Subaru has a long and complicated performance history.  They’ve been making turbo Impreza’s since 1992, and along the way there’s been a dizzying array of ultra-high performance derivatives.  The standard higher-performance WRX – the STI – has had plenty of derivatives itself.  Clumps of letters and numbers: Type RA, Spec C, P1, RB5, 22B, Series McRae, Catalunya, Turbo Terzo, WR Sport, S202 – all designations that dedicated Subieheads worship.  Among the hottest have been the S20x cars, starting with the S201 on the old-school GC8 Impreza chassis back in 1999.  It featured a wild body kit, a larger turbo with more boost, and a then unheard-of 305bhp – back when Japanese manufacturers stuck to the “276bhp” gentleman’s agreement.

S202 through S204 were based on the second-generation Impreza, each receiving upgraded engines and suspensions with reduced weight.  The third-generation models received an “R205″ variant of the hatchback STI in 2010, and now the S206 is here.  What’s special about it?  What’s with all these crazy numbers?

The S206 is based on the newly reintroduced STI sedan – remember, for a while the 3rd generation STI was only available as a hatchback.  While most of the world’s STI’s are powered by the 2.5L “EJ257″ motor introduced in the US-spec STI in 2006, the Japanese market STI continues along with the less-torquey, higher-revving 2.0L motor.  For the S206, it’s been modified to produce a pretty impressive 320bhp and 318lb-ft of torque.  Changes include an upgraded twin-scroll turbocharger, a specific ECU tune, a free-flowing exhaust and intake system, and a balanced and blueprinted rotating assembly inside the engine.  There’s also a large intercooler, and a reinforced silicone turbo inlet pipe for better throttle response.

Since 320bhp is plenty, the suspension receives a lot more attention than the engine does.  There are Bilstein struts at all four corners (inverted in the front) with STI coil springs to make it lower and stiffer.  Upper and lower front braces, an upper rear brace, underbody tie bars, and pillow ball bushed inside lateral links all contribute to a more responsive drive.  The S206 wears a set of 19×8.5″ BBS forged aluminum wheels shod with 245/35/ZR19 Michelin Pilot Super Sports tires for more grip.  The brakes are upgraded as well: 6-pot Brembos with 2-piece rotors up front, and 4-pot Brembos with single piece rotors out back.  The S206 gets a tweaked multi-mode stability control system as well.

Inside, a set of Recaros – huge bolsters in Alcantara, bases in leather – hug the occupants.  There are a lot of other small changes – red seatbelts, alcantara door trims and center armrest with silver stitching, a leather-wrapped STI wheel, a leather STI shift knob, a serialized S206 number plaque – and a red “STI” push button start, which is worth 100bhp in my book.  Outside, the S206 gets a few goodies – an aluminum hood, a front splitter, front fender vents, a lip spoiler and some badges.  If you order the optional “Nurburgring Challenge” package, you get a carbon fiber roof, a big carbon rear spoiler, and some black wheels.

The S206 is limited to a total of 300 units (white, blue, black, silver, and red) and it’s only for sale in Japan.  So if you want the ultimate factory STI, you’re out of luck – but besides the balanced and blueprinted internals, the rest of this wouldn’t be hard to recreate – think of it as inspiration!  Gallery below.

I’ve always liked Subaru’s attitude towards performance measurements. While BMW and Audi will brag about their 0-60 metrics, or how many lateral G’s of acceleration their cars can pull on a perfect skidpad, Subaru is all about their racing record.  And within a month, two different Subarus -- driven by two brothers, no less -- have both laid down new lap records on two of the toughest race courses on planet earth.

I’m talking about the Isle of Man, and the Mount Washington Hill Climb.  The Isle of Man hosts a yearly motorcycle race that dates back to 1904, although the current course used for the race (the Mountain Course) has been in use since 1911.  This twisting, winding intricate piece of road spans almost 38 miles in length, and over the past century, motorcyclists have become very adept indeed at covering it’s 233 turns at a rapid pace.  The current lap record holder for the Isle of Man course is John McGuinness, who piloted his Honda CBR1000RR to an overall time of 17:12.30, with an average speed of 131.578mph.

