How fast ...

[grump]

Just wondering - how fast can a standard Subaru go? What's your best effort (on unrestricted roads of course)?

Some of mine:
1964 (model year) Vespa GS 160 - about 80mph with a decent tailwind
1958 FC Holden with mild hot up - indicated 105mph but more likely a true 95mph. (Terrifying considering how bad the brakes were in those)
1979? LX Torana 4.2V8 - about 160kph indicated. It was stable with the original suspension, but after I got HD rear springs and gas shocks all round it got fidgety over about 140.
1986-ish Corolla Seca Twin Cam (the one with the 4AGE motor) - 180kph on a slight downhill. The faster it went, the more stable and solid it felt, and wonderful handling. A great small car.
2004 OB - about 150kph but not really trying (both me and the car are getting old!) - the faster it went the more fidgety it got. Standard suspension. Feels like it would do 180 easy enough if I tried.

 

[Kevin]

"I believe" Subarus will bounce off the limiters before their true potential is reached ;-) Cannot recall exactly but maybe around 100-110MPH / 160-177KPH

 

[Ratbag]

Point to point? North Terrace, Adelaide to Sunshine in 1980 (old road), in 5h45m ( about 750 km in my 1980 Mitsubishi Colt).

My 1993 Impreza was flat out at 172 km/h in either fourth or fifth, many times.

Fastest I have ever driven Roo2 is about 175 km/h, but with plenty to spare. Stable as a rock. Some American had the s/w limit removed, and took a n/a EJ253 to about 223 km/h. Our SG and SH are both speed limited to 198 km/h.

 

[Ben Up North]

About 165kph (according to the speedo) in a 76 beetle down a big hill (Macpherson front suspension, 1302S motor, that beetle rocked)
About 180-190kph in a 944. Auto, boring. but fast.
With the old man behind the wheel we hit 240kph in his 1973(ish) 911 G series back in the late 70's - first car he sold for a profit.
Over 160kp in a Citroen DS Wagon 7 Seater, With seven of us and a trailer. Took a long time to get up there, but she was as smooth as at pretty much any speed, old man driving again
Again with the old man behind the wheel, about 130kph backwards into a big ol' redgum in an early RX7 (newish at the time). Almost died that day. We were going a heck of a lot quicker than that forwards before the car started going backwards.
My dad was a bit of a rev head...

In my forester? about 120-130kph at a stretch, when it was a much younger car. speed's not my thing really anymore. Going spinny spinny in the dirt is another thing altogether. That's what I plan on doing in the SVX
Not many subarus, but at least half are boxer engines and half were driven by me.

 

[scalman]

i know they show those numbers as theory but who actually test their cars on such speeds ? for me 140kph is enough

 

[jf1sf5]

With my Forester, 170 kph in Italy 15 years ago. But I don't really care about speed, I prefer twisty gravel or snow roads !

Have driven much faster in other cars in the '90's....Germany is not very far !

 

[scalman]

Dont we all care about is fuel usage ? Im trying to find now lowest fuel usage to drive car around but its just large anyways. Remember i had more fun in driving 1.5 mazda around and long distances and for like half price. And now all new cars goes into small engines and turbos doing better 0-60 times and way better fuel usage. If you live in the city where you have like 3 higways but all other roads are 90kph limited yoyu start to think what im doing with subarus there rly.

 

[Ben Up North]

Dont we all care about is fuel usage ?

Sure do. In all of the vehicles I mentioned (except the forester), it was 30-45 years ago, petrol was pretty cheap back then.

 

[Ratbag]

I forgot the 3.8L E-Type ... 135 mph (217 kmh)

 

[Ben Up North]

I forgot the 3.8L E-Type ...

Oooh. Guy I know has just bought one up here, V12. Haven't seen it yet, but looks nice in the pictures I've seen.
He was planning on using it as a daily driver .

He's changed his mind now, they're really not very practical or economical.

 

[ABFoz]

It wasn't me but when my Mum was driving a 1998 Subaru Legacy BG5 EJ20 D/R non-turbo, she was able to go up to 202kph on a straightaway in fifth.

I haven't got much experience with a turbo Subaru but when I was in Victoria, I tracked my ex-GF's 600 hp VX in Sandown and there was good enough back straight to get to 230kph.

I rallied the Evo 5 and since it has similar figures as the GC8, I assumed they are just the same in terms of top speed of around 250kph. I didn't have much road in the track to get to that speed but 210 to 220 kph is achievable.

I, too, prefer corners and mountain passes. I am actually thinking of touring Japan, rent a sports car near Daikoku Futo, drive around their mountain passes and attack them during one of their night runs. The police there have tolerance for such, as it's part of their culture, and only arrest you if you cause noise pollution near a town or generally cause inconvenience.

