Subaru fanboys

SUBARU overated? As long as its handles much more better than an overated EVO. I dont think so its quite common at the moment. Its all about enthusiasm, knowledge skills and most important is the driver. -- Sabelt

Original post on ZTH forums.

Let me start off by saying that I have nothing against Subaru cars. They are decent cars for the price. Some of the fanboys simply have no clue about the competition though.

The vast majority of drivers (this includes professional drivers, press and motoring public at large) have always given the handling edge to the Evo in head-to-head comparisons with a similar STI of the same model year. Just last month Best Motoring (a popular Japanese automotive show) conducted various comparison tests among some 4WD cars.

One segment had the cars travel on a course with a banked corner followed by a straight with cones forming a slalom. The idea is to test the top speed and slalom clearance timing. Weather was clear. Here are the results.

Vehicle	Mode	Top speed	Slalom time
997 Porsche Carrera 4		227.21 km/h	6.5 sec
997 Porsche Carrera		228.84 km/h	6.675 sec
2006 Lamborghini Gallardo		236.55 km/h	6.469 sec
2006 JDM Subaru Impreza STI (2L)	DCCD locked	214.36 km/h	7.108 sec
	DCCD open		6.684 sec
	DCCD auto		6.623 sec
2005 JDM Mitsubishi Evo 9 GSR	ACD Tarmac	216.13 km/h	6.518 sec
	ACD Snow		6.247 sec
2006 Audi S4		211.76 km/h	6.433 sec
2006 Honda Legend 3.5L V6		174.96 km/h	7.025 sec

Even in its "worst" mode, the Evo 9 GSR clears the slalom faster than the JDM STI in its "best" mode. The Honda Legend puts out 300PS @ 6200 and 36 kg/m @ 5000, is a 5 speed automatic and weighs 1780kg. And yet it clears the slalom faster than the STI in DCCD locked mode. Ouch~!

A subjective test had Keiichi Tsuchiya drive the cars around Tsukuba Circuit and rate them on their drift ability. For the Carrera 4, he gave 95. Gallardo, an 80. The Evo 9 he gave a 68 and the STI dead last at 65.

I shall refrain from posting the track timing results as the STI had to retire from the race.

Evo overrated? Guess the results speak for themselves while fanboys can continue blowing smoke.