I've noticed a few comments on here over the last few months about the difference in driving style required when moving from a rear wheel drive car to a 4WD car, eg a scooby. I've had rwd cars for the last 15 years, including a 300hp plus RWD animal recently, and am waiting for my new 04 to turn up at the dealer. What differences in driving style am I going to have to learn to get the most out of the scooby's traction/stability? I drive the RWDs like my bikes, slow in, fast out, ready on the oppo lock/outside footpeg. Ain't that gonna work, or is there a better way? I'm talking about spirited B road runs, in wet dry and snow... how understeery are the 03+ scoobs?

It should work fine, the difference lies in the fact that in your RWD you boot it before the apex, get the back end out and a little bit'o opp lock action ensues. On the average scoob you boot it before the apex and your front end washes out FWD style, so save the boot for post-apex and make the most of the traction.
You can moderate the understeer most easily with a small lift or trail braking, but beware as when the tail comes out and you reapply power with opposite lock you may find the front wheels getting traction and fishtailing you or just plain spitting you off the road.
Slow in , fast away from the apex with the front wheels pointing the way you want to go is the best approach for the average driver.
Rgds
Chucky

AWD will go up hills in the snow.

Sub,
I've had RWD for a few years too, a 330i so i've been through the same thoughts and could offer my opinion for what its worth.

i've always been into rwd basicaly for the love of sliding the car, spent ages perfecting drifting technique in the BM and before that a full clubmans spec escort mkII what we did clubmans in. "on private land obvously.. well most of the time" I got it off to a T... moving to the scoob i did have to change style a bit but talk about being able to nail it out of a bend! the nack is you have to concetrate on the front not the back as in the rwd. mid corner you can just engage full throttle and then concentrate on aiming and not getting ready for the back... that sounds obvious but it is a shift in how to set the car up on exit. once you get the nack you can do the same as the rwd and start to induce the rear to slide. its a little tricky but the scoob will ballance between over steer and understeer on the throttle really easily. this for me was much easier becouse the rack on the BM was very slow and on the scoob it much more direct and quicker, you can litteraly play with it mid corner.
Pleae take care though the rear will snap around much faster than you initialy would think, i could do a full lap of a wet roundabout in the BM sideways, but i need some practice on a airfield before i can do it in the scoob.
i can hold the slide maybe half way around but its very difficult balancing the boost and the tendancy for it to over rotate too quickly. The only car i've ever spun was a 911 and after a certain point the scoob snaps out just like it so just be carefull when first having a go...

Have fun m8 and be carefull!

Dazza

good advice

yes, excellent explanations. I guess I will need a few kms of re-learning (on private roads of course ;)

(PS - I too have spun a 911 :( - luckily armco stopped it abrubtly :((

I came from an MR2 turbo, which was really tail happy. I reckon you have to drive the scoob much more aggressively to get it to balance properly rather than understeer.

ouch!
My i put my mates 911 on the grass at the track, no damag, but his face was a picture!

Anyhow forgot to say, I don't think the Sti or the Wrx are overly understeery "is that a word" they do push on a little but not the massive amounts people say, what i've found is what you have to do is be aggressive initialy and then ballace the car just so it tips to oversteer. then it doesn't understeer. get it right and oh my god does it leave a corner... your arse and heart are ready for the back end and 4wd kicks in and its shocking how fast it leaves the corner.. I did it last week on a greasy road trying to undstick the rear but it just gripped and foorked off! you know that feel you get on a quick bike when your not quite expecting it pulling so hard!

Love it!