components when pressing on.

The driving experiences are totally different but as strange as it sounds the Rover is much more fun at this moment in time! The only way I can describe it is putting on your comfy old trainers versus a brand new pair of shoes.

Is there any techniques I can try to get the smoothness into my Impreza driving?

Thanks in advance

abc

You might think about getting your WRX PPPd. That'll give you more torque and hence more engine flexibility.

amahrap

I kind of understand where you are coming from when you say that the Scoob doesn’t feel as smooth as the slower car. I came to Subaru 4 years ago from a NA 1.9 Citroen diesel, which I could drive surprisingly fast round back roads by learning to conserve momentum. Quite good fun and can teach you a lot about driving.

On the very same roads with the Scoob you are correct in saying that it doesn’t feel as smooth BUT I can travel the same route at scary straight and corner speeds (sometimes as much as 20mph extra in some corners). Due to the ability of the car I seem to spend a lot more time either accelerating or braking rather than flowing like I would in the slower car which I admit feels less smooth.

I think it is just a reflection of the massive difference in the cars that provides this different feeling, not really a lot that you can do about it. I would bet though that you are covering ground far faster than you either realise or could achieve in the 416

escott

iTrader: (1)

I guess the issue is that the Rover doesn't have the power to reach silly speeds on the straights, so you don't have to brake hard for corners. A lot of the fun in driving it is taking to corner smoothly and quickly so as not to lose speed for the next straight.

The issue with the Impreza is that it with all that extra power, it easily reaches speeds on straights that require you to brake hard for corners, so progress isn't as smooth.

You could try braking less - in other words, set your speed on the straight in anticipiation of the corner you are heading towards, meaning you don't have to brake when reaching it, maybe just use engine braking instead. Also, maybe use higher gears than you are now - instead of wringing all the performance out of 2nd, then changing up quickly, try keeping in 3rd or even 4th depending on the road. Your car is 2.5 so has lots of torque to do this. All you need to do is keep it above the point where it normally starts boosting, maybe 3k?

I think looking at the roadcraft handbooks might help:

The Police Foundation | Roadcraft


Hope this helps.

dunx

iTrader: (3)

IMHO... the difference is that in the Scoob you have decent brakes to help if one of your corners tightens unexpectedly !

Seven years ago I had a bog standard classic, I was following a rapid guy in a 416 back from a local rally, (like you do !).... then it rained !

At the next corner he braked slid off into the grass verge and nearly binned it, I calmly indicated pulled out and passed him at full throttle....

It's not bone dry tarmac that flatters a Scooby it's everything else !

DunxC

P.S. Smooth driving will help get the most from your Scooby, but is the road the right place to extract the maximum ?

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

The difference is that when you get some poke and decent brakes it often makes for more ragged and punctuated driving: and you arrive at a corner too fast then need to scrub off lots of speed, then your line is all wrong etc... It's a bit like a wrestling match with the power. That tends not to happen with the lesser powered car as you can be much more aggressive with the inputs and are concentrating more on maintaining momentum . With a powerful car, you know you can just floor it on the straight and make up for lost momentum, so you tend to be more slack.

The trick is to resist the temptation to just floor it and concentrate on maintaining momentum as you would with the Rover, the speed will come - get the smoothness first!

Echo the above, the road isn't the best place to be really pushing the scooby though; enjoy it, but be sensible!

Ns04