The recent comparison between cars and bikes around a circuit involved the latest Subaru WRX STI which had been driven around the famous Isle Of Man (IOM) course of almost 38 miles.
Subaru’s recent PR blurb stated that the new WRX STI in the hands of British rally champion Mark Higgins had managed to go around the IOM TT course in 19 minutes and 26 seconds to set a “new four wheeled lap record around the savage Isle of Man TT circuit.”
When you do the calculations, you will find that despite being fitted with a 305 horsepower turbocharged 2.5 liter four cylinder engine, the much vaunted new WRX STI took 1166 seconds to travel 37.75 miles, which works out at 116.552 mph average.
Kawasaki ER6n
So now to the bikes. Bruce Anstey from NZ set a new absolute Isle of Man TT lap record of 17m 06.682s – two minutes and 19 seconds faster than the WRX STI.
Anstey, riding a Honda Fireblade, covered the TT course on his final of six laps in the Superbike TT, at 132.298 mph.
So, what about some other bikes in lower categories? Well, even the 600cc Supersport machines are running around 128 mph.
The Lightweight TT, which is dominated by the $13,000 Kawasaki ER6n has a lap record of 119.130 mph set by James Hillier on a Kawasaki ER6n in 2013 while this year’s Lightweight TT race average speed was 117.460 mph (Dean Harrison, Kawasaki ER6n).
American Car & Driver magazine reports that the “305 hp, 2.5 liter turbo-four paired with a six-speed manual, limited-slip differentials, and torque vectoring to keep the STI glued to the road. The result is one extremely solid and stable platform, but it comes at the price of a punishing ride – and a punishing price – $US 27,090 base price.”
Makes the $12,995 Kawasaki ER6n look like a real performance bargain!