What doesn’t get a lot of attention at the Isle of Man are car lap records, since it’s primarily a track for motorcycles.  In fact, up until June 10th of this year, the previous record for a production car had stood since June 6th -- of 1990. British racing driver Tony Pond was the first motorist to get a production car around the Isle of Man track with an average speed over 100mph, setting the record at 22:09.10 with an average speed of 102.19mph.  Which is pretty impressive, considering he did it in what seemed like a totally stock Rover 827 Vitesse.  You can check his video out below.

You can see why the record stood so long -- you’d have to be a bit mental to push a car that hard on roads like that, judging by how close Tony got to some of those walls in that wailing, red Rover.  But the fact that no one even attempted for 21 years says a lot about how big one’s balls have to be, I suppose?  Anyway, Subaru figured it was about time the record got beaten, so they enlisted the help of British rally driver Mark Higgins, in a US-Spec Subaru WRX STI.

And beat it they did.  Again, it’s impressive to learn that this was an almost totally stock STI -- it had a fire suppression system, full roll cage, competition seats, Mintex brake pads, a loud exhaust, different spring and damper rates, and no electronic speed limiter, but otherwise was just as you’d get an STI from the showroom, down to the road-legal Pirelli tires.

Result?  Higgins absolutely walloped the old record, setting a new time of 19 minutes, 37 seconds -- with an average speed of 115.356mph.  Not quite up there with race-prepped superbikes, but still absolutely mental in a car of any type.  How mental?  How about almost losing control of the car at 150mph going towards a narrow wall mental?

Despite the really rather serious “Oh my, I need clean underwear moment” (which you’ll note was taken with the typical cool reserve of a British driver!  ”That was the biggest moment of my life.  On to the next turn…”), Higgins managed to not hit anything, setting the new lap time and average speed records by a wide margin.  Subaru released some seriously good footage of the record-breaking action, below:

As if setting a 21-year-old record for a race track that wasn’t even designed for cars wasn’t enough, another Subaru recently broke the record for the Mount Washington Hill Climb.  I can say from personal experience, having driven up the Mount Washington road myself a few years ago, that it is absolutely one of the scariest pieces of road in North America, and really anything over 15mph feels like you’re taking your life into your hands.

Subaru rally driver David Higgins (Yes, Mark Higgins brother!) broke the course record at the Mt. Washington climb to the clouds this weekend, while everyone was paying attention to a slightly more famous hillclimb -- that one in Colorado.  (By the way, yes, “Monster” Tajima did finally break the 10-minute barrier at Pikes Peak this weekend, setting a new record time of 9:51 in his 910bhp works Suzuki SX4).

To get an idea of just how crazy the Climb to the Clouds race is, here’s an idea: the course is only 7.6 miles long, and goes from sea level to 6,288 ft of elevation -- by comparison, Pikes Peak covers 12.42 miles, but only gains 4,721 ft in elevation -- practically child’s play!  (Not really, but everything’s relative.)  In addition, most of Pike’s Peak is paved now -- whereas still about half of Mt Washington is gravel, and it seems to switch between gravel and asphalt pretty randomly.  The previous record holder was Frank Sprongl, who managed to cross the gates in 6:41.99 at the wheel of an Audi back in 1998.

Higgins set a first time of 6:19, which was pretty impressive -- and then set another time of 6:11.54.  I’m pretty sure it took me about 25 minutes to get to the top of Mt. Washington behind the wheel of a Mercedes ML430, so any of those times seem totally absurd, further cementing my undying respect for Rally drivers.  There’s no complete footage of either of his runs, but to get an idea of the pace he was going, check this out:

So, well done to Subaru and to the Higgins brothers, who both have to be on top of the world at this point!  Now back to your regularly scheduled internet arguments about which turbocharger will put the most power to the wheels on a dyno at a shop somewhere.

Sometimes it’s hard to mask your disappointment. It’d been two years since I’d ventured from Raleigh up to College Park, Maryland for CPT (College Park Tuning’s) Spring show, and I was damn excited.  The event in 2009 was large enough to fill two gigantic parking lots, and this year the event was to be moved to FedEx field in order to fit the massive amount of cars expected to turn out – easily in the thousands.

