What vehicle will be a worthy replacement for your sedan when it is time?
The WRX/STi community reminds me a lot of this one. You have the weathered vets of the platform who have built their cars over the course of 10+ years and have done countless hours of research. They've consolidated that research and have made very detailed FAQs. Then, you have them interacting with younger individuals who are new to the platform that come in and put up threads saying, "Hey, just picked up a 20XX, XXX, I don't have time to read all this so how do I make 400whp, and retain reliability? My budget is $79.00." Makes for interesting exchanges...
Anyway, if there are any G37 owners looking for a replacement car who desire the raw driving experience while retaining everyday use without touchscreens and what not, I highly recommend giving the Subaru a look. They have a stigma due to the owners but what community doesn't? Also, there's a bit of a learning curve given the boxer nomenclature but once you watch a video or two you realize they're not bad at all to work on. The big thing with them is maintenance, mod planning and tune, tune, tune. Very different compared to our G37 where we can throw on mods as we go and tune when we can. You do that with that car and your motor will pop.
Subaru's "Touring Edition" interiors are gorgeous. Saddle brown leather, with leather trim pieces, against matte black plastics and satin finish elements.
Just like this... not my wife's actual car, but exactly the same thing. It's a very rewarding place to be, and it's just a freaking Forester, for crying out loud. Thick leather steering wheel, a strong hand-brake, every tech imaginable in a car today, fantastic visibility, etc. Still love this car. I would dig maybe another 40 hp, but it is what it is for now, and that's fine for the family hauler.
Liking this car is what made me consider a "sporty" SUV, like the Mecan or the Selvio. But after poking at that bear a few times, I've come away discontent. Still don't know what my "next car" will be, and this whole pandemic has really made me reassess automotive values about something I never drive.
Just like this... not my wife's actual car, but exactly the same thing. It's a very rewarding place to be, and it's just a freaking Forester, for crying out loud. Thick leather steering wheel, a strong hand-brake, every tech imaginable in a car today, fantastic visibility, etc. Still love this car. I would dig maybe another 40 hp, but it is what it is for now, and that's fine for the family hauler.
Liking this car is what made me consider a "sporty" SUV, like the Mecan or the Selvio. But after poking at that bear a few times, I've come away discontent. Still don't know what my "next car" will be, and this whole pandemic has really made me reassess automotive values about something I never drive.
Last edited by Rochester; Apr 24, 2020 at 10:23 AM.
Subaru's "Touring Edition" interiors are gorgeous. Saddle brown leather, with leather trim pieces, against matte black plastics and satin finish elements.
Just like this... not my wife's actual car, but exactly the same thing. It's a very rewarding place to be, and it's just a freaking Forester, for crying out loud.
Just like this... not my wife's actual car, but exactly the same thing. It's a very rewarding place to be, and it's just a freaking Forester, for crying out loud.
Just on looks alone, I'm liking the new Evoque.
Overpriced for what it is, though. You can get a stylish, 2020 Mazda CX5 Turbo for tons less cash and just as much car. Recently, Mazda has started to lean upscale for their interior.
Overpriced for what it is, though. You can get a stylish, 2020 Mazda CX5 Turbo for tons less cash and just as much car. Recently, Mazda has started to lean upscale for their interior.
Have we done this one yet--RWD I6 6? https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a3...onfirmed-2022/
Have we done this one yet--RWD I6 6? https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a3...onfirmed-2022/
I will absolutely test drive an I6 Mazda that's trying to punch above it's weight. Very interesting.
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I look past 'sporty' SUVs, I don't need a car that will do everything 'mediocre' in expense of gas mileage and ride quality. An SUV in my book needs to be reliable, durable, and comfortable. If you are looking at a Porsche SUV and looking past their sports cars I think you have it all backwards.
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I don't think it's as prevalent since they use different pistons. I believe a lot of those engine pops are due to guys running CAIs without tunes and skimping on maintenance with a sprinkle of bad tunes (see. self tuned & cheap tune). The WRX's main weak point is the 5 speed. As I mentioned, that info is such a hit or miss though since it appears a lot of failures could be driver error and YOLO launches.
I may do the STi swap regardless if the 5 seed ever goes. Replacement 5 MT gears sets stronger than OEM exist that you can swap in but at $3-5k (before install), it doesn't make sense when a STi trans and driveline swap is $5k before install fees (it seems very straight forward of a swap though, so I'd do it myself).
