Edmunds CarPool

Luckily for the talent-shy if enthusiastic mass that makes up the motor-journalist press corp, we would not be turned loose on this fantasy circuit unguided. Subaru also had the foresight to enlist the tutoring help of former World Rally driver John Haugland, who spent most of his rallying career with Czech manufacturer Skoda (in the Czech Republic, Haugland's the fame-equivalent of Michael Schumacher and Paul Newman ...combined). More recently, the exceptionally articulate and affable Norwegian has become known as one of the most respected instructors in World Rally Championship (WRC) circles.

We were introduced to Haugland the evening before the event, where he showed us whiteboard sketches of the short (about a kilometer) track layout, and tried to give us some tips on driving lines and cornering techniques. Unlike a paved circuit, the ideal rallying line is to go very deep into the corner, get the car rotated as quickly as possible, and once pointed where you want to go, let the AWD drag you out.

Modern AWD systems arrive in a number of permutations, including part- or full-time setups, and whether or not the architecture is based on a front- or rear-wheel-drive platform. Subaru prides itself on its Symmetrical AWD, touting that its vehicles are designed around a full-time AWD setup (power is always going to all four wheels), and claims that its advantages compared to other AWD systems are simplicity and lower weight thanks to the longitudinally mounted Boxer (horizontally opposed) engines.

Subaru's AWD systems vary slightly depending on the transmission type (roughly: manual tranny models get a viscous-coupling type center differential, while automatics get electronically controlled clutch-type center diffs), but the goal is to get power to the wheels with the most traction. Our hosts hoped that the low-traction environment would help clearly illustrate how the AWD systems on the WRX and STI functioned, and how the added features of the STI's adjustable AWD setup could help you tailor the car for varying conditions.

We started very early the next morning in frigid temps, in an attempt to beat a climbing sun that would do its best to soften the course as the day progressed. Thanks to warmer daytime temps leading up to the event, the track surface that greeted us that morning was a mix of ice and frozen mud. All the cars were shod with studded snow tires, and we'd head out first in the WRX with Haugland riding shotgun to get us up to speed.

The whole course could be negotiated in second gear, with a brief stint in third if you liked on the "back straight". One very tight hairpin at the far end of the course sort of begged for first gear, but it depended how much fancy footwork you were willing to attempt between left-foot braking and heel/toe downshifting while trying to ace the 180-degree corner. Haugland immediately started encouraging smooth and minimalist wheel movements while keeping your foot on the gas to stabilize the car.

As Haugland had pointed out in our briefing, the goal is go WAY deep into the corner, rotate the car quickly via a sharp steering input and/or left foot braking (or sometimes via a quick Haugland handbrake assist), get the front wheels pointed where you want to go and floor the throttle. The subtleties included the ability to time the turn while still on the last bit of brakes (which helps swing the unweighted rear more quickly), and to anticipate the need for full throttle.

Left in second gear, throttle timing was very critical in the turbocharged WRX, as you were attempting to calculate when the turbo had spooled adequately to generate enough torque to get the rear tires spinning, at which point the Symmetrical AWD system shuttles power up front to launch you out of the corner. In practice, this meant bounding over the rough course towards the hairpin, diving into the turn far deeper than you ever would on a dry road and hearing the helmeted Haugland yell "Throttle!!" before you'd even started to turn.

After a couple sad attempts where your ingrained instincts still got the better of you, you finally do as commanded, and as the last bit of nose-down braking is finishing, you pitch the car while planting your throttle foot to the floor. The WRX would sort of bound over, and just when you thought you'd made sure to slam the whole side of the car (instead of just the nose) into a large and unforgiving snowbank, the spooling turbo boost ignites the front wheels and you claw your way out of the turn.

If you wanted to take the hairpin in first gear with the engine rpm up and the turbo already on tap, power was at all four wheels almost instantly, but due to the very low traction, you'd end up immediately spinning all four tires as the car leapt towards redline, making it quite a handful while also requiring a gearshift. If you got it right in second gear, you'd yaw just a bit in a long power slide while forward momentum never slackened. This small taste of slideways success is wildly addictive.

Once we had a taste of the track and the WRX's fixed AWD setup (which divides power 50/50 between the front and rear), we headed out in the STI to sample its adjustable AWD system. Unlike the WRX's 50/50 setup, the STI splits power 41/59 (front/rear), and has limited slip differentials front (helical) and rear (Torsen). The electronically controlled center differential allows you to tailor the AWD setup to conditions via the Driver Controlled Center Differential (DCCD) mode selector in the center console.

The STI also gets Subaru's Intelligent Drive (SI-DRIVE), a rotary dial in the center console just in front of the DCCD switches that lets you choose between three different throttle/fuel-map modes: Intelligent (for best fuel economy), Sport (normal) and Sport Sharp (quickened throttle response). We sampled each mode of SI-DRIVE and DCCD, but quickly realized that Sport Sharp and DCCD manually set to full-lock on the center diff was the ticket for these exceptionally tight and slippery conditions.

So configured, the STI felt completely wired compared to the WRX, which did what you wanted it to as long as you properly anticipated the turbo boost and AWD power shuttling routine. With the jumpy Sport Sharp setting taking all the slack out of the throttle, and the DCCD max-lock setting keeping the front wheels on immediate call, the STI clawed away around the track like your favorite off-roader with all the hubs locked.

With so much traction immediately on-hand, why wouldn't you just drive the STI around like this all the time? Haugland explained that the trade-off for cinching up all the differentials is stability. For lower speeds in low-traction situations, you want the diffs taut to counter the lack of grip. In higher grip and higher-speed corners, having the car sort of bound up by the diffs is less than ideal. For that faster pavement stuff, you want the diffs to relax, allowing larger speed differentials between the wheels so the car can flow along, which makes it feel more planted.

How do you get the best of both without constantly fiddling with the STI's DCCD settings? That's what the Auto mode is for, which does its best to rapidly adapt to the current traction situations. Left in Auto mode on our ice/mud track, you could feel the diffs coming in and out, locking up and getting the front tires far more involved while sliding out of slow corners, but then chilling out as you'd straighten out and gain speed down the short straights.

In this extreme environment, the Auto mode was not as effective as just locking the center diff as much as possible, but you got the idea. I've an '07 STI with DCCD, and I find that for pavement scorching, the second of six possible manual settings (four away from full-lock), works best. It makes my last-gen STI feel far more alert, and on corner exits has the front wheels on the job more quickly than the Auto mode, without sacrificing stability.

If you're wondering how or why Subaru would ever allow us to drive its cars in such an abusive manner in this rough environment, it turns out all the vehicles on hand had engineering or environmental histories that had them bound for the crusher anyway. Save a few flats and snowbank dents, all the machines soldiered without issues through the program. With the WRX and STI lessons over, and some doomed Imprezas on hand as well, the only thing left to do was race.

With no tire-smoking turbos on tap, the base Imprezas were almost boring they were so sure footed on the track, which had deteriorated into a morass of mud and ice. You can check out the video (below) for some footage of the head-to-head matchups, but the highlights included Haugland putting on a WRC clinic. Haugland actually allowed his already passed competitor back by so he could re-pass with some extreme prejudice in a stunning display of car control. Already hooked on the slideways thrill, the only option now is to head to Norway for Haugland's Winter Rally School.