picked a 55 plate STi just over a week ago. Coming off a roundabout started to accelerate, back end started to come out, steered into skid and backed off throttle (think wront thing to do!, but instrict was to do this!), did a 180, car slid up central reservation, front of car bounded off the barrier followed by backend.

Damage is front corner of bumber smashed, ripped of wing mount. rear quarter panel badly bent in light smashed. Rear door panel gap now out. boot allignment badly out.

Car still seems to drive ok, have had a look underneath and boot floor, all looks ok so hopefully just cosmetic.

Really suprised how the back end came out. had a 03 WRX before which was pretty planted.

The DCCD was set onto automatic, which i thought was supposed to help prevent this.

Insurance going to phone back tomorrow as dont see this being cheap to fix. Absolutely gutted.

 

In the wet or dry?
What tyres were you wearing?
Standard suspension setup?
As you found out, STI can bite if you come off the throttle aggressively.
Hope you get it sorted soon

 

1st rule of Scooby driving. DON'T LIFT ! Sorry to hear

 

Sorry to hear this, hope you get it sorted as soon as possible. I know when I had my first scoob I learnt from a nasty experience not to lift off if you start to slide/drift! Good luck.

 

i'm gutted for you, i hit a big fox near leeds on a motorway at 70mph a few days after i picked up my 56 plate mondeo st so i know that sinking feeling all to well

 

yes i did the same a few weeks ago first scooby im in my forties and straight away i braked **** myself so if i keep the power on ill get out off it will i sorry too hear about yours lets have some pics mate off the damage too tell if its repairable as so many get wrote off and they shudnt

 

You must have been going some for the rear to step out in the first place unless it was wet, but even then....
And the DCCD is a drivers aid, it doesnt do the driving, and as pointed out, lifting off agressivly mid corner has detremental effects to the balance of the car

Tony

 

I'll have 50p each way on RE070's

 

Thanks for the symathy.

Tyres are bridgestone RE050's with loads of tread left. Roads were wet. Wasnt pushing car at all. Was going over big roundabout (60 limit) at about 30, just coming off exit with car fairly straigh and started accelerating when the back end came out.

Need to find a big open space or skid pan day in the midlands to get used to how it reacts safely.

 

50's are usually OK in the wet, but after a bit of a dry spell the roads are quite greasy right now. I just popped out for a pizza and had a lovely 80.... err, 55mph slide off of a motorway roundabout Add to that, roundabouts can often be coated with diesel slopping out of truck tanks as they corner. If the roundabout was anywhere near an industrial estate, truck-stop or garage then it may be the case.

 

**** tyres and driver error

Bridgestones 50's aren't the best in the wet, damp, cold etc. Well I never liked them anyway.

Sticky tyres and smoothness is the key to staying straight in a late STi. They are more oversteery than the earlier WRX's and you need to know your car and your tyres before you plant your right foot.

Is it standard suspension set up, arbs etc?

Get some Vredestein Sessantas on your rims and try again

 

got the sessantas on my 55 plate sti and they are bloody good mate ! but i also have white line gear through out as well so maybe that helps plus she is lowered so i think it all adds up in the end .

 

Had goodyear assymetrics and the poweststion stage 1 handling upgrade on my WRX.

The STi is suspension is standard. Guess that and worse tyres didnt help!

Still kicking myself for doing it, especially as I know I should have kept the power on, but instict was to lift.

 

my sti is a bugger if u lift off even with dccd to auto but ive noticed if i set it manually it isnt as bad, also i get a lot of front end wobble when hard on power, but love it when the back steps out, keep on the power and a little flick of the wheel and ur straight again

have f1 eagles and teins on mine

 

Steering is a lot lighter too and needs more correction and involvement than earlier cars.

 

Sorry to hear that fella, had a similar thing happen to moi just after passing my drivng test - in a Sport


Taking a slight left then sharp right hander near my local steelworks. Rabbit/Fox small animal of some sort ran out infront. Soaking wet, pissing it down, new tyres, inexperienced driver, 4am and I lifted off when the back came out - the above + 2 months off work was the consequence.

You learn from your errors at the end of the day, and at least there was nobody else involved

Hope it gets sorted quickly dude.

 

Took car into local body shop, about £2.5K of damage. They said its just outer panel damage and not likely to have done damage underneath but will put it onto a jig just to make sure. Got a lovely astra diesel whilst mines being fixed.

 

Every cloud

 

sounds like a fair price to me 2.5k. i had a pensioner step out in front of me on bank hol. weekend, swerved to avoid him going over the bonnet and he ended up damaging the rear pass door. i also needed to replace the rear plastic arch guard and buy a new sticker for the front doors for after spray job had to be the whole side of the car. ended up buying a new door from dealer (£280- thought it would be more) and the whole job ended up costing me £950 in total. i know this is fairly expensive and i could of done it cheaper but, there is no compromise when you want an excellent job doing. so as long as you know that their work is A1 then 2.5k seems great considering the damage you described.

 

Got price wrong, £2.5K was labour, more like £5-6K total!

link to pics of damage:

http://i44.tinypic.com/dw9tzp.jpg
http://i40.tinypic.com/6ith5d.jpg

 

5k for that ? bit rich

 

RE050s are sh1te, I remember when they came as standard on the old CTR (EP3) and we all hated them.

Sadly Dave you learnt the hard way, hope you get it sorted soon.

I've got GY F1 Asymetrics on my 18" wheels for my 07 STi and they are great.

 

Don't knock em, i have a '99 2.0DTI = hard as nails and will pull a small moon but a bit slooooow

 

Chin up mate, you live and learn. Sti's a are bit notorious for being snappy if you lift off abruptly. You're ok, no-one else was involved, and the car can be fixed - that's all that matters.

Ns04

 

We'll you've been told loads of times now about backing off abruptly.

The RE050's are poor tyres if they are not warm enough, especially if the road was damp or a little bit wet.
With DCCD as said, its a drivers aid and will just shift power front to rear depending on a whole set of parameters.

Get yourself on a decent advanced driver tuition course and learn in a safe environment how your car works and how to control it.

Shaun

 

Thats not 5k damage bud you can get that sorted for less. People are so negative in this country. I have taken cars to garages in the past and all they do is scratch there ****ing heads and say errrr ohhhh errrrrrrr that will be exspensive m8t just ****ing pull your fingers out and do the job ffs. Pepole just want to work for **** all these days. you go abroad and they will say no problem

 

Hi all,

I am about to get a 2.5 WRX STI. Used to driving 330CI BM's etc so before I learn the hard way, I would love to know more about how these cars handle, do's and donts etc.
Is there anywhere, anyone in the midlands where you can take your car, or use a car, to do some trainning in, advance driving etc?

 

Try these, ask for Ian.

Ian Jeffs, Roadcraft Driver Training Ltd, specialist advanced and performance driver training