2015 Subaru WRX STI breaks yet another record at Isle of Man!

Mark Higgins said after he broke his own 2011 Isle of Man record with the 2015 Subaru WRX STI this week, that he left time on the course. Higgins was determined to go even faster and he set another record in his final run. Earlier, he broke his own 2011 record by setting a record lap of 116.470 mph average and time of 19:26 set Wednesday.

Higgins determined to get more speed

Higgins driving a U.S. spec 2015 Subaru WRX STI broke his lap record of the fabled 37-mile course with an average lap speed of 117.510 and a time of 19 minutes and 15 seconds. In Higgins’ record lap earlier this week, the Manx native said several errors caused him to lose time and he was determined to get more out of new-generation STI.

After he set the record on Wednesday, Higgins said, “I think there is definitely time that we left on the course. I lost time on the second part of the track, overshooting my braking point at Sign Post corner. I actually hand-braked the turn in the end, so I feel we can definitely do better.”

Higgins confident in STI’s new chassis

After this latest record run, Higgins was able to get even more out of the new 2015 STI. He said after the last run, “This was a great run when everything came together and I was able to do a much cleaner lap as I am still learning where I can go flat in this car. I am really happy to beat the lap records set by John McGuiness in the Zero Bikes and the sidecar lap record as John was riding me about that! I can’t say enough about the new WRX STI and how much abuse it has taken as we have really ridden it hard over this course for three very fast runs and this is definitely not an easy course. The chassis on this new car is just night and day.”

Higgins knew he could get more speed out of the 2015 WRX STI after Wednesday’s record run. He felt confident in the new chassis. Dominick Infante, National Manager of Product Communications, Subaru of America, Inc. said, “Mark was really flying on today’s lap and could show what the new chassis can do on a circuit as demanding as the Isle of Man TT.”

Minor upgrades made to U.S. spec 2015 WRX STI

Like the 2010 WRX STI performance car that he drove in 2011,The only upgrades made to the stock U.S.-spec 2015 WRX STI, were a FIA-spec roll-cage, racing seat and harness, fire suppression system and modified springs and dampers to handle the sustained high speeds and changing conditions of the course. The 2015 STI was shod with Dunlop Derezza tires and received a high decibel straight exhaust for crowd safety. The speed limiter was also removed from the car.

Mark Higgins knew he left time on the course with the new 2015 Subaru WRX STI performance car. Higgins was determined to go even faster and he set another record in his final run. Stay tuned to Torque News for the full video release of the run.

Other 2015 Subaru WRX STI stories of interest.
Why Higgins thought the 2015 Subaru WRX STI would smoke IOM record