Just the Facts:
- Subaru has released video footage of the 2011 Impreza WRX STI sedan doing hot laps at the Nürburgring.
- Four-time WRC champ Tommi Makinen was at the wheel.
- At 7:55:00, Makinen set a new record for Subaru at the 'Ring.
CHERRY HILL, New Jersey — Subaru has released video footage of the 2011 Impreza WRX STI sedan doing hot laps at the Nürburgring, with four-time WRC champ Tommi Makinen at the wheel. The production car goes on sale this summer.
Makinen set a new mark for Subaru of 7:55:00, the brand's fastest-ever time at the 'Ring.
The WRX STI is being relaunched in the U.S. for model year 2011, in two body styles — a four-door sedan and a five-door hatchback.
Inside Line says: Yes, that huge rear wing really is functional. Just ask Tommi Makinen. — Paul Lienert, Correspondent
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rodger_victor says:
03:00 AM, 06/16/2010
To be honest, I have never seen an ugly Subaru win any race, against any Viper, on any track. I beleve we have a following of three Subaru owners on this site. I will be looking for you and your fart can mufflers at the next traffic light. Viper wins, Subaru loses. Again.
surfwagon56 says:
02:56 PM, 06/10/2010
I think this is a pretty good time, even if the car is not exactly production. Seems like not too long ago a sub 8 minute time on the 'ring was supercar territory.
I had no idea that 2 year old Vipers were $30K, so excitedly I went to Auto Trader to buy mine. Imagine my dismay when I could not find a 2008 Viper for $30K. I did find a 6-year-old Viper with 53K miles for $35K, not too shabby.
iskch says:
02:50 PM, 06/10/2010
Several misses in gear change. Tommi is used to semi-auto transmission. Let Sabine try and she will lower the time for sure.
jeremy_c says:
01:13 PM, 06/10/2010
Guys, I was being sarcatic! The point I was trying to make is that Vipers depreciate way too much which means nobody wants them for whatever reason.
I would take a WRX STI over a Viper anyday. Even if their performance is the same, I can have a nice bottle of champagne every week from the money I save on fuel alone.
newt77 says:
12:36 PM, 06/10/2010
@jeremy_c
I call shenanigans on the price comparison. A quick look at autotrader tells me that 40,000 buys you an 2005 Viper with around 40 to 50k miles on it (or a branded title car). Comparing used car to new car prices just doesn't work anyway because you're not counting the work that will inevitably have to get done to the car. I'm not a Suby fanboy in the least ( my taste runs to stupidly expensive to maintain vintage German cars) but the Viper-STi comparo thing is just ridiculous.
666wrx says:
11:51 AM, 06/10/2010
@ jeremy_c
I think the point is still moot. Here's the reason IMHO:
No way you can find a 2 year-old Viper for $30k that's going to run well on the track. You're looking at the VERY least $50k. See kbb.com.
The vehicles are inherently designed for very different purposes when it comes to racing. Viper is meant for dry, twisty tracks. An STI is meant for rally type tracks. Switch the cars on the respective courses, and yes, one will out-perform the other by quite a margin.
Let's look at it this way, we've seen how the STI does on a dry asphalt course. I'd like to see how a Viper fairs on a rally course, with rally certified racing tires, just to be fair.
Even though I'm a fanboy, I'm still realistic and fair when it comes to comparisons. Yes, a Viper will smoke an STI at the 'burg or any other dry track. We won't even go into dragging. But let's be objective in our arguments and not pull BS numbers to "prove" a point. What's with all the Subie hate? Not like the article was aimed at the STI being better than other cars. Wouldn't you want to see achievements from your favorite cars posted on an enthusiast site?
veryhrm says:
11:41 AM, 06/10/2010
i meant "SHOULD be reserved"...
veryhrm says:
11:39 AM, 06/10/2010
That's pretty cool. On the use of the word "record", I too think that it should not be reserved for the best in a class of some sort. For one's own best time i prefer the phrase "Personal Best" (PB) to "Personal Record" (PR) just for this reason, but it could also be because it's what i grew up with
psf4 says:
11:31 AM, 06/10/2010
I believe this would be a record for the fastest production sedan around the ring; Panamera Turbo did a 7:56, which took the title from the CTS-V. However, as someone noted, this isn't a production car, and is likely a ringer (no pun intended) of sorts, so it's relegated to a record for Subaru and nothing more.
Regardless, quite an achievement to run a tarted up Japanese econobox around that track in under 8 minutes. And I say that with love; I owned an '06 STI. It's about time Subaru tune the chassis on that car properly; the potential has been there with mods, but it's always been mysteriously tuned to push excessively from the factory. High limits, don't get me wrong, but an Evo or even my current Mazdaspeed6 are better balanced and have more communicative chassis out of the showroom.
jeremy_c says:
10:51 AM, 06/10/2010
One very important thing the article did not mention was the kind of tire this Subaru is running on. If this lap time was done with a qualifying compound race tire, then it really does not mean that much.