[Guest]

I got this off of NASIOC

http://www.roadandtrack.com/technical/PrintArticle.asp?ArticleID=267

There is more to come...

 

[Guest]

I also got this off of NASIOC, but with some help from my inside source. Oh, and Paul Hanson's NASIOC username is Shirokuma.

quote:
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Originally posted by ewt
Shirokuma, is the automatic setting of the DCCD "better" than whatever it would get otherwise? I would rarely go into manual mode as I am sure that I wouldn't know what I was doing, but if the auto setting is an electronic diff. then it might be worth quite a bit just for that, if the option is, say, a viscous coupling that takes some time to engage (as some people have mentioned is noticable.)
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The DCCD that I sampled in the standard STi and spec C was virtually unnoticeable in automatic mode. As in, I felt nothing artificial about it, nor any hesitation to it. What I experienced was throttle-induced oversteer that felt, well, great. It had more steer-by-throttle predictability than the 350Z which I had drove extensively. I felt no need to play with the manual settings, to be honest. I did, and while it felt even more rwd biased when that was done, it is such a seriously fast car that I preferred the less twitch automatic setting, which transparently kept things under control. For my tastes, it worked better than the system in the GT-R and the Evolution - the GT-R just managed to either feel heavy, or when the systems kicked in, I could really feel them kicking in. And the Evo just felt artificial - it would turn in great, handled great, but I felt like I was in a glorified videogame. I'm a very visceral driver, I grew up driving lightweight rwd cars that had incredibly direct feedback, and because of that I feel uncomfortable with most of the electronic aids on cars today. The new STi DCCD-a system did not feel at all artificial, an amazing feat since it must be.

I would gladly pay up to 5k extra on nearly any turbo Subaru to have that system. It works wonders that I thought I'd have to buy an RWD for.

Cheers,

Paul Hansen