[NESW20]

Originally Posted by Dimman

It was noticeable even if it was very, very slight on my 1j car and it had two tiny ceramic turbines. Even punching it at 4k. It's the disconnect between throttle open and power. Turbines still take time to spool up and intake-side then takes time to pressurize.

i understand what you're on about, however i disagree with a technical aspect of your complaint. during sporty driving, i can't think of a situation aside from upshifting where one should ever go from closed throttle to 100% open throttle immediately. it is generally preferred to "roll into" the throttle, as opposed to "punching it," per se.

Originally Posted by Turbowned

What's your current car? The most responsive turbo car I've been in are the 2010+ A4's. Peak torque is 258lb/ft and it comes on at 1500rpm. Pretty crazy!

I don't have the energy to spew a bunch of technical data right now (if I even had any), but the seat-of-my-pants dyno tells me I want a supercharger over a turbo. With the exception of the aforementioned A4, every turbo car I've driven has lagged at the low end, which would ruin the personality of a car like this one. The linear power curve of the roots blower (can't speak from experience on a centifugal) can't be beaten. This past week I've rode in 3 Subarus - '04 STi stage 2, '11 WRX stock, and '02 WRX with hybrid 2.5block/2.0heads, VF39 turbo w/ RA gearset, and they all had laaaaaag. Compare that to my S4 which you could put a ruler on the power and torque curve; it comes on and stays on until redline which is just phenomenal. It probably helps that the engine is a 3.0L vs. a 2.5 in the Subies, though.

Anyway, I'll gladly give up peak power for responsiveness in this car, and I think most people would agree. I don't think I want more than 300bhp anyway, which I think an intercooled Rotrex and supporting mods would accomodate.

this again comes down to driving style, in my opinion. in the recent past i ended up autocrossing a 100% bone stock 2011 wrx. it was the first time i had driven the vehicle when i pulled it to the starting line (no exaggeration). my first run was basically a throw-away run, when i learned i needed to open the throttle sooner to overcome the throttle lag coupled with the turbo lag coming from off-throttle to on-throttle. once i overcame this, i ran the 2nd fastest d-stock time of the day. i noticed that once i was on-throttle at all in a "spooled" region of the rev range, the throttle was as responsive as i needed it to be. it was simply a matter of adjusting my driving style to the vehicle i was in at the time.

Originally Posted by DarkSunrise

2011 GTI. Even with a relatively high CR and a small turbo, it still feels less responsive than a NA engine.

Also, you're absolutely right about the Subaru EJ257, it's gutless below 2500 rpm. I'm glad Subaru didn't just drop that engine into a BRZ as some were hoping.

it's true. subarus (and evos, for that matter) are pretty much worthless outside of boost at low rpms. however, who drives them that way? is anyone here really anticipating spending much time cruising around at 2000rpms and expecting instant 200ft.lbs. of torque or something? let's be reasonable here.