JTaylor

It's just fcukin relentless and entirely addictive. How the hell am I going to hold onto my license when fith gear pulls like fourth on a tuned scoob with a standard box

davedipster

When I did my bike training the guy said, the throttle goes both ways
When I did my MAC I was told the same.

dipster

JTaylor

I was a bit merry when I wrote that last night. Anyhoooo..

Drving from Plymouth to Torquay yesterday I started off very sensibly, steady 80 mph, Turin Brakes strumming away on the stereo. Now here's the problem, when I go to accelerate to overtake at 80 mph in fith (sat right in the spool up zone @ 4000 rpm) the following happens - no delay, no lag, no need to drop into fourth - just instant grunt all the way to 140 mph (I should imagine if I were on a private road). My UK car was 270/265 and was nippy but the RA is simply a different motorcar. Literally. The mods have just shifted everything upwards. Going round bends (on a private airfield) @ 140mph doesn't even begin to phase the RA. It just stays completely planted and neutral with plenty of feedback through the steering wheel and my **** teling me exactly what's going on.

Even the missus was impressed!

So, so addictive. At 80 mph the cars screaming "accelerate, accelerate please, I'm uncomfortable at this speed". Reminds me of those horse and cart races on the oval circuits where the horses trot for the entire race. The buggers must be dying to brake into a gallop.

WRX_280

Yes mate tell me about it.

80MPH @ 4000rpm in 5th ... my RA, which is 358/348 is just asking me to rev further, before you know it your touching nigh on 140MPH. And going through the gears from 1st is just mental, absolutely mental acceleration.

I drove 475 miles the other week, Coventry -> Dewsbury -> Blackburn -> Coventry -> Cheltenham -> Gloucester -> Coventry across various types of roads and it didn't miss a beat.

The RA seriously has to be one of the quickest A-B cars ever built if not the quickest.

JTaylor

Spot-on.

This is the only car I've ever had where you have to think about changing up through the gears on long medium bends. In the UK car for example you'd look at the bend, select an appropriate gear and balance the throttle (with maybe a dash of gas to find the limit until a smidge of understeer reared it's head and then I'd re-balance). In the RA I do this and it just grips and accelerates. Before you know it your in fourth, fith, exiting the bend and accelerating violently toward 140mph. Brilliant, briliant, brilliant! The thing is the car remains totally unphased; no nervousness to encourage you to back off slightly, no fuss - it just does exactly what I tell it.

I think I'm going to have to get used to staying in fith more. Slowed down to 35 ish the other day in 5th and then squeezed the throttle progressively. Before you know it 60, 70 (starts picking up), 80 (whoops) 90 (good lord) and then it really gets in it's stride. 'kin ell!

I'm guessing that when I do find the limit things will go very wrong, very quickly. Looking forward to Castle Coombe so I can find them in a comparatively safe environment.

black scoobs

have to agree so quick and sits on the road near enough any speeds

serega

I had a 1996 wrx sti 555, jap import,its a lightweight model for those who dont know with closer ratio gearbox.
It was absolutely mental, was my first scoob at the time, and the first time the guy at the shop took me for a spin (there were 3 of us in the car) we were pinned to the seat through first three out of 5 - i just said im taking it after 1 minute of the drive which i wasnt even the driver of!
It was just amazing to catch up from a full stop in a parking zone on a motorway
to the car that just passed you at 70mph 4 seconds ago.
Sad enough I sold the car 1 year after that because i just couldnt keep feeding her that much petrol at the time, but the thought of this kind of accelaration is soo addictive that i might get one again sometime.

Anyway, if you cant restrict yourself from going faster you can just install a speed limiter to take care of that for you. Most limiters will cut off your speed at 112mph which should be more than enough for uk roads unless you are doing track days.

JTaylor

Hmmm limited???? My Prelude was limited when I first had it. VTEC just about to kick in in fith and...............brick wall. Hated it - I did not however constantly fear for my license

fishous

i just bought a RA and curious to which mods u got, im standard at the mo, but dunno where to start. its my 1st scooby

ForesterBoy

What sort of money do you guys reckon you've got to spend to get a good RA ?

Reading what you guys say I want one !

Better than a UK then ?

