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Comments
It's Sunday, sunny and 88 degrees. I wander down to the Silver Spring Autopark to see what's sitting on the Tischer Subaru lot. No WRX manuals, so I wander next door to the Honda dealer, and there are 3 S-2000s sitting on the lot.
So, I'm looking over bright yellow S-2000, and a sales lady comes up and we start chatting. I mention that from what I've read the S-2000 is about as close to driving a 4-wheeled motorcycle you can find—and, then she says...
"Would you like to take it out for a spin?" Does a bear s%*t in the woods, I almost blurted out! Instead, "you bet," I said!!
Bright yellow, top down, sunny and 88 degrees, in a brand new 6-speed, 240 hp Honda S-2000. Life is good!
Man, what a ride! I'm running through the 6 gears, with an ear-to-ear grin plastered on my face, and we get near the end of the test ride, and she says: "why don't you take it up the road a bit further?" I said, "no problem." Then she says, "Let's go a bit further." Clearly, she was enjoying the drive as much, if not more than I was, and did not want to go back to the dealership (and neither did I).
Heading down Rt. 29, I redlined it in both second and third gears, and glanced down at the speedo, and I was doing 87 mph! Whoa, time to back off. If I owned something like that, I would lose my license within a week, it is soooo much fun to drive! And... as with all Hondas, an absolute pussycat to drive at low revs.
Sure wish Subaru offered roadster like this!
Bob
-Brian
Ross
Probably would be typical limited production British car reliability...
-Colin
Bob
I came in 2nd to last in my class 54/80 overall. But I'm actually in 4th place in the STS class so far in the NNJ SCCA class, Only cars ahead of me are '98 Prelude, '95 Intergra GSR, '95 Probe GT, and a '01 or '02 BMW 325i.
So I'm pretty happy so far with my results, also after driving 6 auto-xs I finally figured out how to drive them, brake on the straights before the turns and gun it through the turns.
Results can be found at: http://autox4u.com/nnjr.htm
-mike
-Colin
-mike
Seriously though, would an exhaust and intake upgrade help out? How about going down a size in tires - doesn't that help acceleration a bit (even though top speed might be affected)? I'm probably way off base though with these suggestions...
-Brian
Seriously though. I'm gonna try a K&N filter for the air-intake. I did have the FI system blasted clean, and that made a major difference, easily 20% better. currently I have the stock exahaust and the muffler is actually nearly gone. Since my car doesn't have to pass any emissions tests in the place it is registered, I may try to go with a catless system. At the very least I'm gonna get a decent perfomance exhaust. I'm also gonna try to make a home-made intake and see how that works.
-mike
Patti
Uh huh, now I know why this is called the "Forum." *cue wah wah pedal guitar boogie*
Loosh- LOL!
Bob
Sooooo boys and girls, it looks like little Looshie finally gets to go project car hunting, and he needs your help.
The Criteria:
1) Reliable daily driver
2) hatch or wagon (got that upright bass, remember)
3) Good performance OR the ability to make it so on little cash.
The Contenders:
1) '00 Impreza wagon. Still a couple around for $13K. Pro: lots of parts for upgrading, car is new, AWD for RallyCross. Con: Drum brakes, dated, 2.2l kinda slow, n'est pas?
2) Older Impreza Wagon or OBS. Pro: cheaper, more money for upgrade. Con: more mileage, see above.
3) focus ZX3. Pro: Fun, easily upgradeable, cheap, new. Con: Um, Ford? Reliability, FWD, 2 doors.
4) Used Civic or Si hatch. Noooooooooo!!!!! Pro: ugh. dammit. ok ok, reliable, easily upgradeable, practical, blah blah. Con: Too many ricers in the 'hood already!
5) used Leagacy wagon. Pro: already got a K&N for it, plus the 18mm bar off the OB in the garage. room. Reliability. AWD for RallyCross and snow. Lots of parts out there with fun names like KYB, Whiteline, etc. Con: 2.2l in Legacy even slower than Impreza.
Other ideas? Guidance? thanks, Crew.
Subaru. Any thaty ou listed would be fine. You'll have to go back to '96 or earlier if you want rear disk brakes on the Impreza Outback.
Honda
Ford
What about a new, or fairly new VW Golf?
Bob
How has your OBS been? How is power?
Someone on I-club was/is selling a '9X 2.2l Turbo Legacy... oh nevermind it's not a wagon or hatch...
-mike
How about a used Forester? Great cargo space, great daily driver and most Impreza performance parts fit.
Ken
Get this: I'm driving (at speed limit!) on Hwy 101, minding my own business. A small VW Rabbit comes from nowhere, and decides to cut just in front of me, with ALL lanes ahead being absolutely trafficless. A big rock comes from under Rabbit's tire and into my windshield, and now I have a 3-point star in my view (3 half-inch beams radiating from a crack). Arrgh! I wish Foresters were equipped with close-range bazookas. I can just see that VW being evaporated. Some people are really rude on the road and do not belong there.
My Forester is one unlucky car. It did not even turn 1 year yet, has < 10 K mi on it and was already hit from the rear and now from the front. So much for driving it on vacation and weekends only!
Crack does not seem to be spreading, so I'll drive with it for now. Once I accumulate more Subaru coupons, I'll get windshield replaced at the dealer. Between insurance coverage and coupons, I think I can get off pretty easily.
Sorry to hear about the windshield. I hate idiots like that. Other things that piss me off are people who cut in front of you then hit the brakes or people who decide to use their winshield washers on the freeway.
