Prity got into a bit of a scuffle with her car the other day. she got into a fight with a couple trees when her car slid off the driveway. Thanks to some *less than adequate* Michelin MXV4 touring tires (might as well be bald RE-92s), and a good deal of ice and snow on teh driveway, she found herself beached off the side of the driveway. Her left side is horribly scraped up, but took no structural damage. she’s fine. the engine’s fine. The car is a little ugly though. Anyways, she’s driving my Impreza TS now, and I’m continuing to drive the Legacy. We got into a discussion about keeping the TS and selling her Impreza. I was fine with that. I think it surprised her that I wanted her to drive the TS and not the Legacy. It being a new car, and me having had such a thing for it. I guess it’s weird to some people that I’d rather have this ’93 legacy than an ’02 Impreza. First off, it’s turbocharged. Since I had the Saab, I’ve had a thing for turbo. It’s so cool to be able to get mroe power out of a car by turning a few knobs in a few key places. Second, it has a few creature comforts the Impreza doesn’t have… a sunroof and a trunk light for example. you never realize how important a trunk light is, until you buy a brand new car from a manufacturer that for some reason decided not to install one.
The Impreza is certainly a sweet ride. the suspension is great with the WRX springs. Funny thing though. When I put in the springs and took her for a drive down Upper North Row (road behind my house, for all non-Brian readers) I found myself doing about 65 on average through all the twisties. I thought it was a blast. Certainly couldn’t complain. that’s a lot faster than I could take it before. I’ve noticed that with the Legacy I can take it at the same speed. And the front struts are blown. Rear ones are brand new sport struts too, so my suspension geometry is way off. I’ll still say the Impreza handles better, but I’m just not at the level of ability where I can max out the Imrpeza’s suspension so the Legacy will be fine for now. With a completely stock setup it has nearly the same handling ability as a WRX. It’s a bigger car, but odly enough it weighs about the same.
I dunno. just rambling now. I have shiny new Impreza available to me, and I’d rather drive around in a ten-year-old car that ran me $2850. In fact, I think Prity would rather be driving this car too. I guess they just don’t make them like they used too. The fact that it oozes power doesn’t hurt.
So yeah. that’s my story.
*less than adequate* Michelin MXV4 touring tires (might as well be bald RE-92s),
Oh man, tire talk!
Man, I’d like a new car.
Wow… I wrote a nice little discussion of what makes these tires “less than adequate” and then got into snow tires and on and on. Short version: MXV4s are teh standard “touring tires” that come on many german and japanese cars. RE-92s are the standard “sport” tires (see me laughing?) that come on most imports. Both are pretty good at what they’re supposed to do, but neither are more than adequate in the snow. and even that diminishes as they get worn.
I’ll never go back to riding on all seasons year round. Especially after going to the Team O’Neil winter driving school. I had nice winter tires on. Dunlop WinterSport M2s. Good snow tires. nice sipes for ice. also very good in the dry. A good comprimise between sport and snow, but definitely more a snow tire. Then I drove in a legacy just like mine that had Hakka 1s. Those things don’t even pretend to be good in the dry. they’re dedicated snow tires. Oh my lord, what a difference between a good snow tire and a great snow tire. never mind the difference between an all-season and a great snow tire. anyways, I’m just rambling now :p .
-Igg
hey Igg…i’m putting you on teh friends list…
-adam-
a.k.a. RaceCarRiot on NASTYOC