With the event scheduled to start at noon on Sunday, I packed up and headed to the DC region Friday night – I’ve got friends and family in the DC region I haven’t seen in a while; might as well kill a few birds with the same tank of gas.  Sadly, the bad news arrived Friday: due to a snafu with event insurance, CPT was unable to use the FedEx field, and the event was cancelled.  Further proving the resolve of car guys to do what they’re gonna do, an impromptu meet was thrown together on Saturday in lieu of the big show at FedEx field.  Kudos to CPT for that.

The new location was considerably smaller (as was the turnout), but the boat docks at Occoquan Park in Lorton, VA provided a nice backdrop to check out some impressive tuner vehicles, enjoy some brick-fired barbeque, and talk to other car nuts.  Sure, it wasn’t as good as the original show would’ve been, but the weekend wasn’t a bust.  I mean, how could it be with stuff like this there?

This might be one of the cleanest, best-looking, most tasteful MkIV Supra Turbo’s I’ve ever seen.  It’s one of the few cars I actually thinks looks better with it’s optional basket-handle shopping cart spoiler.  Also, that decal above the exhaust…

Domo says KILLLLL!

A  lot of car shows tend to focus on one specific brand or model of car, or at least a general demographic.  Tuner shows, on the other hand… well, anything can turn up.  Like this Honda Element that literally made me laugh out loud when I walked past it.

Nice to see that not everyone in this group takes themselves too seriously.  In fact, “too serious” just doesn’t really seem to happen a whole lot.  I love MazdaSpeed3′s, but a Speed3 with purple wheels and that front plate, I love even more.

Mazduhhh!

This NB-chassis Mazdaspeed Miata was also looking particularly luscious, Sunset Mica slammed and stanced over black wheels with a roll bar integrated.  I can’t say anything for what that much lowering does for suspension geometry on Miatas (actually I can: bad things), but it sure makes them look mean.

“I’ve got friends, in lowwww Miatas, where the coilovers drop and the rollbars follow…”

’96 Mustang Cobras aren’t rare in and of themselves.  They’re certainly less common than V6 or GT models, and considerably more potent thanks to the quad-cam 32v aluminum V8 borrowed from the Lincoln MkVIII.  But Mystichrome Cobras, now those you do not see frequently.  It’s a paint technology that changes color depending on what angle you look at it from- sometimes blue, or green, or purple, or black.  There were only 2,000 made back in 1996; I haven’t seen one in ages.  This picture doesn’t do the color justice, honestly.

“What color did you say your car was?”  ”…Yes.”

Nothing totally out of the ordinary here, just a facelifted STI that’s been lowered and stanced out, roof rack, the usual stuff – looks great.

However, did you know that Subaru made an STI Hybrid?

I’m guessing he went to the Toyota dealer, got a badge from a Prius, and stuck it on so he can park in one of DC”s absurd “Hybrid Only” parking spaces.  Seriously, Tyson’s Corner has a few Hybrid parking spaces per deck, it’s crazy.  What do you suppose would happen if someone saw this and complained?  Will they make you pop the hood?  ”look, there’s the battery, get off me.”

I can’t say the first thing I’d do to an E38 7-series would be slam it to the ground with some demon camber on the rear wheels, but it is an interesting look.  I bet speed bumps are fun in this.  Definitely VIP status.

“You’ve got a Lexus?  My grandma does too!  Is yours an ES300 as well?”

This IS-F sounded absolutely mental, and looked totally ready to attack a race track and bite off a chunk.  Normally I’m not a big fan of Lexuses, but it’s more than a bit badass.

The aerodynamic rear valence allows some repositioning of the IS-F’s trademark quad tail pipes.  And unlike a normal IS-F, those are actually real tail pipes.  Also like the duckbill spoiler with the integrated Lexus badge.  There was a lot of trick stuff going on with car you wouldn’t notice at first glance, it was very well executed.

I’m a fairly outspoken detractor of the Dodge Caliber SRT-4, to the point where I had what seemed like the whole damn Caliber forum leaving unbelievably silly comments on this post.  So I’ll eat some crow and say that this Caliber SRT-4 looks pretty amazing; some less gigantic/blingy wheels, a wider stance, and blacked-out treatment make it look like a more serious performance car.  I suppose that doesn’t change the fact that driving one feels like work, but judging from the sounds it was making, it’s probably a lot more fun work than a stock one.