I had an rogue rock crack mine a few months ago on 280. I think our Foresters are a little more susceptible to chips/cracks due to the upright windshield. Keep an eye on the crack. Mine was less than an inch when it happened, but it quickly grew to over a foot just from the difference in the daytime and evening temperatures.
Ken
-mike
Good luck!
Drew
Host
Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket & Accessories message boards
http://www.hwysafety.org/vehicle_ratings/ce/html/summary_smsuv.htm
Note the "good" in the Forester's head/neck category though.
Frank
paisan: way to go. Though I'll admit it's scary to even imagine your driving possibly getting any quicker than it is now...
Loosh: tough decision!
I actually would not get a Forester for autocross, though rallycross may be fine.
I'd try to decide first which you prefer, then try to pick the vehicles that has had success in the type of racing in which you want to compete.
Another idea is to drive your candidates and ask yourself which is easiest to drive fast. There may be one particular model that just fits well with your driving style.
-juice
Kate: Sorry to hear about your WS. I personally would like the surface to surface missle option over the bazooka. Patti - maybe you can suggest.
Ken: I use my windshield washer when someone is tailgating me. It usually works. At least it makes me feel better. Hmmm, maybe a surface to surface missle option for the back of the car.
-Greg
If I were in your shoes I'd go find and drive a 2.2L Impreza with a stick shift.
Good luck!
-wdb
Speaking of speedy Juice...
Looks like i'll be picking up an 89 XT6 which has a 5MT in it and a blown head gasket. Haven't decided if I'm gonna get the head gasket fixed or swap in my engine from the current XT6 to that one. Most likely I'll get the head gasket fixed on it. Of course the other problem is that it recently had the entire air-suspension done, so it won't be good at auto-x, but as soon as it breaks...
Nice thing is that it has a locking center diffy
-mike
I think you'll have a lot more fun with a 5MT, since this isn't your daily grinder. (Still have no idea how anyone drives anywhere in NYC.)
-Colin
-mike
The 5 speed is potentially quicker, but I imagine there is a bit of a learning curve too.
-juice
PS A buddy's old truck had the rear water squirter break like that - and he left it out. Very effective to get rid of tailgaters!
Ed
Yeah, I think it might just be me. When the person in front uses their windshield washers, the spray from it gets all over your window and now you've gotta run your washers too. It's most annoying on my morning commute when the glare from the sunrise makes it even worse.
A nit-picky Ken ;-)
-mike
I think you can aim those washers. I need to on my Miata - I get wet if the top's down!
-juice
-mike
Frank
Yes, a Subaru drop-top would most likely end up in my driveway, but I'll admit it doesn't seem to fit in with the snow-mobile image they carry. Also, they sell best in the snow belt, so it's like selling freezers to eskimos.
-juice
a) more expensive than I can handle. Most are around 16K. They are also all Phase I EJ25 engines, and I am now having my eyes opened about all the head gasket, cylinder head failures, etc. So I am a little wary of that. More importantly, I just can't swing 16 or 16.5K right off the bat. We'd never get approved for that.
Bob
Patti
Patti
Thanks! I'll keep that in mind....... >:-)
crew- how about a 1989 323 AWD turbo???? $2900
Our '90 has washers that you can turn to adjust. I can say that my husband and kids have had some fun with aggressive drivers when the "accidently" wash when someone is too close or has been bugging them. Just get along side and clean up! Always with a smile and apology though!
Patti
Plus, changing a windshield is hard on the channel, which when scraped by the tools used, can cause channel rust.
-Tony
Juice- I won't be there this weekend. Baltimore Irish Festival is in the way.
Those young guys who laughed together with the Bronco driver after the accident, claimed bruised chests, bleeding wrists, etc. Some people have no limits on how low they can go. They claimed that I hit them first, and then my car sort of bounced back and was just totally inadvertently hit by the poor Bronco. It did not help that Nevada HP issued a very vague and confusing police report about that accident, with vehicles and drivers misidentified and mixed up. What helped was a lot of pictures I took at the scene. Based on those pictures and statements from my passengers and myself, their fraudulent claim was finally denied. But it took a few months to resolve that situation, and I can assure you it's not fun to be deposited and to have your family members to have to make recorded statements and such.
My advice to all: carry a good quality camera with you all the time. I happened to have it around because I was on vacation. Now I carry it with me all the time. Don't fall for cheap disposable stuff, get a modestly priced decent quality automatic. Some of my pix had to be blown up, to show the fine details to insurance investigators. I was really glad my camera captured those details. I'm thinking to have camcorder with me in the car as well.
That fraudilent claim, and the abundance of idiots on the road makes me longing for a video camera that would be recording events on the road ahead of me. A small digital camcorder with 1-2 hours worth of the loop-type recording on the small disk will do. Mount it on a bracket at the top of the windshield, and feed from 12 V circuit. It will provide invaluable info in many many accidents. This will be much more useful than some fancy voice recognition system, I think. Too bad, it's probably very expensive to add as a custom aftermarket item.
Ok, I'm back into my soap box now.
Hey Mike, I finally get to make a Trooper related post! Just found out that an aunt & uncle, who have owned several Troopers over the years, traded theirs in for a new Forester! They said that they wanted something that got better mileage. I'd like to take credit for coverting them but truth be told, they didn't even know I had a Forester.
-Frank P.
-mike
What is the opposite of the lucky horseshoe or rabbit's foot? Kate must be the expert.
Cheers
Graham