I spent yesterday at a track day testing the new Subaru powered V storm for SDR sports cars. I though I'd share a few photos of the day with you as its Subaru related.
I was able to go out in 3 cars, all the cars share the same chassis but all have different power plants. Aprilla, Kawasaki and Subaru.
The factory at the moment offer two engine types the other engine (Kawasaki) was installed by a customer.
All engine types offer a different feel, the Aprilla V twin is smooth and has quite a lot of torque, the Kawasaki is a 4 pot race engine very high revving and frantic. The Subaru engine installed was a Jap spec STI in standard trim so around 280bhp
All cars have a sub 3 seconds 0-60
The track was damp and greasy and the cars were twitchy to say the least, out of a hairpin bend in second you had to feed in the power otherwise over steer was the order of the day, the Subaru would light up the rear wheels even after changing up into 3rd
One of the drivers who has done a few track days said that the levels of grip and cornering in the dry were nothing short of staggering.
The Subaru car weighs in at under 600kilos and that includes a driver and fuel. the bike engine cars are a fair bit lighter than that.
The central driving position is wonderful its just like being in a race car.The cars can carry two rear passengers but its a little cramped as you would expect.
Minus points:-
The gear linkage on the Subaru need a little more work to get it crisp and a replacement engine cover to improve cooling and charge temp is on the way. Both items will be sorted very soon.
The bike engine cars have no reverse gear but the new IVA regs state that all cars must have a reverse gear, this is under development as we speak for any future builds.
The cars are massive fun and I had a brill time the ultimate toy I would say