Subiesport Magazine - August/September 2008 - (Page 35)

FEATURE And the cherry on the Legacy sundae is that, unlike the Audi, it’s completely invisible in the world of work-a-day cars. On the one hand, you won’t get any special attention from young ladies just for driving up in a Legacy, but on the other hand, you won’t get any special attention from Officer Barney Fife, either. As we lit out up the hill, the R8 clearly had the advantage at the hole shot, and took an early lead. But the damned Legacy kept popping up in the rearview on the straights. Because we never found enough straightaway to take advantage of the Audi’s top speed, the Subaru was able to hang closer than we expected. However, when the twisties would drop our speeds, the ready power of the normally aspirated V8 coupled with the massive tires on the Audi put significant distance on the Subaru. At the end of a few runs, the R8 was in its element. This car is derived from Audi’s storied prototype racers, and it was just getting warmed up and ready for the next 24 hours of Le Mans. The Subaru was clearly breathing hard — it was never designed for high-speed endurance racing. Even with an extra-strength heart-lung transplant, the higher center of gravity and smaller tires limited the Legacy’s cornering ability relative to the R8. So yes, the Audi won the shootout, and won it decisively. You just can’t overcome an advantage of 100 horsepower, flatter torque curve, double the swept brake area, double the contact patch, racedesigned suspension, and a much lower center of gravity. But while top speed, acceleration, braking and handling are important in our world, they aren’t the whole story. The Audi costs three times as much as Ryan’s built Legacy, but didn’t go, stop, or corner three times as fast. Audi may sell a few hundred R8 supercars in the United States this year, but even if you have the money to buy one you’ll be waiting in line. Yet anyone can run to the nearest Subaru dealer and buy a Legacy GT right off the lot, or even order up a spec.B (my personal favorite Subaru) and duplicate Ryan’s ride. So at the end of the day we let Ryan off the hook. OK, so you can’t hang with a supercar. Probably nothing short of a completely prepared track car could do that. But a properly prepared track car costs as much as or more than the stock R8. It all gets back to the cash. As grandpa used to say: Speed costs money, junior — how fast can you afford to go? HIGH NOON It’s hard to believe, but curb weight on these two machines is almost the same — less than 100 pounds either side of 3,500. That’s more avoirdupois than I expected to see on the R8, but there’s that big ol’ hangin’ V8 in there, and AWD always adds some lard to your taco, y’know? So off we went. No transponders, no stopwatches. Just the cars, the drivers, and the road ahead — first one to the end takes the bragging rights. OK, we also had some photographers and video shooters perched safely away from the road – otherwise this would just be a very entertaining story with no pictures. I LIKE SUBARUS, a lot. I also have a warm place in my heart for any “economy” car that can dish out huge wads of torque and horsepower on demand. However, I also love a proper sports car. The Legacy, while very capable, is not this. In fact it is nowhere close. OK, fine, our Technical Editor’s STI pound-for-pound is probably the better of the R8 in raw performance, and had that car been running (600whp 2.5-liter Subarus run, but never for long), it probably would have chewed up the Audi pretty as you please. But it wasn’t, so here we are. I always love the argument that “supercar X is faster, but my cheapo car Y is well, cheaper, with 90 percent of the performance.” But that really isn’t the story, now, is it? Having spent an afternoon at the helm of a manual R8, I found there are just a few things that separate that car from our turbo Frankenstein sa- loons. First, throttle response. OK, my Impreza with a lightened flywheel revs pretty quickly, but not as quickly or with the buttery smoothness of the Audi’s V8. Like ripping through fine silk with a katana, stabbing the loud pedal in the Audi rewards with an immediate bellow that would have made Pavarotti cry with envy. There is no hesitation, no argument from a drive-by wire system or a laggy turbo. You ask, the Audi gives, in hydrocarbonblackened spades. Then there are the brakes. The Subaru just cannot match the braking of the Audi. With active aerodynamics, big tires and rotors the size of a serving dish at Versailles, jab the brakes at 100mph, in the wet and the car stops without fuss. And let’s not forget acceleration. Sure, apples to oranges, turbos to displacement; whatever. While trailing the Audi on our day out, when the Audi pilot put his right foot down it was all over. I am willing to bet that these two cars put close to the same power to the ground, but the Subaru only manages to do this at the best of times and with enough straight road at hand. Again, there is no contest. Then there is the handling. The Audi wins here without trying. Not only does the Legacy’s steering feel heavy, but it can be a challenge to toss from corner to corner in tight switchbacks. The Audi, on the other hand, is the proverbial epee: Light and lithe under your hands as if just by sitting in the driver’s seat, Alan McNish’s prowess and finesse are bequeathed to you. Finally, there is the over-the-shoulder appeal of knowing that demonic beast is waiting for you. Sure, the Legacy is a handsome car that looks even better lowered on Prodrive wheels; but still, no contest. Sure, you could build a Subaru to match the performance of the Audi, but you will never build a Subaru that is the better of the Audi. Don’t get me wrong, I love my Subarus, and it is great fun to harass the Teutonic snobs in their “Überwagens” at local track days. But given the chance to drive home one or the other, no questions asked; back seats and trunk space be damned. Love may be what makes a Subaru and Subaru, but the heartpounding roar of an endurance-racing-inspired V8 will make me choose lust every time. —Travis Geny SUBIESPORT MAGAZINE 35

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Subiesport Magazine - August/September 2008 Features Contents Editor Letters Readers' Rides New Products Subaru News 2009 Impreza WRX East Meets West Shoebox Sleeper Bettering the Breed ...Even the Kitchen Sink WRC Rally Greace WRC Rally Turkey Rally America: New England Rally America: STPR 2008 STI Open Class GCRallyX R4 Where to Buy Subiesport ICY Racing E85 & Methanol Rebuild Your Heads Budget Building Ad Directory Spotted!

Subiesport Magazine - August/September 2008

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