EVO Magazine comments

[chezz]

This months copy of EVO dropped through the letter box the other day and I flicked through it and spotted a small picture/article of the RS2. The article states
" With 315HP and Porsche engineering, the RS2 was the hero of its generation, but drive one now and you'll be astonished by the turbo lag, the light steering, the vague gearchange and by just how much understeer it has.
It's not as involving as contemporary road tests would have you believe"


I just thought some of you might disagree with these comments.

[GazzaG60]

sounds fair compared with the evo's and imprezas of this world.

it is old, light steered, little feel and usual audi understeer.

its not harsh but fair.

pretty sure a jet fighter pilot would say the same about an 80's/90's F16 or whatever it was compared with an F35 or whatever it is now.

still doesn't mean it wasn't at the top of its game in its time.

[Rusty]

There's a damned sight more feel in an RS2 or S2 than there is in a more modern Audi or even BMW, strange how old Audis almost get judged before they're driven with no understanding of the fact that they'll never feel like any other car due to the weight distribution and old skool 4wd system, drive one like a BMW and it'll be crap, drive one like an Audi and a BMW driver will be amazed with what it can do. Shame that the motoring press never really saw past the non-BMW ness of the car and delved into its strengths rather than focus on the weaknesses and drive them with a closed mind. I guess Audis have always seemed dull after the quattro and as a result have never had the understanding that the motoring press show towards the 911, a car which is equally, yet oppositely flawed but if driven properly can overcome its shortcomings and be something special.

[S2central.net]

Tis a bit harsh, but fair enough... frustratingly so especially on the turbo lag front as on stock chips they are god awful for that. Some ECU tickling cures that and can release much more oomf with little stress - the way it should have left the factory had Porsche/Audi allowed that to be so. Understeer bias is nature of the beast of course, but again easily reduced with stiffer RARB. 'Feel' on the steering is the hardest thing to correct IMHO, but yes is fair to say that front of B5 onwards has benefits in that department due to different geometry.

Not always fair to compare a ~20yr old car against a shiny new one. Me personally would rather have a well sorted S2/RS2 over any fresh Scoobie / Evo anyday but I am odd that way

I was going to waffle on about the superior build quality of the Audi but then remembered I have two cars off the road with various ailments but that aside - LOL... A scooby/evo has about as much attraction to me as a Susan Boyle. By that I mean they perform really well but I wouldn't want to be seen inside one........... <tee hee>

[GazzaG60]

not fair to compare any car 20+ years against new. you are correct. but it happens and the important bit to rememebr is why compare and also you dont compare against crap do you. the holden vxr thing is often compared to a lotus carlton for the same reason.

the comments from evo are about the drive not the build or the look.

[Rusty]

Forgot about that stock map lag, Ben struggled on track against my homefried S2 something chronic with the stock map.

[Lloyd]

Fair comment. However....

Light steering feel? fit 18" wheels = much improved.
Understeer? - fit Neuspeed RARB on max = fixed. (Pro mounts worthwhile too)
Lag? re-map = improved.
Vague gear change? Not noticed this on my car... It is not the fastest but not vague.

Hangon, I like the lag - it is part of the identity of the RS2, why change this?

If you want no lag buy a RS4!

[GazzaG60]

and what does a remap, roll bars, wheels etc do to an evo?

the guy is talking about out of the box cars. is comaring a pinicle of audi in the 90's against modern machinery. hjeis correct and we should be glkad the cars of old are held in such high esteem not tell him he is wrong because we own them.

he is not saying they are a bag of **** and tossers drive them is he.

[S2central.net]

Part of the 'problem' is indeed comparing them in factory format... no argument there... the mags need that baseline at least for any comparison. IMHO a good article could be had on showing how these failings on performance / drive / feel could be improved by some well selected modifications - ahh but that would be CCC magazine territory for those of us old enough to remember Britains finest motoring rag ever.

[Rusty]

Don't read the Evo 135i long term test car then, I get increasingly annoyed with that article, they've spent several thousand pounds on the 135i and it's slower round the track As for the TT that they're uprating too, that also needs a little guidance...

[Error404]

I agree with Gaz's comments on this - lets face it, what EVO say is true and why these are the first things people want to change on these cars. What they don't do is compare an RS2 to an EVO I or similarly crude early jap stuff = no contest.

Anyone who has owned or driven a 'grale will tell you how the best drivers car of that era feels compared to an S2

I drove an S5 recently and the difference in steering weight & feel to a B3 / B4 car is massive - night and day.

[Lloyd]

and what does a remap, roll bars, wheels etc do to an evo?

the guy is talking about out of the box cars. is comaring a pinicle of audi in the 90's against modern machinery. hjeis correct and we should be glkad the cars of old are held in such high esteem not tell him he is wrong because we own them.

What does a 1994 evo/impreza drive like today? I've no experience but would like to hear from anyone with such a car.

[s2_bo]

Forgot about that stock map lag, Ben struggled on track against my homefried S2 something chronic with the stock map.

Thats only because he launched it a second or so later.
IIRC i saw him fly past before the 1/4 was over like we were standing still.


I havent driven a stock chipped rs2 but once its had a few tweaks theres not much in its price range that can touch it.

[KaraK]

What does a 1994 evo/impreza drive like today? I've no experience but would like to hear from anyone with such a car.

The earliest Impreza I've driven was an M-plate N/A import GX a friend's husband owned a couple of years back, it was completely abused (not least by it's then owner) but on the whole it was very reliable, still felt pretty good to drive though. Still haven't forgiven him for scrapping it for peanuts! Not sure if it helps but untill fairly recently I owned a '98 Impreza which was on similar mileage to Sonic's S2 and I'd have to say it was holding up rather well. The biggest problem was with some rust resulting from a bodged screen change.
The build quality of the Audi is undoubtably higher but the scoob was extremely reliable mechanically and I think had it not been rear ended by an idiot in a Hyundai it would have survived many more years. My previous S-plate Impreza was even better despite similar mileage! My current '02 plate car is definately slightly quicker than the classics and it is certainly a nicer place to spend time but other than that it feels very similar. Subaru built a good car to start with and then just kept it updated.

From my experiences driving Sonic's coupe in a couple of differing states of tune I think it still feels like a fantastic car today and the biggest give aways of it's age are the slightly dated feeling interior and the number plate! I can't speak for a stock S2/RS2 but I firmly believe that Audi could build a new S2 with a similar set of tweaks to Sonic's give it a nice plush interior and stick it on sale at £30k and it would sell well because fundamentally the basics are sound, they just need a few minor modernisations

[Rusty]

Thats only because he launched it a second or so later.
IIRC i saw him fly past before the 1/4 was over like we were standing still.


I havent driven a stock chipped rs2 but once its had a few tweaks theres not much in its price range that can touch it.

the key there Bo was the word track, not 1/4 mile I was referring to ADI, me and Muirt were much quicker out the corners, Ben was only noticeably faster on the main straight and said he had loads of problems with lag.

In a straight line Ben's RS2 was unsurprisingly faster than my stock ABY, no homefries, ic, 3" exhaust or solid head gasket back then 250 bhp on a cool day, let alone a hot one like that