I’m not sure why the Lexus SC300/400 isn’t more popular as a tuning vehicle, considering the Supra chassis and engines, and vastly higher availability than an actual Supra.  This one looks fantastic, IMO – very clean, very low.

Z32 300ZX’s will never go out of style.  Can you believe this design is actually 20 years older than the 370Z that Tony reviewed recently?  Of course, lowered and blacked-out always helps.

A MKIV Golf, looking proper, next to the “STI Hybrid” from earlier.

Infiniti G37′s are becoming very popular with the tuning crowd.  Considering they’ve got the same greasy bits as a 370Z, but room for 4 and more luxury trappings, it’s an appealing base vehicle to start with.  I like the aerodynamic addendum on this one, too.

And finally, what was probably my favorite car from the entire show: this early-body WRX STI.  A lot of tuner cars tick a few of the boxes; this one ticks all of them.

Most modified Subarus generally look totally over the top.  I mean, a WRX is already a sort of crazy-looking car the way it comes, and most aftermarket mods just add to this.  I love this STI because it’s a seriously capable car (extensive engine and suspension upgrades) but it’s very functional.  There’s no crazy offset wheels, huge camber, tucked tires and rolled fenders – it’s just huge rubber, proper ride height, and a perfect stance.  Also note the deletion of the intercooler hood scoop.  Since you can see the intercooler’s now residing in the bumper, the own turned it into a vent for under-hood heat.  Very smooth, and very trick.

Through it you can see charge piping, a diverter valve, etc – very neat.  Of course, under the hood’s impressive too:

GT30-framed turbocharger, hard piping, big injectors – more than 400awhp in this one.  The previous build on this engine had a much larger turbo, 1300cc injectors, and made 600+awhp.  High 10′s in the quarter are nice, but the owner says it was frankly terrible for a street car.  I’d believe him.

Coilovers, big wheels, big brakes, perfect offset- kudos to this guy.

Seibon Diamond Carbon trunk – which is probably worth more than my entire Saab – is a really nice touch.  Do love that license plate, too.

I’ll finish the post off with this WRX shot.  You can never have too many turbocharged Flat-fours!  While I do wish the show had been held as originally planned, there are worse things to do with a sunny Sunday afternoon than look at modified cars in a park.  Better luck next year, CPT!

]]> http://www.carthrottle.com/cpt-tuning-occoquan-park-car-show-5111/feed/ 3 http://www.carthrottle.com/performance-an-entirely-relative-science/ http://www.carthrottle.com/performance-an-entirely-relative-science/#comments Thu, 31 Mar 2011 21:15:56 +0000 James http://www.carthrottle.com/?p=22762

We are primarily a performance-oriented website here at CarThrottle. The amount of people interested enough in minivans to go on the web and read about them is pretty small, so performance cars it is.  What does get a little old after a while, though, is the constant one-upmanship of performance manufacturers with each other.  Look at Nissan and Porsche and their fight over Nurburgring lap times, which is about as relevant as comparing car’s fuel injector rates as a measure of performance.  Or the whole Camaro vs Mustang V6 power wars -- GM re-rated the Camaro’s V6 after the Mustang got a new V6 so it would have 7 more horsepower.  Who cares about 7 horsepower?  Couldn’t they have spent that money on making it easier to see out of the Camaro?

Still can’t see out of it, but now with 7 extra horsepower!

Manufacturers spend ad dollars bragging that the Piepuncher 324ZZYZX-Turboface can sprint to 60 mph a tenth of a second faster than it’s closest competitor.  Do you know how brief a tenth of a second is?  Do you really care?  Will the consumer not be able to sleep at night because that blasted 324ZZYZX Turboface has a statistically insignificant advantage on paper?  I doubt it.

But what really gets me is that people obsess over these numbers so hard, like some sort of holy grail, and they’re a moving target.  The performance of a car is relative, and it’s related not to the clock but to the other cars out there as well as the expectations of the driver.  What’s considered average performance today would’ve been unbelievably quick in the mid-70′s when everything was performance-choked with emissions equipment that even the manufacturers didn’t know how to set up properly.

Slower than a Honda Odyssey.  Roll that around your head.

