nice video of Mark Higgins giving it the beans in his Subaru on the IoM TT course...
warm up was plenty quick for me 🙂
Interesting - should like to see him do it in a rally car, rather than a road car. 🙂 Bit over two minutes off the ultimate lap record - wonder what Lewis could do? If only...
It was quite impressive stood in Parliament square with it coming straight at you from, Milntown before the big stop and right turn.
At least he held it together down Bray Hill this year.
I smiled at John McGuinness' comment at the prize giving when Mark told him what his best lap was.
"I went quicker that that with just a battery"
should like to see him do it in a rally car
according to the image posted by TopGear it was a rally car....
Not content with just giving us the jaw-dropping footage, Subaru managed to source Mark's USB slot and download his heart rate, skin temperature and the g-forces his organs endured as he threw his US-spec WRX STI round the 37.3-mile course in 19m 15s. That's an average speed of 117.5mph. That's ridiculous.
I may have hold of the wrong end of the stick, but I thought [url= http://subaru.co.uk/vehicles/wrx-sti/4-door/ ]WRX STI is a road car?[/url]
The commentator on the day said it was a lightly modified road car, it certainly looked fairly standard
It wasn't completely the same as the road car according to the [url= http://www.iomtt.com/News/2014/June/05/Subaru-Higgins.aspx ]TT folks[/url], but not too far off. Just a few safety bits and bobs, upgraded suspension and speed limiter removed.
The car Higgins drove is a stock U.S.-spec 2015 WRX STI, with the exception of an FIA-spec roll-cage, racing seat and harness, fire suppression system and modified springs and dampers to handle the sustained high speeds and changing conditions of the course. The Subaru WRX STI also featured Dunlop Direzza tyres and a high decibel straight exhaust for crowd safety. The speed limiter was also removed from the car.
^^ i stand corrected...still flippin fast though!!
I think Tony Pond averaging 102mph in a Rover 827 is slightly more impressive though.....
There must be a quite bit of a difference in handling and performance between an 827 and an Impreza 😯
Also bearing in mind Higgins starts his lap already doing 135mph where as Pond drives out the top of the pit lane and only just appears to be getting out of 2nd gear.
I think Tony Pond averaging 102mph in a Rover 827 is slightly more impressive though
If internet 'lore is to be believed his car was completely standard as well bar the tyres.
I wouldn't take the Subaru lap record too seriously, yes its a very impressive piece of driving but its a long way from the ultimate lap time a car could manage.
The TT authorities really don't want to turn the TT into a car race so they are reluctant to let just anybody try a lap in a car. Subaru pay them pretty handsomely for what is effectively a publicity stunt.
There is lots and lots of machinery that would murder the Impreza's time
This is the same guy that saved that massive tank slapper a year or two back, isn't it?
Edit: yes it was
Love the passengers stone cold expression 😆
tightywighty - Member
This is the same guy that saved that massive tank slapper a year or two back, isn't it?
Yeah, that's the fella.
There used to be a clip showing how he used the pedals during the crash and remained almost in control. But you tube just seems to show the wheel these days. Has anybody got this clip?
I wonder if there's a car that could beat the fastest bikes, race cars do tend to beat race bikes so quite likely, but I'd like to think maybe not.
Maybe due to the narrowness, the flowing bends which suit bikes, not a great emphasis on braking or (m)any "flat out straight into 1st gear hairpin" features, plus the jumps would smash a formula style car to pieces...
richmtb - Member
I think Tony Pond averaging 102mph in a Rover 827 is slightly more impressive though
If internet 'lore is to be believed his car was completely standard as well bar the tyres.I wouldn't take the Subaru lap record too seriously, yes its a very impressive piece of driving but its a long way from the ultimate lap time a car could manage.
The TT authorities really don't want to turn the TT into a car race so they are reluctant to let just anybody try a lap in a car. Subaru pay them pretty handsomely for what is effectively a publicity stunt.
There is lots and lots of machinery that would murder the Impreza's time
Surprisingly It's Subaru America who sponsor the TT rather than Subaru UK.
Maybe due to the narrowness, the flowing bends
This is the killer for cars I suspect, the track is effectively 6ft or so wider for the bikes and the usual advantage for cars is braking and cornering, which isn't such a big deal on this track. Plus the elevation changes favour the bikes higher power to weight ratio. Not to say it couldn't be done, but I think you'd need to set out to build something to suit that packed the performance of a proper supercar into a rally car sized package but with nice stable high speed manners to allow it to be driven right at the limits on bumpy roads.
I wonder if there's a car that could beat the fastest bikes,
It is a circuit that definitely suits bikes.
A car would need good top speed and good aero, good body control and suspension but also not be too big physically as the track is pretty narrow.
If a McLaren P1 can lap the Nurburgring in well under seven minutes then it would have a good crack at it.
If internet 'lore is to be believed his car was completely standard as well bar the tyres.
i thought it's a massive secret what was actually done to the car. it was supposed to be standard but rumours range from totally standard to full on race car.
thomthumb - Member
If internet 'lore is to be believed his car was completely standard as well bar the tyres.
i thought it's a massive secret what was actually done to the car. it was supposed to be standard but rumours range from totally standard to full on race car.
The video as least proves it still had the real fake wood on the dash 😀
quote]A car would need good top speed and good aero, good body control and suspension but also not be too big physically as the track is pretty narrow.
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Might struggle with the really tight turns but is crazy fast 😆
Might struggle with the really tight turns but is crazy fast
I don't think the turns would be an issue, Pikes Peak is all hairpins, but I'm not sure if it's got the top speed and could cope with the undulations in the track.
Isn't Pikes Peak loose gravel / dirt towards the end? Plus its high enough to affect the cars ability to breathe in enough oxygen.
A PP would have the grunt, but the gearing would need to be substantially different, as would the suspension setup.
There's too many places where spectators would be in the firing line should something go wrong to attempt to introduce faster cars.
The incident last year climbing out of the bottom of Bray Hill shows just what can go wrong.
Something packing a whole load more potential energy would be seriously scary.
It wasn't completely the same as the road car according to the TT folks, but not too far off. Just a few safety bits and bobs, upgraded suspension and speed limiter removed.
The competition exhaust would have added a bit of power & it was remapped on race fuel too 😉
I bet the quoted 305bhp turned into well over 350bhp by the time they'd finished!
Pikes Peak has been fully tarmac a couple of years now, though reading a report about a biker dying in a recent race it turns to gravel on the finish line (where he crashed). I think Mr Loeb's record up there will probably stand for quite some time, incredible effort!
Higgins having the big moment was because all the testing etc was just him in the car, then the passenger got in which made him bottom out - this was why he did it alone this time!! Don't think the passenger had a clue just how incredibly close they came to a huge accident they were, maybe a blessing for him...
MarkBrewer - Member
It wasn't completely the same as the road car according to the TT folks, but not too far off. Just a few safety bits and bobs, upgraded suspension and speed limiter removed.
The competition exhaust would have added a bit of power & it was remapped on race fuel tooI bet the quoted 305bhp turned into well over 350bhp by the time they'd finished!
It was certainly very loud when I was stood next to it and didn't sound remotely road legal 😕
I'm a huge TT fan, but the Subaru lap is lost on me to be honest. I think its a bit of a waste of time and not particularly interesting to watch from the road side.
the Subaru lap is lost on me to be honest.
Me too, I only saw it the once and didn't bother after that
Same with the TT Zero unfortunately, I wanted to like it but it did nothing for me, 8 ish bikes over 90 seconds or so was a bit of a let down.