I was supposed to be in Germany two weeks ago for my Brother's wedding and was supposed to rent a 5-series for the Autobahn and a touring car for the Nurburgring!!! The Hubei Spicy Lung caused so much disruption. Sad face....ON!!!!

The Isuzu Bighorn Irmscher that I raced could reach 160kph on some straightaways stretches.

Nowadays, I haven't gone past 110kph on my SG5.

I am thinking of getting a 2-seater RWD manual (of course) and do some track time again but priorities have shifted at this age. Besides, touring and off-roading a Subaru is a wholly different experience.

 

[ABFoz]

Dont we all care about is fuel usage ? Im trying to find now lowest fuel usage to drive car around but its just large anyways. Remember i had more fun in driving 1.5 mazda around and long distances and for like half price. And now all new cars goes into small engines and turbos doing better 0-60 times and way better fuel usage. If you live in the city where you have like 3 higways but all other roads are 90kph limited yoyu start to think what im doing with subarus there rly.

I became an eco-modder for a few years before going back to Subaru. Back then, I was really obsessed with getting the best fuel consumption in my Toyota Scepter SXV15. The original posted fuel consumption was 10L/100km for a 5SFE! I thought that was too much for a 2.2L but it also had a 1500kg body and Toyota's slushbox. I converted it to manual for NZD300, put an air dam and was able to get 8.1L/100km on average!

I didn't get the top speed of that but did a 0-100 run I posted on YT and ToyotaNation. I can post the video here but I have to edit it first as I didn't edit the last section where I was turning of my Nokia and didn't notice the speed was at 130kph already.

If I converted my SG to manual, I doubt I would get my current highway fuel consumption. Also, the conversion price is at NZD 2000 with a brand-new Exedy clutch. I won't be able to break-even easily with the fuel savings after that.

 

[Ratbag]

Oooh. Guy I know has just bought one up here, V12. Haven't seen it yet, but looks nice in the pictures I've seen.
He was planning on using it as a daily driver .

He's changed his mind now, they're really not very practical or economical.

Ben, what put me off buying one in the early 1980s is the memory that the (hardcover) owner's manual states that one needs to take the car to 5500 revs in second at least once a week to keep the engine clean. That's 96 mph, or a bit over 150 kph! How long would I keep my national heavies licence?

 

[Ben Up North]

That's 96 mph, or a bit over 150 kph!

Wowsers! The old Man's Aston Martin DB4 used to get to (I think) 86mph in second, not that he ever took it to that, while I was in it at least. I always thought that was a bit off the scale.

How long would I keep my national heavies licence?

Well..if you lived close-ish to a race track (and owned it) you'd be fine.
And if you turned a profit on the race track, you could even pay for the fuel you use getting there and back in your daily driver. Maybe even the fuel for the E-type
Or..
Move to Germany. I'm not sure if you're still allowed to do those speeds in the NT, but that would be another option...

 

[Ben Up North]

I was supposed to be in Germany two weeks ago for my Brother's wedding and was supposed to rent a 5-series for the Autobahn and a touring car for the Nurburgring!!! The Hubei Spicy Lung caused so much disruption. Sad face....ON!!!!

that really sucks.

 

[Kevin]

I forgot the 3.8L E-Type ... 135 mph (217 kmh)

Similar in a mates 3.8 and then he got the 4.2 2+2 which his fiancé rolled and totaled - he still married her!

Back then it was an E Type challenge to beat 8 hours Sydney to the Gold Coast - problem was that some were killed because the E Types would launch off the undulating roads and when they landed would just disintegrate

 

[Kevin]

Just a reminder to not post any results on a designated public road unless it has an unrestricted speed limit.

 

[ABFoz]

that really sucks.

It really, really does but I completely understand. The whole Homo sapiens sapiens species are already on their knees, at the moment.

It doesn't stop at that. I planned my Central Plateau tour this week and, suddenly, Auckland is on Level 3 lockdown!

 

[Ben Up North]

unrestricted speed limit.

70-80's NT for all of mine.. promise. except the forester, that was on a track up here of course.

There's another story.. back in the late 70's Old man got done for speeding (I think about 80 in a 60 zone, early in the morning 1-2 am-ish) on the way home from hospital (work) in the 911.
Cop checked his licence, said "oh.. I suppose you're going to explain that you're on your way to some emergency..."
Old man said no, he'd just finished work (long shift) and was going home, and just didn't notice the speed he was doing
Cop was so surprised that he was honest that he let him go with a warning.
In Dad's defence, being it was a pretty decent performance car, you really didn't notice you were going that fast when there wasn't any other traffic.

 

[Ratbag]

Just a reminder to not post any results on a designated public road unless it has an unrestricted speed limit.

I'm guessing that even the Queensland police wouldn't be very interested in a speeding offence that took place in the late 1960s, Kevin.

However, I agree in principle. I've been (mostly) a completely law abiding citizen for the last 20+ years in this regard.