Back when my dad was younger (which, as he likes to say, was when the whole world was black and white and dinosaurs roamed the land) a car that could do 0-60 in under 10 seconds was fast, and a top speed over 100mph was respectable.  These days it’s remarkable if a car can’t hit sixty in under 10 seconds.  Hell, the truck he uses to haul his camper -- a diesel dually that weighs north of 7,000 lbs -- did a 7.7 second 0-60 bone stock with less than 1000 miles on the odometer, according to a data acquisition program on the iPhone.  Car & Driver tested a new Honda Odyssey -- that’d be a minivan -- as doing 0-60 in 7.3 seconds.  Minivan.  Faster than a MkII Golf GTI 16v.

But it’s not just between the 60′s and today.  It’s between the 90′s and today.  Going back to cars my dad drove for  a minute, for a while his daily driver (in Indiana!) was a 1993 Ford SVT Mustang Cobra, the first SVT product released.  By the standards of 1993, it was a mean sonofabitch.  It had a tweaked 302ci Windsor V8 with EFI, GT40 heads, a pretty solid cam, big fat sticky tires, a heavy five-speed stick, and no traction control or ABS or any other namby-pamby butt saving measures.  Ford quoted the Cobra as being capable of a 5.9 second 0-60 time, although he could never get it below 6 seconds -- even with a Steeda short-shifter and 3.55:1 rear end gears.  Today, you can buy a diesel BMW 3-series that would blow the doors off that Cobra -- while getting twice the gas mileage.  And not beating you to death.

And that new V6 Mustang I was talking about earlier?  It’ll outrun an ’01 32v Mustang Cobra to sixty, in the corners, past the gas pumps… everything but top speed, because the V6 models are limited to 114mph for tire equipment reasons.  The V6 Mustang used to be synonymous with “secretary special,” with the Cologne SOHC V6 that got it up to highway speed eventually, and an exhaust  note like an iron lung patient.  It’s a bit different now: this is a new 3.7L Mustang, not a GT, for reference.  Not exactly something old V6 Mustangs had an easy time doing, for sure.

Just to ruin your childhood a little bit, here’s a chart.  We all like statistics -- clearly -- so here’s a few things to keep in mind.

*electronically limited due to tire speed rating

Sort of sad to realize that a V6 Mustang is faster to 60mph than a Lamborghini Countach. Or an original NSX.  Or an M6.  Also of note -- OK, the Countach posted some of the worst mileage numbers in the history of the EPA (it makes a Ram SRT-10 look efficient), but the V6 Mustang is neck and neck with a 48v Countach through the quarter mile, while returning 3 times the mileage on the highway.

Meanest car of the 80′s, whooped by small BMW’s today

Back in 1987, the fastest accelerating car you could get your hands on was the built-for-the-strip-and-not-much-else Buick Regal GNX.  That car posted an incredible 4.7s 0-60 time when Car & Driver tested it, which held the record for fastest-acceleration productions sedan at least until the year 2000.  (side note: cars with a B-pillar mounted to the body are Sedans, even if they only have 2 doors.  So the Regal Coupe is a sedan according to the EPA.)  But to get that number, sacrifices were made: an ECM tune that gave it a rough idle, a ladder bar/panhard rod rear suspension that was really only good at brake-stands at the drag strip, a larger turbo with more lag, etc.  It was a one-trick pony: but hey, it was really good at that one trick.  Today, a BMW 135i will pull a 4.6 second 0-60 with a manual, while being a perfectly reasonable daily-driver with luxury goodies, nice seats, and BMW comfort and poshness.

And let’s not forget the absolute variability in all these numbers.  Arguing that a Corvette Grand Sport is better than a Shelby GT500 because it’s 2 tenths faster to sixty is ridiculous.  Factor in changes in altitude, ambient temperature, track surface temperature, friction coefficient of the track surface, regional differences in octane content in gasoline, and your car could be an entire second slower somewhere else.  And unless it’s a twin-clutch automated manual with electronic four wheel drive and automated launch control, just simple driver error can change the numbers for the better or the worse.

What’s the point of all this rambling and statistical overload?  To remind you that if you’re buying that Evo X MR because it does 0-60 1/10th of a second faster than an STI, you’re missing the point.  If you’re buying a car, you should find one that you enjoy driving, and buy that, and then drive the hell out of it.  Don’t get caught up in the numbers -- they’re gonna pass you by before you even make the first payment.