Going right to the STi would've been great but there was not one example within 100 miles of me that was anywhere near what I was looking to spend with the mileage and in wagon/hatch form. The condition of the car and maintenance records was also a big selling point for me. I'll post some pics today if the rain lets up.
The WRX/STi community reminds me a lot of this one. You have the weathered vets of the platform who have built their cars over the course of 10+ years and have done countless hours of research. They've consolidated that research and have made very detailed FAQs. Then, you have them interacting with younger individuals who are new to the platform that come in and put up threads saying, "Hey, just picked up a 20XX, XXX, I don't have time to read all this so how do I make 400whp, and retain reliability? My budget is $79.00." Makes for interesting exchanges...These new comers are probably the same individuals who make the boxer seem as finicky as a RENESIS...Reminds me a lot of when I see guys asking about exhaust and suspension set-ups when there are literally hundreds of pages describing each option. If you don't want to read that much, skip to the last 10 pages and see what's relevant. Seems pretty simple to me.
Anyway, if there are any G37 owners looking for a replacement car who desire the raw driving experience while retaining everyday use without touchscreens and what not, I highly recommend giving the Subaru a look. They have a stigma due to the owners but what community doesn't? Also, there's a bit of a learning curve given the boxer nomenclature but once you watch a video or two you realize they're not bad at all to work on. The big thing with them is maintenance, mod planning and tune, tune, tune. Very different compared to our G37 where we can throw on mods as we go and tune when we can. You do that with that car and your motor will pop.
I may do the STi swap regardless if the 5 seed ever goes. Replacement 5 MT gears sets stronger than OEM exist that you can swap in but at $3-5k (before install), it doesn't make sense when a STi trans and driveline swap is $5k before install fees (it seems very straight forward of a swap though, so I'd do it myself).
Going right to the STi would've been great but there was not one example within 100 miles of me that was anywhere near what I was looking to spend with the mileage and in wagon/hatch form. The condition of the car and maintenance records was also a big selling point for me. I'll post some pics today if the rain lets up.
The WRX/STi community reminds me a lot of this one. You have the weathered vets of the platform who have built their cars over the course of 10+ years and have done countless hours of research. They've consolidated that research and have made very detailed FAQs. Then, you have them interacting with younger individuals who are new to the platform that come in and put up threads saying, "Hey, just picked up a 20XX, XXX, I don't have time to read all this so how do I make 400whp, and retain reliability? My budget is $79.00." Makes for interesting exchanges...These new comers are probably the same individuals who make the boxer seem as finicky as a RENESIS...Reminds me a lot of when I see guys asking about exhaust and suspension set-ups when there are literally hundreds of pages describing each option. If you don't want to read that much, skip to the last 10 pages and see what's relevant. Seems pretty simple to me.
Anyway, if there are any G37 owners looking for a replacement car who desire the raw driving experience while retaining everyday use without touchscreens and what not, I highly recommend giving the Subaru a look. They have a stigma due to the owners but what community doesn't? Also, there's a bit of a learning curve given the boxer nomenclature but once you watch a video or two you realize they're not bad at all to work on. The big thing with them is maintenance, mod planning and tune, tune, tune. Very different compared to our G37 where we can throw on mods as we go and tune when we can. You do that with that car and your motor will pop.
I don't know if you are talking about Nasioc, but that was the first car forum I joined in early '99 after I got my '98 2.5RS and I was one of the first to join. It used to be a lot like this forum, which I like. But now there are so many people there that the threads just fly by if you don't check them every hour and so many people who don't know what they are talking about. It is not as fun as it used to be. It got really crowded once used WRX's became affordable for every kid to pick up for their first fast car and then subsequently blow up because they didn't know what they were doing.
Inexpensive WRX's are all over the place here now like Civics used to be and they are all pretty ratty. It's too bad, because that was such a revolutionary car back in '02. Like you said, the STI is quite the opposite. There are a lot less of them and they hold their value really well on the used car market.
All the new Mazdas are really stepping it up in terms of quality materials inside and styling outside. I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but they realized they would never sell high volume like Honda, Nissan, Toyota, so instead they decided to try to capture some of the entry luxury market from Acura and Infiniti.I am curious to see how that new Mazda 6 pans out with the inline 6 cylinder we were talking about the other day. The current Mazda 6 and CX-5 with the turbo motor are fun and relatively quick, but they are not fast. It would be cool if Mazda got back to some faster high performance vehicles.
