Me at the wheel of an STi, with video

They tied me to the shifter and made me do it. The car was 500 miles past the break-in period and the owner was a cheering passenger.

"I dunno what you're talking about, officer. We were just on our way to pick up some Krispy Kreme and they were closed. Then this skidpad appeared out of nowhere and we were forced to make our own!"

23MB DivX AVI
http://web.tampabay.rr.com/dragon2003/060703.avi



DISCLAIMER: DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS AT HOME. THE DRIVING DEPICTED HEREIN WAS PERFORMED BY A SEMI-SANE AND SOBER DRIVER IN CONTROLLED CONDITIONS WITH THE PERMISSION OF THE SKIDPAD OWNER. THE MANAGEMENT WILL NOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ARRESTS, MAIMINGS, OR TIRE WEAR THAT MAY RESULT FROM AN ATTEMPT TO DUPLICATE THESE EVENTS.

[subafan]

"they got permisson?"
"yup, they called me ahead of time"

ahh... that must feel great to be able to tell the cops to back off....

any impressions on the sti??

Dear holy baby Jesus, it is force to be reckoned with.

It's fast... in any gear, any time, you push the go pedal and everything starts happening about 20% faster than you think it should.

It's an addictive drug and if I had the means I would have one myself... and they'd probably put me in prison shortly thereafter.

Freeway traffic is actually fun... onramps and offramps are negotiated at 2x the legal limit with a flick of the wrist and ZERO drama from the suspension. The car doesn't lean at all, it settles downward and tracks like a freight train.

Get a little squirrely mid corner? Just point the wheel the way you want to go and hit the gas, and everything hooks up HARD and away you go. No drama, nothing spectacular except the warm dark stain on your pants.

The six-speed is well matched to the motor but it's a lot of work to drive it, twice as much gear shifting on average, especially in stop-and-scoot city traffic. On the flip side, you can pretty much leave it in any gear from 2rd to 4th and it will pull you around all day from anything but a stop.

[subafan]

man, can't wait until you get your hands on a evo 8, and do a little comparison....

[Andy]

Cool donuts

...what wound up actually HAPPENING with the cops? i don't know of ANYPLACE that'll actually GIVE you permission to blow donuts in their parking lot, so i can't imagine what a police officer's reaction would be if i actually told him that i HAD permission..

-adam

btw, that's no ordinary car.. wow.....

Actually, that's a very ordinary USDM STi with 1398 miles on it.


And yes, we had permission. That's the skidpad lot in front of Andretti Speed Lab in Alpharetta, GA and they do all kinds of skid tests and driver education stuff there. We called up the manager ahead of time and told him what we wanted to do, he was like, "Hell yeah! Come on down! Do you mind if we spectate?"

The lot is private property so even if the cop had wanted to arrest me it would have been unlawful. He was cool about it once he figured out what was going on. The guy that walks up to him and says that we had permission was the general manager of the place. The cop was just standing there scratching his head.

God bless 300ft/lbs of torque and mechanical limited slip!

[Landshark]

wow, that looked like a LOT of fun! <.....runs to buy Lotto ticket!>

[Tim]

That's sick dude. I can't imagine what I could do with a car with that much power...

::waits patiently for the sti 6 speed and turbokit for the svx::

[Noir]

damn it porter. was this friday night? OMFG. i just saw the video. yup that was friday night with miranda's STi. OMFG! i missed out! DAMN IT. Well when next your here in Atlanta, i'm buying Miranda dinner so that i may witness the fun.

tell you what. a friend of mine has a friend that has an evo8. a white one running around doraville. i'm going to find him and next time your in town we'll call miranda and 'test' both of them out and see the 'real' difference .

hmm..what's funny is that i can find all sorts of crap in this town.

[Noir]

damn porter....i dunno i keep watching that video. man am i going to have dreams about that tonite

cops and all lol. wish i still have some cop friends here in atlanta .

I love that car for speed!!!! ok i fell in love with the turbo in the wrx but then my dad test drove a 03 and oh my i know exactly what porter means by warm stuff in the paints...this car is a must buy if you have the money do it......do it NOW!! went for a test drive the same way we went when i got my svx but this time about double the speed and this was my dad driving (and he tells me not to speed)... I would probably be killed in that car if i drove!!!So what is everyone here doing with normal Svx's where the group buy on twin turbo kits for the Svx??? I dont like the 03 body style or price tag so someone help our svx kick the 03 back to the dealer

This is just too spectacular to let it be sent to page 2

[CigarJohnny]

Wow, Porter, that looks like ton's o'fun! You must have burned off half the tread on that set of tires!! I've heard how tight a circle they can turn but it's the first time I've seen an AWD do donuts like that. Amazing...it's like watching a tank or a bulldozer make turns

It takes "turns on a dime" and gives it literal truth.

I cant seem to get this video to work. I've tried it in "DivX Player 2.1" and "Quick Time". All I get is the sound, any one know what I should do?