I will admit some personal bias on this topic. The previous-generation Subaru Forester was, in my estimation, the embodiment of the “do anything” mentality when it came to automobiles.  Especially in 2.5XT (Turbo) trim with a 5-speed, it hit pretty much all the bases.  It was fast (Car & Driver clocked one at 5.3 seconds to sixty, which was considerably faster than a V8 Cayenne S), had huge aftermarket support, it was fun on the road, decent off road, great in bad weather, and combined SUV utility with car-like handling.  It was a characterful, likeable vehicle.  So when Subaru replaced the old-style Forester with a new, bigger, softer one in 2008, I couldn’t help but be disappointed.

It was taller, heavier, slower, more boring to look at, and most importantly the 5-speed manual was limited to the base-model non-turbo variants.  No fun.  The new 2.5XT is a great SUV – but it’s not the old quasi-WRX it used to be, more of a turbocharged CR-V.  Bleh.  So I look on with no small amount of jealousy at Subaru of Australia’s latest model, the Forester S.

Biggest changes for the S-edition are under the hood.  The new model receives the WRX’s EJ25ET powerplant, which raises power output from 224 in the XT to 258, along with a small increase in torque.  Bigger news: the 2.5XT’s ancient 4-speed automatic (people still make those?) is replaced with a new five-speed STI paddleshift automatic transmission.  Subaru doesn’t claim any performance figures, but considering how much faster the WRX became after it received the new motor, it’s not hard to imagine with an extra (almost) 40bhp and another gear, the difference will be noteable in the Forester as well.

Other changes for the S-Edition are largely aesthetic.  There’s a set of nice-looking white painted 17″ STI alloys, a black/chrome grille, silver roof rails, Alcantara/leather seating, and an assortment of special badges and stickers.

Equally important but not quite as exciting: the 2011 Forester is getting the new FB-series flat-four engine, which will be replacing the EJ that’s been around since (can you believe this?) 1989.  It promises quieter NVH levels, better fuel economy, lower emissions, and increased torque – which is all good.  The question is, when will be be seeing a WRX-engined Forester Turbo in the US?  And with some manufacturers moving from “old-school” six-speed automatics on to 8-speed automatics (hell, ZF’s working on a 9-speed automatic), will Subaru be getting rid of the ancient Nissan-derived 4-EAT auto any time soon?  I hope so.  But maybe FHI can skip the WRX engine, and go ahead and give us a full-on Forester STI.  Go ahead, Subaru.  Just drop the whole drivetrain from the USDM STI in there.  We’ll buy ‘em.  Here’s hoping.

We guess that is a good statement about the overall advancement of the auto industry. Maybe they can go on the track though, but how fast can they do it – that is an important question.

In that area, Subaru is excited because they have set their highest time around the track since they started testing there in 1992. The 7 minutes, 55 seconds Subaru company record was set in the 2011 WRX STI, driven by World Rally Champion Tommi Mäkinen, who won the Championship four times.

Now, perhaps the Cossie fellas are being a  bit ostentatious with their claims that this latest creation, the Impreza-based STI CS400, will humble supercars.  But when your Impreza hatchback is capable of a 3.7 second 0-100km/h time, maybe there’s something to be said for the substance of your claims.  That’s up there with Lamborghini Gallardos and 911 Turbos in the “going fast” category.  So how does one extract this much performance from a tiny 2.5L pancake-four motor?

Boost, and lots of it.  The twin-cam EJ257 is treated to new pistons, connecting rods, Cosworth bearings, a high-pressure oil pump, a set of heavy-duty metal headgaskets, a larger turbocharger, a free-flow exhaust system, and a remapped ECU – typical Subie mods.  Total power output is a stunning 395bhp along with 398 lb-ft of torque – or about 33% more on both ends than the already powerful stock STI engine is cranking out.  Thankfully, Cosworth doesn’t stop there.  An adjustable suspension with Bilstein dampers and Eibach springs drop the Impreza’s chassis 10mm, 18″ wheels mount sticky DOT-legal race slicks that widen the track by 12mm, while larger 355mm AP Racing brakes up front keep things in check.

