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Slow STI

6K views 23 replies 11 participants last post by  Imprt4life 
#1 ·
Well let me start by saying im glad i bought a subbie this is my first import car and its a brand new 2005 black wrx sti. But i have a couple of problems first of all i finally broke it in and went to the track tonight. Well there was another guy with and sti there and his was bone stock just like mine. well i live in denver and the altitude is 5280 ft. so my question is after messing with the dccd i can only get 14.3 s consistent whats up with that the guy with the other sti was the same way and ive heard of ppl with stock sti's running 13.3s.
also my 60 foot times where real good like 1.88-1.91s all night

Also there was a bunch of srt-4s there and i raced a bone stock one and ran a 14.39@97.68mph and the dang srt-4 ran a 14.5@95mph whats up with that.

Thats close to the srt-4s stock times that dodge claims but 14.3 is no where close to the stock times subaru claims im not complaining just wondering thanx guys

I guess what i figured was that if i lost power from the altitude shouldnt the srt-4

Also ive been drag racing for about 7 years now so its not my driving
 
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#2 ·
well after posting this one of my freinds called and told me about this website to correct ets for high altitude i hope this helps some ppl

http://www.tsrsoftware.com/nhra elevation correction factors.htm

but that still doesnt really tell me why the srt-4 was so fast

i did the calculationa and at sea lvl my car would be running 13.44 and the srt-4 would be running 13.5445

so im wondering how the srt-4 is so fast at high alt.
 
#5 ·
At the strip there were 2 sti and both were stock.. one guy ran a 13.3 every time the other a 13.9. soo it has alot to do with driver skill... you should see what other guys with sti are running at that track.. and if everyone of them has bad times then it must be the altitude..
 
#6 ·
well the temp at the track was 67 degrees

and thats true this is my first awd car but i used the nhra altitude conversion table which all the major mags use and after that the sti wasnt to bad

with the conversion at sea lvl i should be running 13.44s but i wasnt starting hard i was kinda easing on the start because i didnt want to hurt my clutch i was starting at like 4500 rpms and still getting good 60 ft times

im going to texas over the 4th of july and ill run it there and see if it was the altitude

but my question is why is that srt-4 not hurt by the altitude and there are 2 answrs i came up with maybe hes lyieng and its not stock or the srt-4 is just not affected by altitude

also there was a stock evo there running real slow times like 14.9s and 15s and he said it was because of the altitude
 
#9 ·
Hey middleman1 did you launch any higher than 4500rpms? I have been having trouble with my launches where the engine bogs every time. It feels like it just isn't getting any power even when I launch at 5500rpms. The car just bogs out at the beginning and then kicks up and goes. My friends say I should try launching higher than 5500rpms but I am not sure if that is such a good idea. Anybody got any ideas?
 
#11 ·
Hmmm.... Bandimere is faster than Rocky Mountain Raceway due to poor air quality coming off of the great salt lake ( I have run at both tracks and got better ET's in CO) Here in Salt Lake Stock STI's and Evos are pulling mid/high 13's here SRT-4's are pulling mid 14's so You may want to work on your 60' for an awd car that traps at lower speeds it makes all the difference in the world. You will not see that much of a difference in elevation with a turbo car like you do with N/A.
 
#13 ·
Most of the launches I just dropped it, but I tried feathering one and only ended up burning the clutch so I decided not to try it again. My best launches have come from when I just wait til it is time to take off and then punch it, not revving up or anything. What do you use for your launch control Cosmo?
 
#14 ·
middleman1 said:
Also there was a bunch of srt-4s there and i raced a bone stock one and ran a 14.39@97.68mph and the dang srt-4 ran a 14.5@95mph whats up with that.

Thats close to the srt-4s stock times that dodge claims but 14.3 is no where close to the stock times subaru claims im not complaining just wondering thanx guys
Dodge claims 13.9 now for the quarter in the SRT-4s. They also put down about the same wheel horsepower as a STi. They also weight less than a STi, so I can understand them being just as quick, but that doesn't mean I like it.

http://www.sportcompactcarweb.com/features/0302scc_neon/

The link says it makes 233whp and Dodge rates it at 215. It also weighs in about 2900lbs. And this is for the 2003 SRT-4, the 2004 received a LSD and Dodge rated them at 230hp. And they are trapping at almost 100mph, So if they run the same 14.2 a WRX is said to be able to run, they still trap 5-6mph faster.
 
#15 ·
thx guys for all your help

as for me launching at 4500 rpms i kinda feathered a little and still got a decent 60 foot time i really dont wanna put the drive train through to much stress what i was really trying to do was get a baseline for later mods

also i was still running faster than the stock evo so i know it was the altitude

and one of my freinds came up to visit over the weekend with his 68 camaro with a 386 small block and supercharger and back in texas hes running 12.8s and up here he was running 13.7-13.9s so it definetly is the alt
 
#16 ·
middleman1 said:


but my question is why is that srt-4 not hurt by the altitude and there are 2 answrs i came up with maybe hes lyieng and its not stock or the srt-4 is just not affected by altitude

also there was a stock evo there running real slow times like 14.9s and 15s and he said it was because of the altitude
The SRT-4 has a tip (throttle inlet pressure) sensor, which periodically detects ambient pressure. It also as inlet temp sensor to sense the ambient temperature. Based off of what the computer sees from these 2 sensors it corrects boost raising or lowering it so that it makes a consistent hp number regardless of the conditions. In the winter at sea level up north people are seeing only 10-11psi of boost where people in FL are seeing 15-16psi.
 
#19 ·
Abaddon said:
Hey middleman1 did you launch any higher than 4500rpms? I have been having trouble with my launches where the engine bogs every time. It feels like it just isn't getting any power even when I launch at 5500rpms. The car just bogs out at the beginning and then kicks up and goes. My friends say I should try launching higher than 5500rpms but I am not sure if that is such a good idea. Anybody got any ideas?
you gotta ride the clutch my man, dont make a habit of it though. the smell of burnt clutch wont tickly your fancy.
 
#20 ·
listen guys. got a question. i know the STI is kick a$$, but how much of an advantage does it have on a stock WRX. because i got raped today on the expressway by one. i know he had exhaust because i couldnt hear myself think but thats all i know. other than that, he really handed it to me. we were rollin at about 40-45. my 04 rex is stock by the way. tuning soon.
 
#23 ·
Yeah, I finally got the hang of the launch. 5500rpm and just breach the catch point and the car just shoots off like a cannon. I even did a launch in standing water on a straight road in the backcountry near my house, no traction loss at all. This car scares me with how good it launches and then hauls a$$.
 
#24 ·
yeah thats a sick launch. i did that once, on accident wasnt paying attention to the tac until the last minute, and my rex took off like it was nobodys business. suprised the hell outta me. i could just imagine what an sti would do on a launch like that. gotta be careful though, those launches will wipe you're tranny and/or clutch. u dont wanna get stuck with two loans. when i did it, i was smelling my clutch all the way home.
 
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