2012 Subaru WRX STI: The Best Sports Car for the Money? - Ignition Episode 17 - video Dailymotion

MotorTrend

On this episode of Ignition

Transcript

00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:02 This week on "Ignition," we drive one of the most

00:04 surprisingly capable cars on the road today.

00:06 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:25 [CAR ENGINE REVVING]

00:27 You know, with all this frankly well-deserved hubbub

00:30 about the Subaru BRZ, it's almost easy to forget about

00:33 the car that initially created the Subaru enthusiast.

00:37 It's quite a bit different than the BRZ, although it

00:38 still had two doors.

00:40 It was turbocharged, it was all-wheel drive, and it was

00:42 rugged as hell.

00:44 It was the Subaru WRX STI.

00:48 Today, there's nothing quite like the STI.

00:51 I mean, sure, you could argue that its Evo is the main

00:53 competitor, but it's not.

00:55 You could argue that its Evo is the main competitor.

00:58 But even that car in recent years has morphed into

01:00 something completely different.

01:02 It's more of a track car.

01:03 And while it's brilliant on the track, all the compromises

01:06 it makes to be brilliant sort of make the car worse on the

01:10 road.

01:11 [CAR ENGINE REVVING]

01:14 Now, this STI is a bit slower, frankly, but it's also a bit

01:19 more interesting.

01:20 I mean, this is a performance-oriented hatchback

01:24 with a 305-horsepower turbocharged flat-four,

01:26 six-speed manual, tons of cargo space, and it's genuinely

01:30 fun to drive.

01:32 I'd argue that for the money, there's nothing

01:35 quite like this car.

01:36 So an acceleration run in the Subaru STI is a little bit

01:45 more difficult than most.

01:46 We don't have launch control.

01:48 We have a six-speed manual and a clutch, so we've got to do

01:50 it the old-fashioned way.

01:52 We have a turbocharged engine and all-wheel drive, so that

01:54 means we have a ton of grip but not a lot of power.

01:57 And what power we do have comes on pretty

01:59 high in the RPM range.

02:00 So that means we have to use a lot of clutch slip to get this

02:02 thing out of the hole quickly.

02:04 So I dial in about 55, 5,000 RPM, slip the clutch, get a

02:09 lot of front chirp from the tires.

02:11 [TIRES SQUEALING]

02:17 It does get out of the hole really quickly.

02:20 You'll hit 60 in about 4.7 seconds, and that's about on

02:24 pace with the Camaro SS.

02:25 The top end does flatten out a bit, though, but you'll hit

02:31 the quarter mile in 13 and 1/2 seconds, just under 100

02:34 miles an hour.

02:35 Certainly quick by any modern standard.

02:41 And now we do our 60 to 0 braking test.

02:43 [TIRES SQUEALING]

02:48 Little bit of movement, but not bad overall.

02:50 Our best stop from 60 is 104 feet.

02:52 [TIRES SQUEALING]

02:58 As we begin the figure eight test in the STI, you're

03:01 reminded that the STI is a very, very capable car, but it

03:06 goes about handling quite differently than a lot of

03:09 sports cars.

03:10 It's a bit clumsier.

03:12 It kind of likes to be thrown around and treated rough, and

03:16 it's kind of fun because of that.

03:19 The thing rotates on throttle beautifully.

03:22 And it just gives you that slight bit of slip in the

03:26 chassis that gives you a little bit more accuracy.

03:29 It's finding that fine line between throwing it around and

03:38 treating it nicely.

03:40 It makes it for a fast lap.

03:41 [TIRES SQUEALING]

03:46 Doesn't like to slide, but it does like to go fast.

03:50 [TIRES SQUEALING]

03:52 [MUSIC PLAYING]

04:04 There's just an honesty and a humbleness that I feel like

04:08 so refreshing with Subarus.

04:09 I mean, this STI isn't trying to be anything that it's not.

04:14 There's no special dash treatment.

04:18 There's nothing faux luxury.

04:20 The dash is very honest.

04:22 The materials simply make the car what it is.

04:26 You may think, for near $40,000, shouldn't you have

04:29 something a bit nicer?

04:32 Well, let's back up for a bit.

04:33 I'm going to make a point here.

04:35 That might be quite controversial, but I think that

04:38 this car is the junior Porsche Panamera.

04:41 Stay with me.