Thankfully Cosworth hasn’t seen fit to stick a bunch of goofy body parts on the Impreza, with just a handful of tasteful mods setting the CS400 apart from it’s more mainstream brethren.  A new front bumper, foglights, a body-colored grille, and a small rear lip spoiler set the car off, along with some “Cosworth” and “CS400″ badging to remind you why you paid that much for an Impreza.  There’s not much changed inside, with piano-black lacquer trim, Recaro seats, Cosworth badging and tinted glass rounding out the changes.

With a 0-100km/h time of 3.7 seconds and an electronically-limited top speed of 155mph, the Cosworth-engineered CS400 is fully capable of running with the big boys.  And with a price tag of £49,995 it’s priced like the big boys too.  The question of “is it really worth almost $75,000 for a Subaru Impreza?” is most likely an irrelevant one, as Cosworth is only producing 75 examples of the re-engineered CS400 in right-hand-drive for the UK market.  Regardless, if you get your hands on one, you’ll have the fastest road-going Subaru ever, not to mention “Cosworth” badges that are worth their weight in gold, so that’s got to be worth something, right?

To celebrate that, Subaru has made this new advertisement, in which it calls it the “fastest WRX STI ever.” Its not the best video we’ve seen (we like real-life track ones) but we’ll take it. Check it out below!

This is the first time that US consumers will be able to choose a body style for their STI since the model first went on sale here in 2004.  The 5-door will remain in production, but now there’s a four door to chose from as well.  And being a four-door STI, this marks the return of the GSW, or “Giant Subaru Wing.”  It’s gaudy, it’s tacky, and it’s a crucial part of the STI’s identity – so I’m glad to see it back!

The engine is a carryover from last year, but when you’ve got an all-aluminum 2.5L turbocharged flat four spitting out 305bhp and 290lb-ft of torque, who’s going to cry about that?  Changes to the STI this year are all suspension-related.  Stiffer bushings in the front control arms and rear subframe, springs, and thicker anti-roll bars combine with lighter wheels (18 pounds less unsprung mass all around!) to make handling sharper and more responsive.  And of course the 14″ tall rear wing is supposed to contribute to high-speed stability.  I’d hope so!

The STI sedan gets the same beefy wide-body treatment as the 2011 WRX sedan, so it doesn’t look quite so much like a Corolla any more.  Another difference over the STI 5-door is the use of twin mufflers (rather than one giant one) which Subaru says will give the car a meaner, snarlier (is that a word?) sound – always welcome in an STI, thank you!

The outside appearance of the STI has been altered to provide some differentiation over the regular WRX, with a bunch of blacked-out trim bits up front and four large exhaust pipes out back.  I can’t say I get that – one exhaust pipe for each cylinder?  Couldn’t you save some weight and just do one big one?  Hell, the MKIV Supra had 6 cylinders and two turbos, but only one exhaust pipe to save weight.  At least it looks cool.

Anyways, the revised 2011 STI sedan (and 5-door) will both go on sale this summer in the US.  Pricing is expected to remain about the same as the 2010 models, and there will be a Limited package available with leather seating and a sunroof.  Other goodies standard on the STI include a head unit with bluetooth compatibility and a USB port, an auxiliary jack and satellite radio capabilities.  If you’re feelin’ extra pimp, some silver-coated 18×8.5″ BBS wheels are available – sadly not in gold, though.  And of course the good stuff like the variable torque-split center differential and intercooler spray button remain for when you’re feeling a bit Colin McRae.  Glad to see Subaru’s still sticking to their roots!

(hat tip to Flickr user Zerind via S:S:L for the awesome intro image.  Wish I had one of my own…)

Boost Logic Supra Texas Mile Run

Hey, it’s only a six cylinder, right?  This tweaked MKIV Supra Turbo sports a full Boost Logic engine build and turbo setup, and delivers and approximated 1295 bhp around 35 psi of boost.  Watch as the driver of this beastly machine wrestles with multiple-gear wheelspin to reach a terminal velocity of 246.2mph. Absolutely insane.

Underground Racing Twin-Turbo Lamborghini Gallardo

Kind of a long video, but worth watching.  I don’t know who Kyle is, but he’s one lucky dude -- two twin turbo Vipers and a twin turbo Gallardo?  Nice.  The video documents three runs in a rather over-dramatic fashion, but when the slowest run is 231 mph, it’s understandable.  The sound of that car going WOT in first gear once he’s out of the box is absolutely hair-raising.  V10 plus twin turbos?  You gotta love it.  Kyle managed an incredible 241.7mph at last fall’s Texas Mile.  High five on that one, buddy.