What are the pitfalls ?

jrmwrx

welcome to the ra club ive had mine since 98 and ive still got that silly grin on

banny sti

iTrader: (68)

Tell me about it mate! At 80 the car barely feels troubled it literally asks to be pushed and when you do its like the anti lag has kicked in. I thought it was just my perception but the acceleration above 100 is more pronounced than below. Irrespective of what gear you are in. Uphill or flat one occupant or a full car i dont think it blunts acceleration to any perceptible degree. It is an exercise in restraint to stick to the speed limit. incidentally my ra had sti shocks with standard springs handling was okay but just a change to eibach springs transformed it and that was without a geometry set up! Cornering was much flatter and turn in greatly improved. On the downside the car runs out of revs all too quickly. A longer fifth gear maybe but that would blunt the awesome punch methinks. Glad others are enjoying their ra's as much as me! Bannys bro Maz.

peachy wrx

thats the same model as i have! and yes it does go very well!

WRX_280

I have Leda coilovers on my RA, along with stiffer arbs, anti lift bars and poly bushes...one word...MAGIC!!!

JTaylor

http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/showthread.php?t=452962

The Chief

[QUOTE=davedipster]When I did my bike training the guy said, the throttle goes both ways
When I did my MAC I was told the same.

I asked my bike instructor the same question, he said the same, it was not in Manchester was it?

martyrobertsdj

iTrader: (1)

What motor (year/model) and what mods??

Sounds like I need one!!!!! LOL

JTaylor

http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/showthread.php?t=452962

Jay m A

iTrader: (2)

Another RA owner signing in

I know speedos are inconsistant, but with 16" rims I'm at 75MPH @4k rpm and it can become a bit tiresome cruising on the motorway at speeds higher than this, well it is in the 330BHP example I have.

The only thing I have driven that can match its acceleration is my 300 BHP/ton Westfield, but it can hardly do the daily commute, or the B roads as well as the RA.

These early RA / STI RA examples are becoming quite collectable now

JTaylor

Hello JMA - is yours an STI?

Jay m A

iTrader: (2)

Hi

Indeed it is, MY95 STI RA Full details in Projects

MattOz

Same gearing as I had in my old Type R. Very addictive as I recall and just wanting to go at 80mph with 4k revs showing. Loved it to bits. Doesn't quite have bike like acceleration, but then you can't sit 4 people on a bike in relative comfort! LOL

Matt

banny sti

iTrader: (68)

Quick point i would like to make regarding ra's two pot caliper set up. I previously had a 97 uk model with the same set up and for some reason the braking on my ra is vastly superior. On my uk model the braking setup as standard bordered on dangerous! It was woefully inadequate and i had to plan my driving around the poor brakes. I subsequently upgraded to the four pots on that car. Now unless i intend to track my ra IMHO the standard set up is just about okay for fast road use, I probably have damn near as makes no difference as much braking as my previous car with a four pot set up! Why would this be? Is weight an issue? Or is it all subjective! I wonder if anyone else has had a similar experience. Incidentally would it be worth upgrading to four pots, has anyone any experience on this front? Maz.

peachy wrx

well...on my last impreza (MY98 wrx) it had 2 pots on the front and my god i really dont know how i didn't kill myself in that car!!!! i got 4 pots on this one with drilled and grooved discs front and back,red stuff pads and braided hoses and to say there awesome compared to the 2 pots is an understatment! only problem i have is that it doesn't take much for them to lock up.....but thats just part of the fun!

JTaylor

You'd be amazed at the difference fresh brake fluid can make. Also I'd check the brake lines, they don't last forever and braided tend to give more feel. However, there's no getting away from the fact that the 2-pots are sub-standard. I'd rather spend money on a standard four pot set-up then up-rate the pads and disks with 2s.

I'll be giving this set-up

Signature 4-pots
Red-stuff ceramics
EBC discs
Exact braided hoses
Cusco master brake cylinder stopper

a damn good thrashing in a couple of weeks - seriously - no fannying around. I have fresh high boiling point fluid going in on Thurs. I'll do a little write up in the WRX RA Ltd thread and I'll post it in techinical, brakes as well.

J

Joth

Does the RA, with the 2 pots mentioned, have the same disc diameter as the 2 pots on the UK cars?
Ive got a jap forester with those 2 pots so i've been looking a tdoing a 4 pot swap, but I dont think my wheels will go over them.
I suppose the RA's lighter weight contributes to the better braking?

Jay m A

iTrader: (2)

No. there are 2 types of 2 pots, that pad-wise at least are not interchangeable. The wheels if 16" *should* fit over 4pots but there are exceptions. This goes for the impreza as well as the Forester.

Best way to find out is to go to a meet and see if your wheel fits over somebody else's 4 pots.