Initially the Turbo lag can be quite disappointing. But, as you learn the car and what it wants, its quite peppy for what it is. I have stood on the gas peddle to see what top speed was and at 103 it starts to float. Its fast enough to get from point A to B. I like my little Trax. I suits me just fine ...
You're definitely right about that floating feeling around 103-105 mph. Best I've done was 110 mph in a mile long tunnel at 3:00 a.m., I let go of the pedal about 3/4 of the way through because the float made me nervous approaching the exit. There's a lane shift onto the bridge from the exit of the tunnel, so I needed to drop about 50 mph to do it safely.
Overall, I love my Trax and I truthfully drive it faster than most of the cars I've owned. There's definitely a different type of launch with a turbo engine as opposed to a naturally aspirated one. Turbo lag is definitely noticeable in the first 30 mph or so, there aren't too many opportunities where you can jump off the line like a bullet. Having AWD will help out slightly in dry conditions for launch, but the real fun starts when you get the turbo spooling and the boost kicks in.
What I've learned with my Trax is that the vacuum switch from releasing the brake pedal causes a minor surge in the engine, if you time it right and catch that surge with about 1/3 of the gas pedal depressed and a steady increase as you accelerate, that little engine will spool pretty fast and surprise the guy next to you at the light.
The hidden strength of the Trax is in the twists and turns, although it has very noticeable body roll it never makes me feel like I'm losing the road under my wheels. I can actually accelerate in the corners well before most other traffic on the road and end up making a sizeable gap without a ton of effort, and the turning radius is almost perfect in tight turns with minimal braking.
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