Spending 500,000 yuan to buy a fuel performance car with 5 seconds of 100 km/h acceleration, manual transmission, and a full-time four-wheel drive system was a good deal ten years ago. But now it's different, now a new energy vehicle of less than 300,000 yuan, casually can run such a result, and there are a variety of high-tech configurations, so spending 500,000 yuan to buy a fuel performance car, it seems to have become a very silly thing.
Of course, although this matter is directly related to Subaru Automobile's recent announcement that it will not produce the next generation of internal combustion engine WRX STi (hereinafter referred to as STi), it is also an indisputable fact that the performance car market is increasingly sluggish. However, everything is not absolute, after all, from the perspective of the domestic 500,000 yuan performance car market, Audi S4 is not very good? So will it be that STi is not as strong as Audi S4, so it is ready to retire?
More than 300 horses + manual, STi data is good, but not as good as audi S4
Friends who know STi know that this car is the strongest performance version of the Subaru WRX, which is equivalent to the relationship between Audi S4 and Audi A4L, focusing on extreme sporty performance. Around 2007, the third generation of STi had a high reputation in the domestic performance car market and sold very well, but since the fourth generation of STi (chassis code VA), it has not been introduced to China.
We take the North American version of the fourth generation of STi as an example, which is equipped with a 2.5T horizontally opposed engine, a maximum horsepower of 314 hp, a maximum torque of 393 Nm, an official zero-hundred acceleration time of 4.8 seconds, and a well-known DCCD full-time four-wheel drive system, matched with a 6-speed manual transmission. From the current point of view, this data is quite average, but it has considerable allure for performance fans.
Let's take a look at the relevant parameters of the Audi S4, this car is equipped with a V6 3.0T engine, the maximum horsepower is 354 hp, the maximum torque is 500 Nm, it matches the 8-speed automatic transmission, and it is also equipped with the quattro full-time four-wheel drive system (note that the quattro equipped with the Audi S4 is not the quadtro ultra on the Audi A4L), and the official zero hundred acceleration time is 4.7 seconds.
Subaru STi power parameters are not as good as Audi S4, but the actual zero hundred acceleration time is not slow, only 0.1 seconds difference, but compared to the Audi S4 equipped with 8-stop hand self-integration and can be smooth and comfortable, can be sporty and irritable driving mode, STi 300 horses + 6MT hardcore data is still somewhat difficult to control, if there is no certain driving foundation, I believe that even if you get STi it is difficult to open up to the level it should be, but this is also doomed to STi's audience will be more niche than Audi S4.
The STi 4WD is suitable for running rally races, and the Audi S4 is suitable for street cars
Whether the performance car is strong or not, in addition to strong data, it must also be supported by professional hardware. In this regard, in addition to the horizontally opposed engine that can help the vehicle reach a higher limit, the DCCD four-wheel drive system is also indispensable, and this four-wheel drive technology is also the most obsessed place for countless Subaru fans.
Look closely, the DCCD four-wheel drive system first came from the four-wheel drive system of the racing track, the basic structure is to rely on three sets of differentials, the front and rear axles are two limited slip differentials, passive adjustment of the torque distribution between the left and right, the central differential has a set of planetary gears, responsible for the basic transmission, to achieve 41:59 front and rear torque distribution ratio. In addition, there is a multi-plate clutch that can be locked, which can obtain a fixed 50:50 front and rear torque distribution. Therefore, the driver can easily get the best handling through the SI-Divers function and the four-wheel drive system.
It seems that the DCCD four-wheel drive system is very good, but it is still too complicated for most users, and this four-wheel drive system takes more into account the use of paved and non-paved roads in the "rally", so that the vehicle can have higher limits and maneuvers under different roads. But the reality is that users will not go on dirt roads at all, and at most find driving pleasure on snowy days, so the limitations are too high.
In contrast, audi S4 quattro full-time four-wheel drive system, whether it is structure or application scenarios, are more in line with the identity of "street car", and different driving modes are enough for users to get driving pleasure in the city, more importantly, there is no oil off the cooperation of the trouble, the so-called "although you step on the throttle, the rest is handed over to the quattro", which also reflects the Audi S4 in sports "close to the people" from the side, anyone can drive.
epilogue:
Some people think that the end of the next generation of internal combustion engine WRX STi, it will be a pity, after all, whether from the driving pleasure, power data and other aspects, it has "hard core" strength. But objectively speaking, STi's overly pure "rally" performance, as well as a more niche audience, doomed its exit. In contrast, although the Audi S4 of 500,000 yuan is also relatively niche, at least in terms of performance, threshold, driving control, etc., it meets the needs of the current car, and the low threshold advantage of the Audi S4 allows more people to easily enjoy some of the fun of performance cars, which also means that it is more suitable for street cars. Therefore, compared with the various advantages of audi S4, the end of subaru STi is not a pity.