Spe-V vs WRX

[2of9]

i was reading a forum at nissanforums.com and this person said that his Spec-V beat a WRX on a highway??? I dunno bout this, but wouldnt the WRX win bcuz of their engine power??? well i dunno, one of my ideas were that, that Spec-V was probably modified, u ppl at nissanforums.com should check it out??

[Nissan Sales 310]

I am a spec v fan but i have to be honest i would have to give wrx a little credit they are quick cars and awd so i think that spec v would need a lot of work done to it or guy driving wrx is horrible.

[sr20de4evr]

I think it is pretty believable if the spec was slightly modded. The only real reason the wrx gets such low times is because of the awd, from a roll they really aren't that quick. I actually kept up with one pretty well from a roll when I only had an intake, granted it was a 2 lane road, and he was in front of me and pulled the whole time, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I expected. I think if the wrx still had the same power at the wheels (still had the drivetrain loss of awd) but was fwd it would pull very high 14's, just like a slightly modded spec.

[98sentraGTiR]

My uncle has a spec v and raced a WRX at the 1/4 track, he has headers, cai, the 2.5 liter motor forgot the exact class, i believe 5zigen exaust not sure, and i think thats all for mods. he won by like a half a second for the best time, but the WRX was stock none the less a good win

[98sentraGTiR]

oh yea carbon fiber too

[MightyMetallica]

Here is a little bit of information about each car:

2002 Subaru WRX ...
Curb Weight: ~3100 lbs
Engine: 2.0L High Output Turbocharged DOHC
Horsepower: 227 @ 6k RPM
Torque: 217 @ 4k RPM
0-60: 5.1 sec
Top Speed: ~150mph
Base MSRP: ~$25k

2002 Nissan SE-R Spec V ...
Curb Weight: ~2710 lbs
Engine: 2.5L V4 engine
Horsepower: 175 @ 6k RPM
Torque: 180 @ 4k RPM
0-60: 7.4 sec
Top Speed: ~130mph
Base MSRP: ~$18k



Here's my final verdict:

It would take quite a few mods for a Spec V to keep up with a WRX. If you were both already driving, you'd be able to keep up with it until the max speed is exceeded. From a start, though, you'd be blown out of the water. If the WRX driver is experienced, he'd get his car up to 3500 RPM (point at which the turbo kicks in) immediately and let you eat his dust. There are only two statistics in which the Spec V beats the WRX: price and curb weight. With curb weight, there is only a 400 lbs difference (give or take), and the extra 52hp and 27lbs of torque more than make up for that. Now that leaves us with the price. Yes, you save about $7k by purchasing a Spec V, but you put in a turbo kit, and that'll run you about $3000 (depends what stage you want to go) for the kit and another $1000 for labor (unless you can get a discount off that). The issue with aftermarket mods is that you must get them tweaked quite often. You're just plain better off getting the WRX. If you planned on upgrading the WRX's turbo, you just need to buy the turbo itself, rather than a whole kit, which makes installation a lot easier too.

[daveshapellSVT]

heres what i think. stock wrx's run 14.3 and wrx wagons run 14.5-14.8.. i'm running 14.5 with just an intake,header and balanceshaft kit. thats a max cost of 700 bucks with tax and shipping. so it won't take many mods or a lot of cash to get there. the wrx is only quicker because of the better 60ft times due to the awd launches. on the highway i think my spec v could give a stock wrx a run for the money. a wagon will get beat. last time i went to the track there was new forester with the wrx engine in it running 14.7, which could be comparable to a wrx wagon.

[slideways...]

really depends on the driver
(oh yeah and mods)
all 4wd cars tend to lose some top end because of the extra drivetrain losses but really it isnt that much

but my friend's 1992 h23 prelude (155hp 140ftlb stock) with just intake and exhaust could keep up with wrxs or gs-xs, especially on the twisty parts (he is a hell of a driver though).

highway racing is fun but is really not an accurate guage of how fast a car is(traffic, inaccurate starts, driving style and skill, ect. so many variables)

[daveshapellSVT]

yea thats true there are a lot of variables.. my buddy thinks his gsr is faster than me. from a roll, before i installed my cams and pulley, we were pretty even on the high way. which makes sence cause his car has mostly top end power. i keep telling him that in the 1/4 i will be faster. we raced from a stop one time on the express way and i just murdered him.. he gave the typical oh i had real bad wheel hopp shpeel, but it's clear as day. i have 180ftlbs of torque stock. him almost fully bolted and tuned maybe has 125 on 195 series tires. just isn't gonna get you out of the whole fast.

[slideways...]

oh yeah and keep in mind that my friend's wrx with CAI and cat back has beaten rx7s evoVIIIs and s2000s by the boatloads
supras and stis wont race him because they saw him before

wrxs are probably the most tunable car that is currently sold on the us market right now. (besides possibly the evo, but the evo is twice as expensive)

[DiegoSERspecv]

i think a spec v modded will beat a sti , i run a sti from a red light ,1st and 2nd dead even then in 3rd he pull 2cars and at 135mph he got me by 2 cars 1/2 ,i have a 04 spec v with intake

[fugiot]

Originally Posted by DiegoSERspecv

i think a spec v modded will beat a sti , i run a sti from a red light ,1st and 2nd dead even then in 3rd he pull 2cars and at 135mph he got me by 2 cars 1/2 ,i have a 04 spec v with intake

I see...

[nissanstreetz]

I believe the story I have talked to a few people on those forums and those are pretty die hard guys. He probably had alotta work done. But yeah sentra's have alot of mid range torque which makes them perfect for racing. The WRX isn't the most modified car though I'd say the SRT4 is now

[fugiot]

OK, first, he's talking about an Sti. I don't know if you're aware of this, but Sti's have THREE-HUNDRED horses. A Spec with an intake cannot match that kind of acceleration at any point in a race.

Second, although it's known that the AWD platform reduces high-speed acceleration somewhat due to extra rotational mass, the story would've been more believable if the Spec took the Sti from a roll or caught up to it later. An Sti will always have the launch on a Spec and would pull away easily having nearly double the power and only a 15-20% increase in weight.

[DiegoSERspecv]

i know the STI is 300hp , but not to the weels , same history with the 01 or 02 spider gts , 210hp and 215 torq . never puts thoses # to the road because at the weels is not even 140. I goin to post a true story wish included my best friend with his 01 spider gts, he has i/h/e , msd,cables,and everytime we race i have him until 4th , then he end up with 2 cars on me, then hi get the racing computer and when we when racing , he toll me (diego lets racing , i want a see something and i say w,t,f he already knows that i got him until 3rd so i say ok (i knew he got some new) so we start racing and he was even with me until 2nd , 3rd he start to pull and finality got me by 3 cars 1/2 but isn't too much for me been stock. well thats the story of to much hp and been slow