EVOMS Porsche (996) 911 Twin Turbo

This one’s from the Spring 2009 run of the Texas Mile.  It’s a previous-generation 911 Turbo tuned by EVO MS in Arizona.  This six-speed AWD Turbo car gets a face-punchingly violent launch and traps 231.7 mph.  Not bad for street tires and a full interior!  Also, don’t those turbos sound like sex?

GM LS-X Powered Mazda (FD3S) RX-7

I’ve always said it was intrinsically wrong to put a small-block Chevy motor in a car that originally came with a turbo rotary.  I’m man enough to admit, that at 196.2mph, I’m freakin’ wrong.  Oh my god that thing sounds amazing.  This one’s from the Fall 2009 event.

Heffner Performance Ford GT Twin Turbo

Heffner Performance is quickly becoming a name brand when it comes to slapping turbochargers on exotica that was already absurdly fast.  In this case, they converted a Ford GT supercar from it’s natural supercharged 550bhp state to a 1000+bhp twin-turbo beast.  Best run: 222 miles an hour!  Most dramatic has to be the third run, where the driver of this rocketship gets a little too eager on the gas pedal and takes an agricultural excursion.  Man, that’s a lot of boost.

Hennessey Cadillac CTS-V V700

Hennessey Performance Engineering loves to brag about the performance capabilities of their cars.  And when you’ve got a four-door Cadillac that traps 185.3 mph in the standing mile, I’d say you’ve got a damn good reason to be proud.  This one has the HPE V700 kit, which is basically a blower pulley and other bolt-on modifications.  God lord does this thing sound ferocious.

Subaru STI?!?

I don’t really think of Subaru STI’s as being standing-mile drag cars, more like canyon-road annihilators or 1/8th mile dragstrip beasts.  Still, this massively turbocharged Impreza managed to do 189.5 mph.  Not a whole lot of details available on this run, but that’s gotta be one of the fastest pancake-fours out there.

AMS Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution

AMS Tuning’s Lancer Evo managed to hit 228mph in the standing mile (a record for 4-cylinder cars at the Texas Mile), before blowing a piston through the block and catching fire on their last run.  The way this car accelerates is simply unreal…

MkIII Golf VR6, 208 MPH

There’s clearly a whole lot of turbocharger going on with this black MkIII Golf VR6, because how else is a 12v VR going to trap 208mph in the standing mile?  Absolutely nuts!  HPA’s twin-turbo 4WD R32 was only running in the 170′s, making this all the more impressive with the slow take off out of the gate he got.  Crazy fast!

Hennessey Viper Venom 1000

This run’s from back in 2007, but I’ve got to show some love for the twin-turbo Viper.  Another Hennessey product going really fast, everyone act surprised…

Kawasaki ZX-14

Obviously not everything at the Texas Mile was sporting four wheels -- some of the fastest stuff out there were two-wheeled crotch rockets of the Japanese variety.  This all-motor Kawasaki ZX-14 managed 218mph, which has got to be terrifying on a bike.

Turbo Suzuki GSX-1300R Hayabusa

Speaking of bikes, here’s one that’s even more extreme: a run from 2007 with a rider on a turbocharged Suzuki Hayabusa superbike, doing 232mph.  Listen to that thing just howl flat out!  Totally nuts.  These riders have got the biggest balls of anyone ever.  How do you keep the front wheel down on a turbocharged 1300cc sport bike, anyway?

HPA VW R32 FT565 Twin Turbo

This one’s not nearly as fast as the other VR6 Golf in this post, but it sure gets off the line a whole lot faster.  The twin-turbocharged 565bhp 3.2 VR6 with Haldex AWD managed 169mph through the traps… not bad for the People’s Car!  Also, I’ve never met a VR6 that I didn’t love the sound of.  HPA Twin-Turbos are no exception!

For more information on the Texas Mile, you can visit their website here.  The next event will be held October 22-24th of this year, so if you’ve got the cajones, bring what you got and see how fast it can go!

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