“what do you drive?”
May 29th, 2006...is a question I get asked as often as “What do you think of hybrids?”
The answer: a 1995 M3 3.0 (not to be confused the ‘96 and later 3.2L versions which – as good as it they were had a taller, less balanced chassis setup and a more constricted intake manifold).
It certainly isn’t a car for everyone but it’s met my needs (daily use, advanced driver training, shuttling clients to dealers and serving as a benchmark for chassis dynamics) perfectly for the past ten years. I’m proud to have chosen it before the magazines started gushing over it and my continued happiness with it also embodies a fundemantal car counsel philosophy: you’ll lose less money on a car you want to keep than one you pay less for and trade after a few years.
(It’s also nice to know that automobile magazine founder David E Davis considers my car his favorite among all the ‘all-stars’ his magazine has chosenover the years…)
But enough about my car – what do you drive, and what does it say about you?
June 13th, 2006 at 12:11 am
2004 Subaru Forester XT. The 2.5 liter turbo loves to run and by adding a 20mm anti-roll bar from the WRX STI ($100) you lose the wallowing SUV handling. Long travel suspension but no bump steer and lowish center of gravity combine to make the Forester one of the fastest real-world cars on the road. I can take railroad track crossings at 60mph that slow Corvettes to 15mph. Washboard gravel? Eats it up. Mom-mobile styling is practically invisible to the police. Only downsides are minimal soundproofing and undersized gas tank (
June 19th, 2006 at 4:33 pm
I’ve always been a fan of vehicles that speak softly and carry a big stick and the Forester is a great starting point given the flat engine and WRX/STi roots.
If anything there’s something more satisfying about being able to work the slip angles front and rear – a reason those at evo prefer the Forester XT (and standard WRX) to the STi.
Your point about A->B times is something I wish more people would consider – as I’ve said on this blog many a time by now the car that looks and feels fastest seat of the pants is often left behind at lights or on real roads.
Seen this?: http://i6.tinypic.com/14iel92.jpg Subaru’s getting pretty cheecky in their advertising.
(If only they’d spend some of that ad money on stability control standard across the board
)