top speed

lee said:
what is the top speed of a

subaru impreza WRX STI

cheers lee
Click to expand...

North American Spec differs: the Canadian model apparently doesn't have a
speed limiter on it, and three people I've talked to (here on the newsgroup
and outside it) have all said that they were able to get it up to about
160mph flat-out.

There's not a lot of incredibly long stretches of safe, windless road where
I live, so this is hearsay.

The American spec is supposed to be speed-limited to 155mph.

Don't know anything about the various U.K. and Japanese models.
 
Not to be difficult, I find 155 or 165 hard to believe, no matter how
powerful the engine. I would think the aerodynamic drag of the body
would limit it to something less than that. My Acura TL has an
aerodynamic drag limit of about 145 (not that it would actually go that
fast). I know that on the original Porsche 911's they had to do a lot
to the bodies to get over about 160.

IMHO I don't believe the WRX (or STI) bodies would be capable of doing
much over 140.

Jack
 
What exactly is aerodynamic drag limit? Can it never be exceeded? What if
the car is dropped out of a plane?
 
Not to be difficult, I find 155 or 165 hard to believe, no matter how
powerful the engine. I would think the aerodynamic drag of the body
would limit it to something less than that. My Acura TL has an
aerodynamic drag limit of about 145 (not that it would actually go that
fast). I know that on the original Porsche 911's they had to do a lot
to the bodies to get over about 160.

IMHO I don't believe the WRX (or STI) bodies would be capable of doing
much over 140.
Click to expand...

And yet Best Motoring tested it and got it into the 150s on their oval
track, JD here in this group specifically said he got his Canadian model up
into the 160s at an airport test track. Kits from various sources (APS,
etc) bring the top speed up to the 180s..

I suppose in the end it's irrelevant what you believe it's capable of
doing. :)
 
Jim is exactly dead on in his explanation of what causes any vehicle to
hit a limit of speed. As a matter of fact if you dropped it out of an
airplane you would hit a limit of how fast it would fall. Sky divers
refer to it as terminal velocity and depending on the shape every
object has a terminal velocity.

As to the top end speed of WRX. I don't know (let me repeat that, I
don't know) what the aerodynamic limit of a WRX would be. I am not
willing to absolutely say that a WRX will not go XXX mph. I would
only say the farther above 140 they had actually got, the more I would
want to understand any modifications they had done.

Maybe I am just too much of a doubter.

Jack
 
Not to be difficult, I find 155 or 165 hard to believe, no matter how
powerful the engine. I would think the aerodynamic drag of the body
would limit it to something less than that. My Acura TL has an
aerodynamic drag limit of about 145 (not that it would actually go that
fast). I know that on the original Porsche 911's they had to do a lot
to the bodies to get over about 160.

IMHO I don't believe the WRX (or STI) bodies would be capable of doing
much over 140.
Click to expand...

http://www.subaru-global.com/about/history/1998-001.html

"On April 23, 1998, at the FIA qualified course on Highway 10 in La
Junta, Colorado, the Legacy Station Wagon set a new world record at an
amazing speed (average speed over one kilometer: 270.532 km/h; average
speed over one mile: 270.047 km/h), drastically surpassing the previous
record set by a second-generation Legacy in 1993."


That's 167.8 mph.

It was done by a stock (other than safety gear) 2.0l Legacy Wagon picked
off the production line at random by FIA officials, on a normal road.
 
They are definitely ECU limited to 155mph and there's plenty of real world
testing done at around the 150 mark if you Google it.

I'm sure I've seen 330km/h (206mph) in a performance car DVD - one of the
Grip series I think, at one of the Jap tuner HQs like Top Secret or
similar... will try and hunt it out. From memory, the body kit was nothing
out of the ordinary - but under the bonnet...

A good stats page for all makes: (factory default tuning)
http://www.fast-autos.net/list.html

Cheers, Jason
PC-Video-Gaming: http://gadgetaus.com
MS Wireless Intellimouse $89
 
"On April 23, 1998, at the FIA qualified course on Highway 10 in La
Junta, Colorado, the Legacy Station Wagon set a new world record at an
amazing speed (average speed over one kilometer: 270.532 km/h; average
speed over one mile: 270.047 km/h), drastically surpassing the previous
record set by a second-generation Legacy in 1993."


That's 167.8 mph.

It was done by a stock (other than safety gear) 2.0l Legacy Wagon picked
off the production line at random by FIA officials, on a normal road.
Click to expand...

You're shittin' me, right? April 1 is past... Does this mean my geeky OBW
can do 160 friggin mph? Really?

-John O
 
Jim is exactly dead on in his explanation of what causes any vehicle to
hit a limit of speed. As a matter of fact if you dropped it out of an
airplane you would hit a limit of how fast it would fall. Sky divers
refer to it as terminal velocity and depending on the shape every
object has a terminal velocity.
Click to expand...

The implication that there is a "terminal velocity" for a ground-based
vehicle is incorrect. Terminal velocity has very little to do with it.
Standard falling body terminal velocity is about 124mph. I hit that all the
time. However, the principle is similar: that which causes terminal
velocity is the same principle that dictates drag-based top speeds.
willing to absolutely say that a WRX will not go XXX mph. I would
only say the farther above 140 they had actually got, the more I would
want to understand any modifications they had done.
Click to expand...

I hit 140 just the other day. It was easy. I just don't know what my STi's
*top* speed is, as I've never approached it and felt safe about it. Too
much wind around here buffeting me around the road.
 
You're shittin' me, right? April 1 is past... Does this mean my geeky
OBW can do 160 friggin mph? Really?

-John O
Click to expand...

Nope.

The record was set by the 2l GT turbo, a car that unfortunately was
never sold in the US (you may notice on the linked page that the dude
with the helmet on is sitting on the "wrong" side).

florian
 

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