[CiscoPowered]

Just getting home from my first HPDE track day with the new car. Had a blast and the car ran well. Having only driven FWD previously at Road Atlanta was not adequate preperation for the STi. Damn these cars are fast out of the box! I run in "B" group, whatever that equates to in skill the important thing to consider is all the cars I ran with should have been driven by similarly skilled drivers. I ran the stock 08 Sti non-BBS with AP stage1. Onto the results:

Cars that absolutely smoked me:
2003+ 911 Turbo
Tracked out E30 M3

Cars I "ran down" and passed:
BMW 135i
2006+ 911 S
misc e36 and e46 M3s


The STi hung with instructor cars (the instructors are all crazy fast) for a few laps before disappearing ahead of me, as well as some caged e36/e46 R compound driving track beasts.

I was very pleased with the car overall. Bytor, didn't drop any oil all day and it was hot. Coolant temp was at 205 F after a 20+ minute session. For those curious, my speeds typically topped out about 6500 in 5th (I'm guessing 125mph-ish). Great corner speeds and traction. Stock tires got a tad greasy, but were consistent and did not chunk or burn up too bad.

[stealth]

Nice man. Sounds like fun.

[dsrttigr]

Originally Posted by CiscoPowered

Just getting home from my first HPDE track day with the new car. Had a blast and the car ran well. Having only driven FWD previously at Road Atlanta was not adequate preperation for the STi. Damn these cars are fast out of the box! I run in "B" group, whatever that equates to in skill the important thing to consider is all the cars I ran with should have been driven by similarly skilled drivers. I ran the stock 08 Sti non-BBS with AP stage1. Onto the results:

Cars that absolutely smoked me:
2003+ 911 Turbo
Tracked out E30 M3

Cars I "ran down" and passed:
BMW 135i
2006+ 911 S
misc e36 and e46 M3s


The STi hung with instructor cars (the instructors are all crazy fast) for a few laps before disappearing ahead of me, as well as some caged e36/e46 R compound driving track beasts.

I was very pleased with the car overall. Bytor, didn't drop any oil all day and it was hot. Coolant temp was at 205 F after a 20+ minute session. For those curious, my speeds typically topped out about 6500 in 5th (I'm guessing 125mph-ish). Great corner speeds and traction. Stock tires got a tad greasy, but were consistent and did not chunk or burn up too bad.

did the 135i driver give u the bird as u passed by and say i got a better review in the magazines?

[GunKata]

lol on the 135i comment.

Its a lot more to do with the drivers than the cars. My buddy passed a Gallardo the last time he was at the track. I've passed Porsche Carrera S's, fully track set up Evo's, etc, etc, - its not just the car, but it sounds like you know that AND did a great job out there as well.

[CiscoPowered]

Originally Posted by dsrttigr

did the 135i driver give u the bird as u passed by and say i got a better review in the magazines?

Hardly. These are civilized people who run with BMW CCA. They do the respectable thing and come over and talk after the run. Well, I never actually spoke to the 135i driver. I'll have to go talk to him tomorrow and check out his ride.

Make no mistake, the 135i is a little rocket. stock tune -vs- stock tune would have been ugly for the STi. There was a second 135i out at one point with an instructor as the driver. I held with him for a lap or two and he was gone ahead never to be seen again. The first "B" group 135i took me maybe 3 laps to reel in. An excellent match in my opinion.

Always remember no matter what you're driving there's somebody faster at the track. At least the CCA events.

[Iguana]

Yeah, the driver makes up a bigger part of the equation than does the car. Although I suppose no matter how skilled of a driver you are, you aren't winning the race with a toyota corolla.

Where was this HPDE held?

[HRCboy]

Wait till you get some decent rubber on the 08 STI. I'm at stage 2 running Hawks DTC 70s pads and BFG R1 comp tires (265s) stock suspension and there was not one car I couldn't get around in Portland Raceway. The GT3s in my group was fast especially the 997 GT3 RS. He would pull away from me on the straights but once we hit the corners I was on his ass... eventually he got the blue flag and had to waive me by. The STI with proper tires rails! I can see why the 08 STI did poorly in the comparision test... the Stock DunSlops suck ass. I ran once with them in Portland and they felt like all season tires.

Here is a list of cars that was runing at my HPDE driving event orange - B group. There was not one car that I didn't get by

MiniCooper S Blue
BMW M3 Grey
Mini JCW COOPER S Blue
LotusEliseStorm Titanium
Alfa Romeo Balocco Red
BMW 335i silver
BMW M3 White
Porsche Cayman S grey
Subaru 08 STI White
Mini Cooper S blk
Porsche 911T White
Volkswagen Passat Green
Chevrolet Camaro Island Teal
BMW335i Grey
Honda Civic SI
BMW Z4 M Roadster Black
Acura NSX Green
Porsche 911 GT3 White
Porsche 911 Yellow
BMW Z4 M Coupe Black
Porsche Carrera C4S Arena Red
Porsche 911 red
Porsche 996 GT3 Arctic Silver
Porsche Boxster S Orange
Porsche 997 GT3 RS Orange

[Boxer]

Oh gawd, the non-BBS stock wheels weigh 28lbs. Think how much faster you'd be shaving 10lbs/corner.

[waktasz]

My 275 wide r-comps and wheels are 16 pounds less a corner