04:42 The similarities--

04:43 they're both not very attractive.

04:45 They're both all-wheel drive.

04:47 You can get both with turbocharged engines.

04:49 They both seat plenty of people and have a ton of

04:52 interior space.

04:53 And they both have quite a bit of cargo space, too.

04:55 [TIRES SQUEALING]

04:58 To demonstrate just how much stuff this car can hold, we've

05:01 assembled all of the parts we need to make it a

05:04 Porsche Panamera.

05:05 We've assembled all the gear we use to film one of these

05:08 videos, with the exception, of course, being the camera

05:10 that's filming me right now.

05:11 We're going to take all this gear and see if we can put it

05:13 in the back of the STI.

05:15 Let's do it.

05:16 [MUSIC PLAYING]

05:18 Full speed, right?

05:19 [TIRES SQUEALING]

05:21 [MUSIC PLAYING]

05:23 [TIRES SQUEALING]

05:25 [MUSIC PLAYING]

05:26 [TIRES SQUEALING]

05:27 [MUSIC PLAYING]

05:30 One of the things I find utterly addicting about the STI is

05:33 the mechanical growl this makes when you

05:35 get on the throttle.

05:37 It's unique to the brand.

05:39 And it's sort of a trait that I love.

05:41 And I find that missing from the BRZ.

05:42 Also, enjoy the fact that this has four exhaust pipes.

05:48 I mean, four exhaust pipes.

05:50 Come on, that's just kind of the absurdity that makes this

05:52 car special.

05:54 This car is kind of like going out with a

05:58 rowdy drinking buddy.

05:59 You know you're going to have a crazy experience.

06:01 You're going to come home tomorrow with a good story,

06:04 and maybe a scar, too.

06:05 You know, the best examples of these cars aren't the clean

06:14 racetrack queens.

06:15 They aren't the one with the big diffusers and

06:17 wings and whatnot.

06:18 They're the hatchbacks.

06:19 They're the ones covered in dirt and mud and snow.

06:22 They're the ones with roof racks with bicycles and

06:25 snowboards and skis on.

06:26 They're the ones that have the camping gear, the band's

06:29 musical equipment, the amplifier in the back.

06:32 Those are the best STIs out there, because those are the

06:35 ones that see adventure on a regular basis.

06:38 Those are the ones that actually go

06:39 everywhere and do everything.

06:40 So then the problem with this STI that we're driving is

06:47 that it's much too clean.

06:50 Let's see if we can fix that.

06:52 [ENGINE REVVING]

06:58 [MUSIC PLAYING]

07:02 [ENGINE REVVING]

07:03 [MUSIC PLAYING]

07:07 [ENGINE REVVING]

07:10 [MUSIC PLAYING]

07:13 [ENGINE REVVING]

07:16 [MUSIC PLAYING]

07:19 [ENGINE REVVING]

07:22 [MUSIC PLAYING]

07:25 [ENGINE REVVING]

07:28 [MUSIC PLAYING]

07:31 [ENGINE REVVING]

07:34 [MUSIC PLAYING]

07:37 [ENGINE REVVING]

07:42 Now that is more like it.

07:44 And it makes me think that even though Subaru's World

07:46 Rally team isn't around anymore in any official capacity,

07:49 that team somehow led to this car.

07:52 Knowing that makes it a special car to drive, both in the dirt

07:55 but also on the road.

07:57 You know, the STI was a car born out of rallying.

07:59 And that birthplace gives it what

08:01 Liam Neeson might call a particular set of skills.

08:04 Those skills make it one of the most outstandingly well-rounded

08:08 conquer-all cars on the road today.

08:11 It can do the dirt road.

08:13 It can do the mountains.

08:14 It can do the racetrack.

08:15 It can do the commute.

08:16 And it can do them all fast.

08:20 [MUSIC PLAYING]

08:23 [ENGINE REVVING]

08:26 [MUSIC PLAYING]

08:29 [ENGINE REVVING]

08:32 [MUSIC PLAYING]

08:35 [ENGINE REVVING]

08:38 [MUSIC PLAYING]

08:41 [ENGINE REVVING]

08:44 [MUSIC PLAYING]

08:47 [MUSIC PLAYING]

08:50 (upbeat music)

08:53 (upbeat music)

2012 Subaru WRX STI: The Best Sports Car for the Money? - Ignition Episode 17

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